Istanbul: Rooftops, Kebabs, and Turkish Delight

Merhaba! (MARE-ha-ba, hello in Turkish) After a quick night flight, we found ourselves in the part Asian, part European city of Istanbul (we never made it to the Asian side, but we were told it's similar, but with less tourists and more chopsticks..). Thankfully, we moved quickly through the airport, payed our $60 for an entry visa, and hopped on the metro. An hour and a half later we arrived in Sultanahmet, part of the "Old City".  It was 7:30am, the air was chilly, and there was a light drizzling of rain. It looked like a ghost town. A beautiful ghost town. There was almost no one around. We were approached by the odd early rising salesmen, umbrellas and Istanbul guide books in hand. When we said no thanks, rather than trying to change our minds, they simply said thank you, smiled, and moved on. Well this was different...No heckling? No convincing?? One salesman in particular noticed we looked a little lost, so when we told him the hostel we were looking for, he said "follow me" and led us a few minutes towards a beautiful square, pointing us in the direction we needed to go. A little intro to the Turkish Hospitality.   We stood in the Sultanahmet square marveling at the cobblestone roads and sidewalks, the colorful tulips blooming everywhere, and the looming Mosques on either side of us. Aya Sofya(Church of Holy Wisdom) to one side, Sultan Ahmet Camii (Blue Mosque) to the other. With the rain picking up, we picked our jaws up off the ground and continued on our search for the Bahaus Guesthouse. A short walk later through more cobblestone streets,  we made it to our hostel, dropped our bags, and followed a staff member up to the breakfast room. After airport food galore, we were stunned by the buffet before us. Fresh bakery breads, cucumbers and tomatoes, dried apricots and olives, meat and the popular Turkish goats-milk cheeses. Can't forget the nice addition of nutella as well! With a coffee and our plates of goodies we sat down to admire the view. Situated almost perfectly between buildings, the guesthouse looked directly out to the ocean. We could feel it...Istanbul was going to be great. After breakfast, we washed up and decided to head to an area called Taksim Square in search of some warmer clothing. Coming from SE Asia, our bags were filled with shorts, tank tops, and swimsuits, which was not going to cut it in Turkey. When we got off the metro, the rain had picked up, and sure enough we quickly found ourselves an umbrella salesman to help us out. Taksim square is a more modern area of Istanbul. You'll find a Starbucks amongst the local cafes, a Top Shop along with the souvenir shops, and a Burger King next to the little kebab restaurants.  Our senses were alive with the beeping of cars, shouts from the local vendors selling roasted chestnuts and corn on the cob, savory smells coming from the open windowed kebab stalls, and of course the dessert shops selling mounds of Turkish delight and Baklava. We spent a few hours walking along Istiklal street, a street flowing from Taksim square restricted to pedestrians, police cars, and one rickety little train that runs straight down the middle.  Despite the rain that first day, we could not stop smiling, reminding each other every ten minutes "we are in ISTANBUL right now!". It was quite surreal to be walking through streets, passing by historical buildings and monuments that you read about in textbooks or see in movies. We had an accidental early night(went for a nap before supper around 6:30pm, woke up at 10:30pm, decided to stay in bed for the night,haha) and woke up refreshed and excited for another day in Istanbul. We took our times getting ready, and headed up to the breakfast room around 7:00 to have a coffee. Breakfast starts at 7:30, so we were the only ones up for about 45 minutes. After another delicious meal, we set out for the day. The air was chilly and brisk, but it felt nice to have a pair of pants and light jacket on after 3 months of "wanting to be naked" heat. It was just after eight as we were walking towards the Topkapi Palace entryway. We were quite surprised about the lack of people, until, not even 2 minutes later we looked behind us to see a FLOOD of people coming towards us. We literally missed the crowd by seconds. So, we continued on towards the ticket booth, and thought, seeing as we beat the crowd, we might as well get in line! Half hour later, we had our tickets to the Topkapi Palace Museum and the Harem, private quarters where the Sultan did his business, most of the risqué type(think, four wives). We spent a couple of hours wondering through the museum, looking at ancient artifacts and reading the many explanatory signs. Mainly, we introduced "the museum walk", which we, after perfecting, can slow down to with the quick murmur of "museum" (fun to bust out while speed-walking through a crowd of tourists in a rush to the next line-up, we've gotten some looks...) . After we'd had our fill of museums-I swear its more enjoyable then I may be describing- we sought out a cheap kebab for lunch, sat down on a park bench and did some people watching. We were approached more than once by locals taking English courses,asking if we could help them with some homework. We said of course, and spent a few minutes being interviewed by one, while the other videotaped. Questions like, where are you from, what is your name, how long are you in Istanbul. I have never seen someone so nervous! Their hands were shaking, their lips were quivering. Some had great English, others you could tell were just starting out. It was really neat to be apart of helping someone to learn our language. Later that day we went to the Cagaloglu Hamami, a famous 300 year old venue, for a traditional Turkish Bath. These baths are a tradition founded by the Romans, and passed on to the Byzantines, and later to the Turks.  There  are separate sections for the men and women. Each includes the camekan(entrance hall) which hold several cubicles to change in, and where you can enjoy a cup of tea or coffee after the bath, the sogukluk(intermediate room) a passage between the entrance and bathing rooms, and lastly, the hararet(hot room) the main room of the bath, where you can sit and sweat in the steam for as long as you choose. The bath includes the steaming, a full-body scrub using a coarse, soapy mitt(kese), a full-body shampoo, and a massage. All done on a huge marble plinth, in the middle of the marble covered hot room. Naked. Stark naked. It was a little shocking for me at first. Naive as I am, I assumed the wrap they gave me would be staying on... The sweet Turkish woman quickly set me straight on that one, grabbing first the wrap, and then my hand, leading me to the marble podium. Umm..okay. After about 15 minutes of sitting in the steam and attempting to relax(I did after about ten minutes), I actually felt liberated, and quite grateful to be experiencing such a historical and popular tradition in Turkey. Over an hour of sweating, scrubbing, washing, and massaging, we emerged from our separate baths, utterly relaxed, soft-skinned, and sleepy. Now, the women are quite quiet and gentle, but Andrews experience was a little different. There is a lot more yelling, slapping, and even spanking, going on in the men's bathing room. It was quite funny to exchange our stories afterwards over a Turkish coffee. We spent the evening hanging out on the rooftop bar of the hostel. Alex, the awesome kebab and barman, made us his famous kebab(succulent lamb cooked with a spicy sauce and veggies wrapped up in fresh pita) we played some cards, and met some of the other travelers staying at the hostel. The next day we spent the morning getting lost in the Grand Bazaar. Named the worlds largest underground market, you can find everything from jewelry to hand-made carpets and antiques to leather. It would be easy to spend an entire day walking the aisles without even noticing time going by. There is just SO much to look at. We found ourselves drinking apple tea(more Turkish hospitality) in a carpet store, while a man tried to convince us to buy a nice carpet for our Mothers... The filming of the new James Bond movie was taking place in Istanbul at the time, and they were filming a scene at the Grand Bazaar the day before we were there(so a good portion of it was closed) and the day we went we watched a few takes of someone saying "we are here on the set of the new James Bond movie...". Cool right?!  We had a fresh fish sandwich at the harbor for lunch, and then made our way to the Spice Bazaar. Another amazing market, this time selling teas, nuts and dried fruits, Turkish delight and other sweets, fresh honeycomb and of course, spices galore!! This place was heaven on earth. We sampled many sweets, and I dreamed of all the things I would buy..if only money grew on trees...and backpacks didn't get heavier... Another great evening on the rooftop bar! More new friends, more tasty kebabs and glasses of wine. Our fourth day in Istanbul, we went with a few friends from the hostel to Prince's Island. We took the ferry there, rented some tandem bikes, and spent the day touring around the island. It's a popular hangout for locals in the summer months, but I found the city much nicer(and nicer smelling!!). We had a good laugh over trying to control the double bikes though. It's harder then it looks! Except, don't ask Andrew, because he will blame it on his less then helpful partner in the back... Alright, so I may have slacked a little... We had lunch and an ice-cream, and headed back to watch the sunset from the rooftop.  The fifth day, we decided it would be our last, so we booked flights to Athens for the next morning.  That day we visited the Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque. The walls and ceilings are covered with beautiful murals and tiling. The Blue Mosque is filled with blue tiles, giving it it's unofficial name.  Part of the Blue Mosque is blocked off to tourists, leaving a large portion for praying only. The beauty is indescribable. The atmosphere is thick with history and prayer. We practiced our "museum walk" forcing ourselves to slow down and take it all in.  Throughout our stay we also spent a lot of time walking through Gulhane Park. A beautiful walking park with millions of tulips planted everywhere. Such a beautiful spot to relax in the sun and watch the crowds go by. Besides the many chicken, lamb, and meatball kebabs, Andrew tested out another form of Turkish fast-food, the Islak burger, or better known as a wet burger. Glass cases are stacked with these soggy, sloppy joe like burgers. They are cheap, and actually don't taste too bad.  Overall, five days in Istanbul gave us time to see what we wanted and to get a good feel of the Turkish culture and history. With that said we could have stayed longer and would go back in a heartbeat! I suppose that's a good way to leave a city.  The food, the people, the smells, the history.  It will all be missed. We highly recommend a stop in Istanbul for anyone heading to Europe. It is a breathtaking and remarkable city. "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years" - Abraham Lincoln A&C