Istanbul Day 2

June 7, 2011 - Tuesday

When we went to bed last night, the plan was to sleep 'til six thirty and be downstairs for breakfast by seven thirty.  Seems simple, right?  Well it actually did happen that way, but in between Ginger's new phone decided to sing the theme from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" around two in the morning.  Since I had set both my phone and laptop for six thirty, and since I didn't recognize the sound, and since it was pitch black outside, I was completely awake by the time I figured out what was going on.  Then I started obsessing about not having done yesterday's blog, etc. etc. and I wound up getting up and writing for about two hours.  And the light from the laptop woke Ginger, to boot!  Luckily she can go back to sleep instantly, so I didn't have to feel guilty about that!

I crawled back into bed around five thirty to relax a little before the alarms went off.  At six twenty-five Nick knocked on our door, announcing that it was nearly seven and we'd better get up!  My watch clearly said 6:25, as did Ginger's, so there was another adrenaline rush while we decided we were just fine and could follow our original schedule.

We were dressed and downstairs for our free breakfast at 7:35.  Nick had already finished his breakfast, having been downstairs before the lights were even turned on!  By the time we showed up he was quite worried about us!  It turns out that his watch had selected a different time zone which is half an hour off from Turkey's!  Also, he came downstairs without waking Randy and then kept worrying about why he wasn't there!  Poor kid got about fifteen minutes to rise, dress, eat and be ready to go!

The breakfast buffet is unbelievable with many different kinds of cheese and olives and sliced meats, two kinds of yogurt, cucumbers and tomatoes on one wall and cereals, hard-boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, french fries and other "western" breakfast foods on the other, along with honey in the comb and fresh halvah, as well as orange juice, coffee and tea.  Oh and three different kinds of rolls, one of which is a kind of miniature croissant.  Talk about yummy!

I've brought my laptop downstairs so I can copy/paste the blog and add the photos that I've put on my desktop.  After a bit of fuss and bother I am able to connect and do the deed, although I have WAY too many photos and time is now short, so I just grab a few and will think about the rest tomorrow, Miss Scarlet!

Our guide, Afir, is already in the lobby, which we figure out when another group talks to the front desk and he thinks they are looking for him.  He is charming and speaks wonderful, slightly accented English.  We are all pretty much assembled by 8:30, although I have to scurry upstairs and deposit the computer and Nick needs to get his hat.  We climb in another (no, actually, it is the same) Mercedes-Benz bus and leave ourselves completely in Afir's totally capable hands.

Our driver drops us off and we begin learning about the Hippodrome, located in the Sultanahmet Area.  The Hippodrome was the center of life and was built by the Roman emperor, Septimus Severus.  There were gladiator matches and chariot races.  Not much is left now, but we see the Egyptian Obelisk, with its hieroglyphics, the serpentine column which no longer sports it's three serpents' heads, the Constantine Column, which is a pile of stones that used to be covered with bronze plates until the Crusaders looted the place, and the stone pillar which remains from a Byzantine triumphal arch.  We are also treated to the German Fountain, with its beautiful mosaics under the dome.

From here it is a short walk to the Blue Mosque, with it magnificent blue Iznik tiles.  Afir explains about the nave, a semi-circular depression in the wall, designed to bounce the prayer leader's voice back to the congregation, since everyone must be facing Mecca during prayers.  He tells us that attendance at Friday noon prayers is mandatory, but that all other prayers may be done wherever the person is.  He explains the five laws of Islam - recite the believer's creed over and over throughout your life, make a pilgrammage or Hajj once in your lifetime if at all possible;  observe the holy month of Ramadan; pray five times a day and give alms to the poor.

In the mosque we also learn about the loge where the muezin stand during Friday noon prayers to chant with the imam, and the special entrance for the emperor, so that he won't be assassinated, as had happened before.  Also during the Friday noontime prayers, the imam gives a sermon which delivers from halfway up the stairs to the throne.  That seat, of course, if reserved for Mohammad.

There are cats EVERYWHERE!  Fearless, loving and well fed!

After the Blue Mosque, it is almost mandatory to visit Hagia Sophia, the largest mosque and the only one with six minarets.  The architecture has been copied widely all over the world and includes both half domes and quarter domes to support the huge central dome.  It was constructed over five years, from 532 to 537 A.D. at the orders of Emperor Justinian 1.

As in all mosques, the nave faces Mecca which is east from here.  It is toward Mecca and the Black Stone of the Kaaba that the faithful kneel and pray.  The Black Stone is said to the the one that Adam first touched when he was thrown out of Eden.

Over time it was noticed that tectonic activity had shifted the nave slightly south east.  One of the columns in the mosque has a hole in it and the story goes that the Archangel Michael had put his finger in the hole and shifted the entire structure!  Children now queue up to see if they can put their thumbs in the hold and swing their arms in a full 360 degree circle.  If so they will have good luck!  Originally the mosque only had four minarets.  The other two were added by a gifted architect who determined that the shift had weakened the structure and he added the two new minarets for stability.

The Hagia Sophia (Benevolent wisdom of the gods) has been a place of worship continuously for the past fifteen hundred years.  Originally a Christian church, it contained many Christian symbols.  These had to be modified or covered when it became a mosque.  Some of these changes are quite graceful and others are obvious and clumsy, like the eight names which are featured in every mosque.  The large wooden plaques with these names are completely out of character with the rest of the structure.  The eight names, incidentally and in case there will be a quiz, are Allah, Mohammad, his Prophet, Mohammad's two grandsons, Hasan and Huseyin, and the first four caliphs, Omer, Ali, Osman and Ebubekir.

The building has been destroyed twice and is now in its third reincarnation!

So don't say there aren't any photos of me!  That's Hagia Sophia in the background!

Afir explains that the pattern of the carpet is to allow the worshippers to line up in straight lines with the same amount of space between each one as they will be both leaning forward and kneeling repeatedly. 

It is impossible to ignore the spiritual quality of this amazing structure.  Even as crowded as it is, there is a reverence displayed by all.  Of course you must remove your shoes before entering and all women must cover their heads;  but everyone is gaping and taking photos and in spite of that there is something ineffable about it.

On our way to lunch we pass a children's parade.  We're not sure what they are celebrating but it has a political feel to it and later we hear speeches.  Lunch is included in today's tour and Afir takes us to an outdoor cafe and selects appetizers and an assortment of main dishes for us.  The appetizers consist of delicious dips including hummus and yogurt-based things which are yummy but unknown, served with large, pita-type bread.  The main courses are shown in the photo below, everyone sampled everything!  And it is hard to go wrong with baklava with dessert.

After lunch and a brief visit to the WC down a spiral staircase, we wait only moments for our bus to appear.  (About the WC, the light was a motion sensor and if you didn't move it would go out, leaving you in total darkness until you moved again!)  The bus takes us to the spice market, a bazaar devoted primarily to spices, as you might expect, but also containing many shops selling lamps and jewelery, candy, desserts, ceramics, pashminas and whatever else you might be interested in.  I find my charm for the trip, a tiny nazar or god's eye, and bargain it down to a decent price.  I should be finished shopping now.  Ginger is quite taken with embroidered boots, but withstands their siren call.

Afir meets us on the other end of the bazaar and guides us down some backstreets and up a staircase.  Amazingly we are now at the entrance to the mosque that was built by another powerful sultan who rose to power by virtue of his wife's powerful and scheming mother.  Afir calls it the Bluer Mosque because the tiles in it are almost exclusively blue and it is simply breath-taking.  The entire effect is really much bluer than the Blue Mosque.  This is a real "working" mosque, unlike Hagia Sophia which is now a museum.  There are men praying and the few visitors are quite respectful and do not cross the velvet ropes protecting the worshipers from intrusion.

From here we head to the harbor for our ferry ride on the Bosphorus.  Along its shore we see what are possibly the most expensive mansions in the world - three stories and in the neighborhood of thirty-five million dollars!  There are also several palaces, all designed by the same architect in the classical style.  We also see remains of the old Roman walls and towers.

The bus picks us up and deposits at the hotel, where we have a little time before we leave again to walk to the Romantique Hotel to meet Nick and Ginger's friends.  Some of them are already downstairs when we trudge up the hill and we chat while waiting for the rest to appear.  Here's a surprise.  The hotel that was recommended to them is quite near our hotel.  That ten or fifteen minute, uphill hike was unnecessary;  but who knew?  We all set off back down the hill and it is only a few minutes before two men have joined our party!  We all figure that they are taking us to their shop - but in fact they just chat all the way to the Handi Restaurant.  I half expected them to come upstairs with us!

Yep!  Everywhere!  Must the the influence of Bastet!

There are thirteen of us and our table is already laid with a number of appetizers, which we have not ordered!  We learn later that this place has a reputation for putting these things on your table, unbidden, and then charging you for them!  We get rid of most of them and devour the rest while the other end of the table makes a wine selection.  I'm sitting with "the kids" and am very happy there.  In addition to the two couples from Emerson, we have been joined by Lindsey who is a math teacher and has just moved back to Atlanta, and Molly and Katy, who are sisters.  Molly is only fifteen and is hoping that later tonight she will get to smoke a water pipe!  Katy is in the Peace Corps and is stationed in Moldova.  She and Andy exchange war stories about teaching overseas and Andy is the clear winner when it comes to cushy set-ups!  Katy's shower is in her kitchen and she washes all her clothes by hand.  Her kids are in a public school, unlike Andy's cozened, private-school darlings, and one of Katy's seventh graders came to school drunk!

The menu consists primarily of kebabs which means meat minced very fine with a variety of possible ingredients, including pistachios, and some unidentified side dishes.  The food is good, although the wine is better and it takes three bottles to fill everyone's glass once.  Dessert is pistachio bakklava.

No one can figure out why our waiter is in such a terrible mood!  It is pretty off-putting.  And Ancy can't figure out why his pepper is so incredibly hot!  Randy laughs until he tries his!  I took the world's smallest nibble of mine and immediately grabbed the bread, then the water, then the bread.  So much for taste buds!

After dinner we all go downstairs and discover a box with two tiny kittens in it.  They have food and water, so they aren't abandoned and we don't feel guilty loving and leaving them!  The kids are all going across the bridge to find some drinks and Molly's water pipe, and the old folks head home to call it a night. First, though, we all troop up to our hotel's roof top for an after dinner cordial.  There are tow local ones and we each choose between the orange and the cherry.  They are very nice;  but when that round is finished, so are we!

I'd love to say I stayed up and finished this entry and downloaded all the photos.  But that would be a lie.  I did download photos and write about three paragraphs!  Drooping eyelids trump responsibility.  I find my iPod, set the alarm and crash and burn.