I celebrated Christmas early with Mom thanks to a conveniently scheduled short course on Operational Law in DC. It was a great trip with Tex-Mex, bowling, Christmas shopping, Chipotle, and the Original Pancake House--twice.
The day after arriving back to Germany, Quentin (an Army friend from Wiesbaden) and I departed early in the morning to Istanbul -- 330am wakeup. Unfortunately, we didn't quite leave the cold winter rain of continental Europe behind. After arriving, we took the metro to the tram and navigated through the rain to our hotel. We lucked out with the small place I booked online -- it had a view from its rooftop breakfast terrace of both the Blue Mosque and Sea of Marmara / Bosphorous River. Due to the rain and wind, we settled for an afternoon in and out of shops and restaurants, drinking cay (Turkish chai), Efes (Turkish Beer), and Raki (Turkish grape liquor); eating donor, lamb, olives, hummus, pita, baklava, and Turkish delight; and smoking a little nargileh (a Turkish tobacco water pipe -- the apple flavored tobacco was my favorite).
Thankfully the weather improved as our weekend progressed. On day two we tackled a few of the tourist highlights in the Sultanhament area near our hotel: Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque, and the Topkapi Palace.
The Aya (Hagia) Sofia, rebuilt in the 6th century after its predecessor was destroyed by fire, was once one of the greatest churches in Christendom. With its massive dome, it was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly 1000 years. During the reign of the Ottomans it was converted to a mosque. In the 1930s, Ataturk secularized the building into a museum. It still bears the remnants of its former lives -- minarets now surround the former Orthodox basilica and Arabic script is found all over the inside, hung on the same walls as magnificent Christian mosaics -- truly incredible to behold. Unfortunately, the grounds which surround the building were being renovated/landscaped -- but that didn't take away from the magnificence of the building itself or its interior.
From the windows along the south side of the Aya Sofia, you can see the Blue Mosque. The Mosque is actively used for worship and closed to visitors during traditional prayer hours. When it's open, it's shoes off for all who enter.
After waiting for the lunchtime prayer hour to end, we took a brief walk through the mosque -- the first I've ever visited. Like most cathedrals, entry for tourists is free (though also like most cathedrals, a donation is requested to pay for the upkeep).
Here's a photo of the mosque's namesake:
The difference in architecture from the neighboring Aya Sofia is striking -- the Byzantines who built the Aya Sofia were more skilled (or perhaps simply confident) builders of domes, as you can see from the massive columns which support the weight of the Mosque's ceiling.
On the other side of the Aya Sofia from the Blue Mosque is the old palace of the Ottoman sultans: Topkapi Palace. The palace is massive with four courtyards of ascending prominence and privacy. The second through fourth courtyards of the Palace are now a museum, housing many artifacts of the Ottomans (clothes and jewels mostly) and relics from the prophets of Islam. Between the third and fourth courtyards is the Harem -- essentially the quarters for the sultans' concubines and sons, as well as the sultan's own private chambers. Here's a sample: beautifully adorned and opulent in every regard.
On Saturday evening we headed to Beyagolu, across the Goldern Horn (a small inlet off the Bosphorous River) from Sultanhamet. We quickly discovered why the bars and restaurants near our hotel were never too crowded -- all of Istanbul were instead in this massive main shopping district which runs from Taksim Square to Tunel. As much as Sultanhament truly is the Old City, Beyagolu is the bustling heart of modern Istanbul -- and it made for a fun night. We had dinner and drinks in a nightclub called "360" which had an incredible view of Istanbul from its penthouse location.
The next day we set out to conquer Asia, only a short and very cheap ferry ride away (only 2 Turkish lira -- a little more than one dollar).
Once there, we explored the market area of Uskudar and dipped in and out of restaurants and shops for more cay (chai). In the evening, we met up with a few Turks we had met the night before. They took us to a restaurant which overlooked the Bosphorous from north of the city. Here we enjoyed more Turkish cay, nargileh, and backgammon -- not to mention the panoramic view of Istanbul (my pictures from here unfortunately didn't come out well).
Monday afternoon we had to fly home -- but before we did, we made it to the Grand Bazaar near Sultanhamet. This area is home to some 2000 small shops and vendors which aggressively sell absolutely everything you can imagine. My goal was to purchase a rug. The first few hours, I educated myself the best I could about my prospective purchase. I moved from vendor to vendor discussing rugs and carpets, how to assess quality, and gauging where initial sales offers stood -- I ended up making my purchase from the salesman who, at least ostensibly, was the most knowledgeable on the subject and certainly the most persistent. The haggling and bargaining was quite entertaining, though I'm still not certain if I got a good deal. The rug I purchased was initially offered to me for $765 but I bought it for the equivalent of $130 in Turkish Lira.
After the Bazaar, we took the tram to the metro to the airport, then back home to Wiesbaden. Christmas in Istanbul -- I love Europe.
