Istanbu-log

If you ever have an opportunity to travel to Istanbul, take it. Seriously. It is one of the coolest places I have ever been to. I think I say that about a lot of places I travel to, but really, Istanbul is up there on my list.

The journey began on a rainy Wednesday night. It was a long weekend for the residents of Andalucía, in celebration of Día de Andalucia. As always, I wanted to take advantage of my not-only-three-but-four-day weekend to travel somewhere new and exotic. This dream came to fruition when a few of my friends told me they were going to Istanbul. I hopped on board as soon as I could.

In total we were a group of six or seven, depending on the day.  We weren’t all on the same flight, nor the same mode of transportation to get us to those flights, which all took off from Madrid. Some brave souls took the six-hour bus ride; others took the high-speed AVE train. De todas formas, we all arrived Thursday early/late evening and the adventure began right then and there, if not earlier (like when my suitcase broke the moment I stepped out of my apartment building and thus was traveling with a broken rolly bag the whole weekend (see photo below).

broken suitcase

Well, besides that little snafu, the voyage was rather easy. Swiss Air, my new favorite airline, made the experience very comfortable. Between the free, incredibly amazing Swiss chocolate and the friendly multilingual flight attendants (although I’m sure a few of them disliked me for my American tendencies such as asking for a coke refill) dare I say the flight was enjoyable?  Not trying to sound like an advertisement or anything…although customs in Zurich is a pain in the you know what, but that’s a story for another time.

also, this was my view for a good portion of the flight

Ok, back to Istanbul. We arrived at the hostel and right when we checked in we were welcomed by one of the friendliest hostel people I have ever encountered. We arrived a little before 8pm and he told us he was just about finished with his shift and would love to show us around town if we wanted.  We dropped our stuff in our room and freshened up and went exploring with a native! We were all pretty tired from the long day of traveling so we just went out for dinner and then came back to relax at the hostel. We ate what I consider a Turkish pizza, like it might as well have been a pizza but it was on pita bread, and it was delicious. And the food only got better from there.

We woke up the next morning at 8am, not my ideal wake up time, but it was definitely necessary if we wanted to see all the important sites in the three short days we were there. Met up with a Turkish guy one of my friends had met through 8tracks (music sharing website) and he showed us around the town. Example two of how nice and friendly Turkish people are. He could have been really sketchy and dangerous (yes, I know that’s what you are thinking parents but we were a big group in broad daylight). But he was quite the contrary. He was a genuinely good guy. He wanted to show us around the city he grew up in. He asked us what we wanted to see in our time in Istanbul, and also gave us recommendations, and he helped us plan out our days. I’m really happy that he stayed with us for the two full days we were there. When in a foreign city it can be really hard to find your way around, especially when you don’t speak a word of the language. So it was nice to have a personal tour guide, but also just great to get to know a local dude and an awesome DJ...check him out, DJ Batu. 

In our 48 hours together, he not only showed us a lot of Istanbul but also taught us (me at least) a lot about Turkey. Ashamed to admit it but I did not know that Turkey is not a part of the European Union, in fact most of Turkey isn’t even in Europe but in Asia. I blame this embarrassment on the fact that the importance of geography is not stressed in American schools, at least it wasn’t in mine. Or I slept through that unit…

Besides the things Google Maps could have taught me, I also found out that military service is mandatory in Turkey. Never knew that. There is a way to get out of it, however. If you leave the country for employment or studying purposes, you can essentially “defer” your service. If you stay living long enough outside of Turkey, you can pay so that you are never called to service. Of course, only people who can afford it can pay the fee. Our tour guide friend, Batu, told me all about this while we were on our ferry trip from the European side of Istanbul to the Asian side (cool! one city, two continents). All the others had fallen asleep (it was towards the end of the second day) and I, uncharacteristically, was the only one who stayed awake with Batu, with a few others chiming in now and then when they heard something interesting. He told me how he had to decide where he wants to live next year because he can’t stay in Turkey. Naturally, I wondered why, and so began the lesson about Turkish military service.

Separately, I also learned that although Turkey has a reputation for being a conservative Muslim country where it is forbidden to sell/drink alcohol (not true!), only about 40% of the population practices the religion, and I learned that although few, there are Jews (and alcohol) there!

the local beer (don't have pictures of any jews)

Even though the majority of the population isn’t practicing, there are still many signs of Islam being the dominant religion in the country. Living in Spain, I am used to Sunday being the day of rest when EVERYTHING is closed. I was surprised when we were walking around on a Friday afternoon and all the shops were either closed or closing. It reminded me a lot of “siesta” in Spain, but I was pretty sure this Spanish custom hadn’t made its way to Turkey yet. Then, when I saw herds of people making their way to the nearest mosque, or taking off their shoes and laying out mats to pray, it all made a little more sense. Also, I heard the call to prayer, which I remember hearing when I was in Morocco a few years ago, so this time I wasn’t as alarmed as I was back then when I heard Islamic chants throughout the city, beautiful but alarming.

ritual washing of the feet before prayer

stop, drop, and pray (in the gran bazaar)

Also, regarding stereotypes, I was very surprised at how modern and westernized the city was; I would even say it was a little more international than Sevilla (not that Sevilla is known for being international, but it is where I live, so I made the comparison). There were stores from all over the world: The North Face, Zara, Gucci, Prada. These stores juxtapose the local, more “typical” stores: the Gran Bazaar (where I was given a free sample of Turkish delight and then had whispered in my ear that it was an aphrodisiac…), the Spice Market, all street vendors in general. There is a newer, modern part of the city that feels like it is a world away from historic city center.

cool display in the gran bazaar

 

One day we ate lunch at a food court type place inside a mall in the modern part of the city. There were so many options from typical Turkish food, to hamburgers to WAGAMAMA (if I wasn’t in Turkey for only three days I would have gone back to eat there for sure!). Seeing that we had so little time, we wanted to eat as much typical grub as possible. So our big group (think we were all 7 that day) sat down for lunch at the Doner Kebab part of the food court. I looked around and realized we were probably some of the only, if not THE only non-locals eating in this food court. I found it humorous that all of us Americans were eating kebabs, while there were natives at the hamburger stand and the steakhouse and Nathan’s (yes, there was a Nathan’s in Istanbul, Turkey and no there is not one in Spain).

I could go on forever with observations and reflections, interesting anecdotes I learned or experienced, and silly quotes from my travel mates who, along with me, reached delirium shortly after arriving in Istanbul. But I won’t.

I will however leave you with this conundrum of mine. I understand that the White House is called such because of its white colored exterior, and that the Leaning Tower of Pisa has its name because it leans. By this logic, shouldn’t “The Blue Mosque” in Istanbul be, I don’t know, blue. The guidebooks say it has its name because of the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior (actually gotta give Wikipedia credit for that line), but from what I saw, it wasn’t overwhelmingly blue. Sure it had some blue tiles here and there BUT not enough to warrant the name…see for yourself:

Upon further inquiry, I learned that the name Blue Mosque is only its nickname to tourists; I think whoever coined the name might have been colorblind. In Turkish, the name more appropriately translates to “The Sultan Ahmed Mosque,” named for the Sultan who ruled during the mosque’s construction.

When I went to visit the “blue” mosque, I decided to wear blue so I would blend in.

Oh, and also, if you turn Turkish coffee upside down when you get to the bottom of it, you can see your future.

PS-Please forgive my cheesy post title

PPS-I have a lot of pictures that I promise I will post to facebook one day. and ill link the pictures here. 

PPPS-In the mean time, for your viewing pleasure: HARLEM SHAKIN'