looking back

Well, we're home. There were so many things that could've gone wrong our last day, but almost nothing went awry. We got up early, drove from Cirali to Antalya (check, no problems), bought gas (check, no problems), found the airport (check), returned the rental car (check), confirmed that our seats were reserved for both flights and that our bags checked all the way through to JFK (check), flew to Istanbul (check), left the airport for 3 hours or so and found a restaurant and then found a cab back to the airport (check), and flew home.

Marc had looked at Google Maps, to see the area around the airport. He picked out a little spot along the water that had a bunch of restaurants, but that's really all we knew about it. It was a residential area, turns out, and since it was Mother's Day there was a lot of family hubbub (although maybe it's always like that on Sundays, who knows). There was a van with a loudspeaker, and people handing out two red carnations to the women (who looked like mothers? I have no idea, but I took the flowers). We wandered around for an hour or so, then picked a gorgeous little restaurant called Figaro's with wisteria hanging from the arbor. I can't remember the name of what we had, but it was GREAT -- a kind of Turkish spanakopita, I think.

me with my Mother's day carnations, which matched my red shirt

and our YUMMY lunch, with the ever-present Turkish tea

Leaving Istanbul, though, was very upsetting for me. When we got to the gate, we first had to be grilled by a gate agent, who demanded to see our full travel itinerary for the day, and who asked more than the standard questions about who packed our bags, etc. One question was if we had anything on us that could resemble a weapon, and I volunteered that I had knitting needles. After a debate with the supervisor, I was allowed to take them (note, it hadn't been a problem anywhere else on this trip). Then a stop at one desk for a lengthy something with our passports, then a stop at another desk for something with our passports, then the body and bag check. While I was being seriously physically examined by a female agent, two others were going through my bags. They came to the knitting needles and told me they were forbidden. I told them that the supervisor said I could keep them and they just said no, they're not allowed. I tried to argue but they were insistent. I pointed to the supervisor and told them that he said they were OK, and they said no. So I pulled the needles out of what I was knitting, and I was so upset. I was handing the needles to the idiot woman and the supervisor came over and said oh, sorry, that's my fault. You can keep them.

I don't know why this was so very upsetting to me. We sat down to wait, and I was crying and my hands were shaking, and then my nose started bleeding. I put the stitches back on the needles, to deal with it later, and it took me a long time to calm down. Something about the total randomness of their complete authority, I think. Just someone's whim. The flight took off late, but the rest was uneventful....though it took us an hour to get through the passport check at JFK.

So now it's a memory, our Turkish vacation. It's a bit confusing, because this was more like a fall vacation; usually our 1-week spring vacation is to a beach somewhere, where we stay in one spot the whole week, and our 2-week fall vacations are to somewhere far away, and we travel around the whole time. So coming home, my head was kind of expecting to return to cold late-autumn weather. I'll adjust. :)  It was a great trip. One thing I'll always remember is how the fathers tended to hold the small kids, the babies, and their utter delight with them. They'd squeeze them and kiss their little cheeks like they were the sweetest sugar. And the old men would watch, and smile.

Below is the entire slideshow of pictures we took; I'll be expanding the posts below, with more information and photos, so even if you've seen them before, take a quick peek down the blog because there might be something new.

Istanbul, last day

On our last day in Istanbul, we decided to take a little cruise around the Bosphorus - around the Golden Horn, and then up the waterway so Europe was on our left, Asia on our right. The weather forecast was for a nice day, so we thought we'd be in for a lovely day. It turned out to be very hazy and overcast, and colder and windier than I'd hoped, but it was still fine. We were cruising around the Bosphorus! How bad could that be. And it was lovely, until this gang of loud obnoxious Swiss girls parked themselves on the rail in front of us, blocking our view and our ability to hear the tour guide. Still. Cruising around the Bosphorus. (and p.s., the day after Obama announced that our government had killed bin Laden.)

Look at the old fortress and walls -- lots of that kind of thing lying about

I don't know anything about it, but look at that cool mosque in the middle of Istanbul -- four sides with giant windows below the dome.

This was the Egyptian embassy, as far as I could hear. There are lots of these fancy, huge, ornate buildings along the Bosphorus.

The cruise stopped at this lighthouse, though we never could figure out why. It was the only place we stopped, it was close to the end, the view wasn't anything special, nor was there anything special about the lighthouse. hmmm.

Marc, getting sunburned on the cruise.

Istanbul Modern -- I don't know what that is. OH...I learned that if a mosque has two minarets, it was built by the Sultan.

This was a gorgeous mosque right on the banks of the Bosphorus, next to the 2nd bridge.

Mosques and cranes - modern Istanbul.

I could've used one more day in Istanbul. I didn't get to see the Basilica Cistern, and I didn't get to see the Whirling Dervishes, which I wanted to see. One more day would've done it. But Istanbul is a wonderful city, filled with Turkish Delights of all kinds....and not just the candies. Which I enjoyed.

first day in Istanbul: the rest of the story

After seeing the Hagia Sophia, we walked around a lot and decided to have a bit of a rest before going out for the afternoon. Our first post-rest stop was the Blue Mosque, which isn't a museum but a proper mosque, so we had to take off our shoes and I had to cover my head. Only the men get to pray in the huge central space; it looked like women stayed on the periphery, behind a screen. The mosque is gorgeous, very ornate in a different way than the Hagia Sophia. Prettier, in a way, but less magnificent. There are four giant pillars supporting the dome, unlike the pillar-less Hagia Sophia.

it really is spectacular -- as gorgeous on the outside as Hagia Sophia is on the inside

the front gate, facing the Hippodrome

the dome, obviously -- delicately beautiful

the tiles on the columns and around the windows are blue.....beautiful

It had such a different feeling than the Hagia Sophia (which I prefer). Still -- I'm so glad we saw it. Then we wandered over to the Galata Bridge area, to the Egyptian Spice Market, which was next to another beautiful mosque. The Spice Market was a scene, very crowded, and much bigger than I had the fortitude to wander through. We kind of walked through, in and out, without delving into the interior:

this mosque is next to the Spice Market. It was covered in birds.

We killed a little time, then went to the #1 rated restaurant in Istanbul, according to Trip Advisor. Not according to us -- our meal last night was so much better! The food was mediocre, not even worth talking about here. Our plan for tomorrow includes a boat tour of the Bosphorus, which should be fun, especially since the weather is supposed to be beautiful.

There's a hysterical thing here -- spirographs! There are so many men with little tables, making spirograph drawings all day long. They're really just trying to sell small kits of the spirograph wheels, but they stand there, making one after another twirly twirly twirly multi-colored spirograph pictures. It's so funny. And we saw this today, which also made me laugh. It was a couple doors down from a Burger King -- I didn't notice which one had more business:

Having such a great time....

i cried.

When I took art history, my first semester of college in 1994 in Huntsville, Alabama, I studied the Hagia Sophia. It was so exotic, so other, so far away from me, in every possible way, it was beyond my ability to dream about dream about seeing it. Today we saw it. We saw the gorgeous interior, the amazing dome, the beautiful mosaics. When we crossed the threshold into the central space, I was so choked up, as I often am on our trips. Me, me, me, from where I'm from, I'm in Istanbul, I was standing inside the Hagia Sophia. Unbelievable.

looking up at the dome

standing on the 2nd floor gallery, looking down at the floor

giant marble urn

interior, amazing

beautiful script

gorgeous mosaics. I cried.

partial mosaics - still with the crying.

this was far up on a wall

for scale -- the Arabic parts were huge

that elevated platform was for the sultan, so he could sneak in and pray without being seen, thus maintaining his mystique (according to the Lonely Planet guide, anyway)

looking across the space

this is the detail shot...see it in place, below:

Marc looking at the giant marble urn

We went to the Blue Mosque, but it was prayer time so we couldn't go in. The Hagia Sophia is just a museum now, but the Blue Mosque is not a museum, but a living mosque. I hope we get to go back to see the interior, it sounds beautiful in another way. Here's the exterior of it:

We're heading out for another wandering-about; dinner tonight is already reserved, at a place near the Spice Market and the Galata Bridge. More on that later.

our first night in Istanbul

Well, I'm writing this on our first morning in Istanbul, of course -- our first morning which included hearing the call to prayers, the adhan, which is called five times a day. The early morning one (around 4 or 5 am?) includes a line exclusive to the early morning adhan:

God is greatest; I bear witness that there is no God except the One God; I bear witness that Muhammad is God's Messenger; Come to salat, come to success, Salat is better than sleep. God is Greatest. There is no except the One God.

A version of the adhan comprises the 8th version of the Turkish national anthem:

Oh glorious God, the sole wish of my pain-stricken heart is that,
No heathen's hand should ever touch the bosom of my sacred Temples.
These adhans, whose shahadahs are the foundations of my religion,
May their noble sound last loud and wide over my eternal homeland.

It was kind of cool, hearing the call to prayers in the dark this morning. At one point it sounded like we were hearing the call from a number of mosques, all overlapping. We'll see if I like it so much as the week goes on, waking me up so early, but for now it was eerie and beautiful.

After we rested a little, we went out for a walk before dinner last night. Just a few minutes from our hotel are the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, and the Basilica Cistern -- along with lots of other things to see, like an Egyptian obelisk and some kind of twisty thing from 4BC. More on those later.

We ate at this really wonderful little restaurant a block from our hotel. The wait staff were as warm and generous as if we were in their home; there's a thing about Turkish hospitality, and that's what we got. Really wonderful (and when we passed by the next night, the guy at the door remembered us). Anyway -- the pictures below show the interior, but look on the wall, underneath all the little colored lamps. That's a flat screen tv (with the sound off, fortunately) and the whole time we were there it was something like Funniest Home Videos. Little kittens falling down, idiots wearing rollerblades on a treadmill, the usual funny home video stuff. Since I love that, it was just a little added surreal bonus for a jet-lagged person finding herself in Istanbul.

Here's the restaurant where we ate last night. So charming, and the hospitality was so warm.

kids -- this is Turkish snacky-snack! It's called mezes, it's a sampling of all kinds of things. We had it as an appetizer last night, before lamb shishkebab (Marc) and grilled kofta (me). YUM. So far the food is great.

down the street, and turn right...et voila. The Blue Mosque. I'll show you later.

THE HAGIA SOPHIA, in situ. I cried.

as we walked past this kind of spooky place at the end of our street, I had to take a photo. Gave me a shiver.

After dinner, we just crashed. Woke up, slept, woke up, slept, didn't sleep, tried to sleep, woke up, slept. And so on, all night. And then the adhan....here, I leave you with it, and we're heading down to breakfast and then out and about.

we're here!

All things considered, it was an uneventful flight and we're here! When we were in line at JFK to check in, a hairy dark-haired woman (who Marc described "charitably" as androgynous) standing behind us poked Marc and said something like "excuse me but your partner cut in line ahead of me and my back is hurting." Two words: did not.

Anyway, we got to the gate with plenty of time to spare, and the flight was to take off at 11pm. We actually took off at midnight, after a crazy boarding scheme which was basically "ok everyone get on the plane." Despite the disordered boarding, it went pretty quickly. We sat next to a young Turkish woman who didn't speak English beyond thank you and please....more than the Turkish I know, for sure. It was boiling hot as the plane boarded -- heat was just pouring out of the vents. As we passed a couple of people on the way to our seats we overheard them saying "it must be 90 degrees in here." They weren't exaggerating.

But we took off, the flight was uneventful (except for all the mothers changing babies' diapers in their seats instead of the bathrooms, and OH MY GOD did those babies have stinky diapers). Food, unremarkable. Movies available, unremarkable. But when we landed, the young Turkish woman next to me said "Welcome to Turkey" and I was thoroughly charmed.

It was simple getting the visa, getting through passport control, getting our luggage, and after a bit of worry, finding the guy who was going to drive us to our hotel. We drove past mile after mile of heavily-tuliped landscaping -- thick, lush tulips, amid other gorgeous flowers -- and got to our darling little hotel, Art City Hotel. It's in the Sultanahmet neighborhood of Istanbul, 3 minutes' walk from the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia (WHICH IS OPEN TOMORROW!!! YAY!!!!). The people at the hotel are sweet and friendly and very welcoming. We have a balcony off our room with a view of the mosque at the end of the street (I think there's a mosque at the end of every street):

there it is, the mosque at the end of our street, seen from our balcony. i think it's the Sokullu Mehmet Pasa Camii

the view from our terrace. real life across the street.

The first night is always the most difficult because we're exhausted and time-lagged, so we have a restaurant already picked out before we arrive, walking distance from the hotel.

The best news, aside from getting here, is that the Hagia Sophia is open tomorrow. We have information about seeing the Whirling Dervish (oh yeah), taking a cruise on the Bosphorus (oh yeah), and the location of various markets, including the Spice Market. I think we're going to love Istanbul.