Turkey on Thanksgiving Part 2: Grand Istanbul

 

Hagia Sophia

 

Turkey is the first country we’ve visited that spans two continents: 3% of the country is in Europe, while 97% is in Asia.  Cappadocia is solidly in the Asian 97% (called Anatolia) whereas the massive city of Istanbul straddles the two continents, making it a meshing point of cultures and ideas historically and presently.   We were struck by the uniqueness of Istanbul.  Firstly, it’s an incredibly old city.  It was first known as Byzantium in the 600 BC, then as Constantinople in 330 AD, and most recently as Istanbul in 1930. It’s situated in such a strategic place that it was the capital of four empires in its lengthy history: the Byzantine, Roman, Latin, and finally Ottoman Empire that only ended in 1922 with the conclusion of the First World War.  Secondly, even though Turkey is 99% Muslim it is a uniquely secular state and isn’t run by Sharia, or Islamic law.  I think because of this, Turkey had a much less conservative feel… some women wore headscarves but almost none were in burkas.  The cars were big, most people wore jeans, and stores had a Western feel.  Lastly, we were incredibly impressed by all the new infrastructure:  bridges, roads, and apartment complexes seemed all to have just been built.   

 

Our hotel was in Sultanahmet, the ‘old town’ peninsula of Istanbul on the Europe side.  Most of the city's tourist sites were within walking distance, including the Aya or Hagia Sophia, which is where we headed right after checking in to our gorgeous hotel. 

The Hagia Sophia was built in 532 AD and was used as a church for A THOUSAND YEARS until Constantinople was taken over by Sultan Mehmed who turned it into a mosque in 1432.  It was used as a mosque from then until 1932 (a 500-year stint) when Ataturk, the first president of the Republic of Turkey, turned it into a museum.  It’s incredible to think of this magnificent building as being so old… how did they build such a masterpiece without today’s materials and techniques?

Walking inside, it was obvious the building had been both a church and a mosque.  There were frescoes and gold tile mosaics of Biblical scenes above an off-centered mihrab (the niche in a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca, to which Muslims much face when they’re praying.) We had never seen anything like it!

Look at that huge, seemingly unsupported dome.

Virgin and Child next to Arabic script, both above the off-center mihrab.

It's truly magnificent, isn't it?  The people look so tiny down there. Hard to believe it was built in the 500's!

One of the gold-tiled mosaics.

 

We stopped for a quick snack of roasted chestnuts before heading to the Grand Bazaar.  Istanbul has the healthiest street food we’ve ever seen:  roasted chestnuts, corn, and pumpkin seeds along with a great variety of dried fruits, and fresh grilled fish sandwiches.  Is this where the whole foods craze originated? There certainly weren’t many overweight people…

A different and delicious take on street food.

 

One of hundreds of corridors in the Grand Bazaar.

Anyway, we ate our snack and wandered to the Great Bazaar, the largest and one of the oldest souks (markets) in the world.  Surely anyone could find something to buy in one of its 3000 shops!  You could get anything including spices, tea sets, rugs, inlaid chess sets, ceramics, fine jewelry, etc.  There was even a MAC cosmetics and Godiva store in there!

Just before walking into the Bazaar we stopped in a nice store and saw a gorgeous hand-painted vase we both really liked.  We weren’t going to buy it then, as it was our first stop, but did ask the price which was 180 Lira.  Saying “maybe later”, we continued into the bazaar. We glanced at things here and there and finally saw a similar vase we also like.  The price tag on the bottom said 700 Lira!  Thus begins the story of the “accidentally brilliant bartering”.  The shop owner was in full-pressure mode so I agreed to let him line up the three similar vases so we could compare them.  After a few minutes I said “Thanks, but no.” and he said “No, name your price.”  Chris was just honest: “We saw a better one for 180."  We walked towards the door.  “Well, 170, then.  I’m going to lose money.”  Me, “Sorry, we don’t like it as much as that one.” and kept walking.  Guy, “150.  Final offer.”  We then really started walking out the door and along the covered alley of the bazaar, apologizing that we weren’t more interested.  The guy literally shouted to us as we were half a block away.  “130, one time offer!”   (We kept walking.)   I can’t imagine paying the full 700, knowing he would’ve sold it for 130!  Finding our way back to the first store wasn’t easy, but we made it and bought the vase we loved for 140.  I’m so pleased with it!   Merry early Christmas to us J

That evening we watched hundreds of men and boys fishing off the Galata Bridge that connects Old Town across the Golden Horn to the other part of European Istanbul.  The guys were pulling up 4-inch fish with 10-foot poles, which were then either grilled and served right there on a piece of bread with onion and lettuce or sold to the fish market at the end of the bridge.  The lower level of the same bridge is also open and lined with touristy seafood restaurants.  We braved a walk along it and were accosted by the doorman of every restaurant along the way. We know the language, though, and I don’t mean Turkish.  You don’t ever, I repeat, ever say “no” to any sort of spiel like “Sir, Madam, please look at this menu, great fish tonight, please, come in.”  You just can’t, because “no” somehow means “I’m playing hard to get and am on the verge of this decision. Please convince me in as best a way you know how and harass me until I realize I do in fact want to spend money here.”  You can also never say “I just ate”, even if you have just eaten, because it somehow translates into the above statement.  You have to say “maybe”.  “Maybe later” or “maybe tomorrow” or “maybe I’ll come back in two minutes” lets them save face and like magic, they smile and walk away.  We discovered this in Egypt and it worked in Turkey as well, so we’re sticking with it! 

Galata Bridge.  On the top level are the fishermen, on the lower level are all the restaurants.

Past the fisherman we could see the Bosporus Bridge connecting Europe and Asia.  It was lit with LED lights that changed colors in cool light show at the top of the hour. 

We walked from there back to the green space surrounding the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque.  The stretch just out the Blue Mosque’s front gate is called the Hippodrome, which the Byzantines used for chariot racing and other such raucous activities since about 300 AD. Now it’s just a nice quiet square with a few monuments, including one from Ancient Egypt erected in the square in year 390.

Our last day in Istanbul was finally sunny!  We walked to the Galata Bridge at sunrise, just as the fisherman were starting to cast lines, then made our way back to the hotel for breakfast. 

New Mosque just after sunrise.

Fish market at the end of Galata bridge.

From there we went to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, or Blue Mosque as its more widely known because of the tens of thousands of blue tiles lining the inside walls. It was completed in 1616, one thousand years after the Hagia Sophia. It’s still an active place of worship, so protocol had to be followed to enter. We removed shoes, I covered my hair with a scarf, and we walked in to the amazingly bright and colorful central worshiping area. Photos don’t even do it justice but here’s a go at it:

Looking up from the entrace.

In the courtyard of the Blue Mosque.

Gorgeous interior of the Blue Mosque.

 

This doesn't even do it justice.

 

Such a vast space.

Prayer rug.

Next we walked a few hundred meters to the Basilica Cistern, one of many underground reservoirs lying beneath Istanbul.    It was built during the 600’s and still looks sturdy despite weathering many earthquakes!  It can hold 100,000 tons of water… pretty impressive, right?  There were pathways above the water (now only a few feet deep) to explore the columns and vast space.

Basilica Cistern.  See the carp?

We decided against going into the Topkapi Palace and instead made our way to the Spice Market.  Remember how good we were at haggling over the vase?  Well I’m not sure what happened but we apparently turned Western, polite, and into suckers!  Looking back makes me realize what fools we were to pay full price (shame on us) for the teas and spices we purchased.  The extra $10 spent bothers me way less than knowing we failed miserably at the game.

Spice shop.

 

Spice stall.  We skipped the Natural Turkish Viagra and went instead for some tea!

Baklava

We decided against going into the Topkapi Palace and instead made our way to the Spice Market.  Remember how good we were at haggling over the vase?  Well I’m not sure what happened but we apparently turned Western, polite, and into suckers!  Looking back makes me realize what fools we were to pay full price (shame on us) for a few of the teas and spices we purchased.  The extra $10 spent bothers me way less than knowing we failed miserably at the game.

Bosporus Bridge connecting Europe and Asia.

Love this picture with the Bosporus Bridge and minarets in the skyline.

Awesome skyline!

Turkey on Thanksgiving Part 1 - Capadoccia's Early Churches and Indecent Erosion

In Cappadocia, with a group of 'fairy chimney' formations behind us.

  

Last year we met a smart, personable American named Cassie on a city tour in Barcelona on Thanksgiving weekend.  We spent a few hours trading travel memories and life stories (hers is captivating!) and by the end of our shared paella lunch she had convinced us to visit Istanbul and the inland area of Cappadocia in Turkey.  As coincidence would have it, we ended up there exactly a year later doing just as she suggested:  flying through Istanbul to Kayseri to explore the Cappadocia region and then back to Istanbul for a couple days before flying home.  As always, we would’ve benefited with a little more time, and would’ve loved a lot more sun this trip (it rained all but one day we were there!) Despite the crummy conditions we were captivated by the people, land, history, and inimitable culture of Turkey.

The first part of this trip was to Cappadocia, a landlocked region in central Turkey famous for its natural formations and importance to early Christianity.  We arrived into the town of Kayseri and took an hour shuttle to the little town of Göreme, where we spent a couple nights.   Göreme is in the heart of the Cappadocia region and is unique in that it is built right into the surrounding rock formations called fairy chimneys.  Take our hotel for example:

Our cave hotel in Goreme, Turkey.

 

It may be difficult to see, but the room (including the columns aorund the bed) is literally carved out of the rock!

The entire Cappadocia region was formed by a long series of volcanic eruptions that deposited 100’s of meters of ash that was then covered in a layer of harder basalt rock.  As water seeps through the basalt it wears away the softer rock below, oftentimes making columns which are then further sculpted by wind erosion.   The harder basalt on top wears away more slowly leaving behind some very interestingly shaped spires, columns, and other formations.   Starting with at least the Hittites in 1500BC, people have taken advantage of the ‘tuff’ (strong but softer volcanic ash layer) by excavating dwellings from the formations and surrounding hills.  These excavations range from simple rooms to extravagant churches to massive underground cities as deep as eight stories!

We spent most of the first day wandering around tiny Göreme and exploring its Open Air Museum, a fascinating valley full of the cave dwellings. Christ’s followers were first called Christians a few hundred miles south in Antioch, Turkey.  Close by, Cappadocia was a safe hideout during the earliest years of the religion when Christians were being persecuted by the Romans (and then later by the Arabs). The area was a stronghold for early Christianity and this one valley alone contains more than thirty churches built during the THOUSAND consecutive years it served as a monastic community.   It was for this area that Saint Basil wrote his ‘rules’ on monastic life in 340AD, describing how to follow the biblical precedent of living and communing with other like-minded individuals as described in Acts 2.   Wow.

Entrance to the Open Air Museum.  That's the 6-story 'nunnery' with kitchen and dining hall on the first floor, chapel on the second, and bedrooms throughout.

 Open Air Museum in Goreme
 These were all part of the monastic community that functioned from year 340 to around 1300.

So guilty, we didn't know we weren't supposed to take photos (and didn't use flash so hopefully didn't do any damage to the frescoes). This is one of the cave churches (of which there are 30 in this valley.)

Stunning ceiling

Another of the cave churches with its early frescoes.

Within a mile of Göreme are a few valleys with especially magnificent examples of the fairy chimneys.  Of these, we were particularly interested in hiking along Rose Valley.  Although we loved that most of the region is wide open and walk-able, there were almost no signs and the closest thing we had to a map was a sketch of the area.  We walked for a couple hours and did run across countless fairy chimneys and pigeon houses but sadly never quite made it in to Rose Valley.   As the temperature was due to drop to the mid 20’s, we abandoned our search as the sun was setting and opted instead for a warm shower in our cozy cave room.

Hot air balloon in the background near (but not in!) Rose Valley.

We wandered for hours in and out of caves, through old vineyards and orchards, and around weridly eroded land.



Just another view on the walk.

The next morning dawned cold, gray, and rainy.  We decided against the classic hot air balloon ride over the area and instead ‘had a bit of a lie in’ as they say here in England.  We headed out with a guide after breakfast, stopping first at an amazing underground city.  The softness of the tuff (aka tufa) made it possible for ancient civilizations (since at least the Hittites in the Bronze Age around 1500 BC) to excavate vast underground cities that served as bolt holes to escape invaders.  We visited the ancient underground Hittite city of Kaymakli, which had been enlarged to its present vastness by early Christians attempting to resist Arab conquerors.



Inside Kaymakli underground city.

Sone door that could be rolled in to block certain passageways.

 

Kaymakli is eight levels deep and is one of 36 known (they keep finding more) underground networks in the area.  The cities weren’t particularly hidden - most homes and churches aboveground had entrances - but were impenetrable to passing armies.  The confusing network of narrow tunnels filled with traps and doors meant likely death for invaders as they walked single-file, hunched over through the labyrinth of passageways. 

We loved exploring Kaymakli and would’ve spent a day just at this site if not for our tour guide Mr. Happy, who kept us moving and became slightly annoyed (mostly amused) when Chris kept darting off along the side tunnels only to pop up below or above or next to where we were standing.  Can you say “kid in a candy store?”

Although the weather is oftentimes worse in the winter (we can attest to that), the sparse crowds make it more enjoyable to explore some of the more intimate sights.  Apparently this place is packed with tourists in the summer; we were able to wander around at our own (well, Mr. Happy’s) pace and never felt crowded. 

Our next stop was the “Castle” of Uçhisar, the tallest of the fairy chimneys.  Climbing to the top allows for a panoramic view of the region… if it wasn’t shrouded in fog.  Ah well, can’t change the weather!

Yep, cold and foggy!

Afterwards we visited Cavuşin, a once-Greek city built into the cliff that was mostly abandoned during the Greek-Turkish population exchange (euphemism for ‘agreed mutual expulsion’) that was part of a deal signed in Lausanne in 1923.  Two million people were affected by the forced outing of Muslims from Greece and Greek Orthodox from Turkey, the purpose of which was to stabilize the region.  The area was completely abandoned in the 1950’s after a deadly series of rock slides (or ‘land slips’ in England).

Cavuşin

Great example of just how many dwelling were cut out of the cliff face at Cavuşin.

After exploring the ruins we hiked about a mile around the back of the cliff to see an amazing panoramic view of the area, including a really sweet little fairy chimney “family” (bottom right corner).  We had to stop and take some photos, of course!

 

Chris (in blue) gives some perspective to how tall the formations are.

From there we went to an ancient town Avanos whose residents have used the red clay from its river to make pottery since the Hittite times.  We were especially impressed with the hand painting of the pieces… talk about detail work.  Yikes.  We tried our hand at the potter’s wheel and with a *little* help were both able to make a pot using the kick wheel.  We didn’t get to keep it, though.  What a bummer.  

 

Yeah, made it myself. 

Imagination Valley - There's a camel coming out of our heads!

 

Fairy Chimney

Chris climbed through a hole in the first story ceiling to get to that window.  The Spaniards below were laughing and yelling "don't jump, it's not worth it!"

And lastly, to prove that nature has a sense of humor... *blush*

 



Home to see the family

Mom's backyard.

Being away from family during Christmas is a real negative of living abroad.   For logistical reasons more than anything else we decided to take separate trips back to the States this winter to spend time with each of our families.   I spent a couple weeks in the States, mostly in Rochester but with an overnight visit to Charlotte and Charleston on the front end of the trip.  I’m thankful that mom lives in USAir’s hub so my ‘layover’ could be two days long! 

Keeping this short, it was an incredible trip home.  I got to see and really spend quality time with my mom, stepdad, neighbor friends and their awesome kiddos,  brother and his girlfriend, all the pups,  cousin, aunt and uncle, and grandparents.

Since it wasn't right during the holidays everyone was relaxed enough to talk for hours over coffee or a meal or whenever.  I was fed like a QUEEN by my mom, aunt, and grandma (the pattern emerges!)  On top of all that, the weather was warm and mostly dry… quite the change from England!  It was such a special trip.

Some of my favorite photos:

Sarah Boo

Morty by the fire.

Twinsies?

Mom, B, and Mortums.

Cal, Colleen, Ziggy, and Ray.

Me and Dziadz.

G'ma!

Aunt Mary Ellen and Uncle John.

Dziadz at the Rochester Public Market.

(Great) Aunt Irene

Ziggy waiting at the window just cracks me up.

Cal's street