“nobody knows better than the turks”

i still can’t believe i was in istanbul. it was a great experience. we left düsseldorf airport at i think 8am via turkish airlines (we have been so spoiled with lufthansa) and arrived 3 hours later. for some reason, we had to pay a whopping 15eu for 90 day visas (US citizens had the most pricey one). once we were in, we took a tram for what seemed like forever, through the city to the center, near our hostel. you always think of the famous hagia sophia having it’s tall minuret’ but in truth, every mosque, big or small, sports a few of them. each time i saw one i thought we were near the famous ones, but alas, i was mistaken.

we finally made it to our destination. i was amazed with the flowers – there were blooming daises and tulips of every color all around us. my sinuses didn’t appreciate it as much as my eyes.

our hostel was pretty nice – rated no. 01 in turkey and high amongst others in europe. it was called antique hostel and i’d recommend it to anyone.

the currency is the YTL – tranlates to the new turkish lira and is about 70% of the US dollar. we felt like kings coming from using the euro. everything seemed so cheap! one ride on the tram was 1.30li that’s like 2.60eu normally!

the hagia sophia.

our hostel was in a great location: between the hagia sophia and the mediterranean sea. we walked out to the water and looked out on to the other land masses that make up istanbul, one of which is across the bosphorus straight into ASIA! that’s right, its asia

the blue mosque.

we then walked around the blue mosque. apparently the turks didn’t want to keep using the once christian mosque that was the hagia sophia and built their own. they did a fine job, however. muslims pray 5 times a day in the direction of mecca. before a prayer, loud, enchanting sounds come out over speakers on the minurets; a surreal experience. i can’t explain the style. it was like long drawn-out words, a “calling” for everyone around.

you had to take off your shoes to enter any mosque, be wearing long pants, women with their heads covered, and to be quiet. we were able to get inside, after being told to not take pictures, and sat down on the lush carpet under the splendor of lights and colorful motifs. it was a really fascinating experience to be in the middle of all that. i had no idea what to expect. very peaceful.

inside the blue mosque.

we sat through an entire prayer and were soon greeted by a man asking us who we were and where we were from. he was very nice and had pegged us as non-muslims right off the bat. i wonder what gave him the impression, the blonde hair or the white skin? anyway, he was very nice, and seemed to be a trained representative to spread the ideals of islam. it was a neat encounter. he pulled us over to the side, showed us a model of the mosque in mecca, that can apparently hold two million people, sat us down and told us everything there was to know about the basics of islam. he taught all three of us a thing or two, gave us 6-7 small books about his religion, and sent us on our way with the hopes that we would read the koran in our lifetime. that’s what i call being a traveler, not a tourist.

by the way, turkish döner is nothing like it is in germany. we were expecting this “said” turkish food to be excellent in the motherland. while it was cheap, it was not nearly as tasty. that didn’t stop us from trying one from 7-8 different sources though.

the second day we started off right with an hour at the spa. oh wait, it was nothing like a spa. we were so spoiled in aachen compared to was about to hit us (literally). we went in, changed clothes in a very small room, were handed a towel, and escorted by large men to the water rooms for a rinse down. we sat for awhile, not knowing what to do and then a guy came in, giving us instructions in turkish. after our odd looks, he reached in one of the many marble sinks with a plastic pan, threw a leap of scalding water on geoff and yelled, “shower!” he did the same for gavin and i until we were soaked and ready to go. we sat for a while, enjoyed pouring hot and cold over our bodies, then were grabbed by the hand for the massage. the best way to describe it was that we were man-handled by large turkish men with only a towel and mustaches. they had us lie on a marble table and slapped/beat us around in their rendition of a massage until they were satisfied that we had gotten our lira’s worth. ok. that sounded a bit extreme. it was actually worth it in the end. this was apparently the nicest of bath houses, and also the most touristy. hmm.

later we went to asia. yes. i walked in asia. i just like the way that sounds. it looked strangely familiar to the other side, in europe. i think i was expecting a typical asian cityscape you see in movies. maybe i should go a bit more east.

anyway, we walked around the asian side, trying to get to this huge suspension bridge, but soon found we were not allowed to walk by foot across it.

the last day, we started by getting an authentic shave, more like a trim since none of us had much facial hair to boast of. but for 10 lira, it was worth it. this guy had been in the same shop for probably 40 years and was so proud of it. he did a nice job shaving too. he startd with the big razor blade (as a smalled child, i remember watching in horror as the barber would do this to my dad) and then finished by using a lighter to burn hairs in and around our ears. pretty cool.

we took a tour of the hagia sophia next. they are in the process of renovating the interior – taking off the islamic decorative motifs to reveal the 6th century christian mosiacs. like many of the great architectural monuments we have seen this semester, scaffolding sheilded our eyes from a full-on view.

the so-far cooperating weather had now a turn for the worse and we decided to head to the airport earlier to be safe. we acquired some english magazines for reading and landed safely back in düsseldorf around 9pm. it was an intensely relaxing and culturally stimulating weekend. thanks, istanbual.