Turkey: Day II (Istanbul)

Sunday, March 20th:

            After finally waking up this morning (and by morning, I mean around 1:00pm) and learning that we had missed the breakfast hours of our Bed and Breakfast hotel, Jen and I made our way by public transportation to the Sultanahmet Area of Istanbul. This area is one of the biggest tourist areas in the city, as the major attractions of the Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya), the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed I Camii) and Topkapı Palace (Topkapı Sarayı) are all located here. The Istanbul public transportation system is fairly efficient, though crowded, as a city of 13.2 million people should be, as buses, trains, and ferries run non-stop during the daytime hours. Jen alerted me to her "Akbil" which is basicaly a microchip on a key chain that stores money to use for these transports, and all of them are under two Turkish Lira for a full ride. A note on the Turkish Lira: as of my trip time, the US Dollar trades at around 1.55 TL per-dollar, which makes transactions here very easy and relatively cheap for American travelers. Anyway, after about an hour of travelling from one end of the city to the other, we arrived in Sultanahmet and I first laid my eyes on the magnificent buildings in the area. These buildings have been around for centuries-- a common theme in this city, as it has been settled for thousands of years and was the center for both the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.

Exterior View of the Hagia Sophia from across Sultanahmet Park:

            Being fairly hungry, we snagged a snack in the park on our way to the Hagia Sophia: a Turkish Simit. Basically this is the Turkish version of a bagel, and it is basically a large, soft pretzel in circular shape that is covered in sesame seeds. We ate this on our way to the Hagia Sophia, and went inside with an audio guide for a combined 20 TL. Another note here: Jen is an international study-abroad student through Duke University at the Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, she has a Turkish Citizen MüzeKart (Museum Card) that gives her massive discounts at all of these attractions in the city.

            My first main attraction in Istanbul might be the best one of the trip. The Hagia Sophia is now a museum, but was a Byzantine Church constructed in the late 6th century as the center of the empire's patriarch. The building was converted into a mosque after the Ottomans sacked Byzantium. This can be noticed by the four minarets that surround the outside of the holy structure. The building was later converted into a museum given its history and the absolutely beautiful sights that can be seen inside. Upon entering, one is immediately encountered with a massive colorful mosaic of Jesus Christ above the main door into the sanctuary. This is one of literally hundreds of mosaics found inside, and one of the most intriguing parts of the museum is how these mosaics are still being discovered today. When converted into a mosque, the ottomans covered all of these mosaics with plaster for their own decor. Today, archeologists are almost blindly (and tremendously carefully) scraping the plaster away in attempts to find more holy mosaics without damaging them. This is a very difficult task, as many of the damaged mosaics show inside the massive building. All over there are mosaic depictions of Byzantine Emperors, Archangels, and holy Christian persons. Seemingly everywhere one looks a mosaic can almost sneak up on you, as they are even hidden in the nooks and crannies of the semi-domes in the high ceilings. It is simply a sight to behold.

Inside the Hagia Sophia:

            After spending over an hour at the Hagia Sophia (I feel like I could have spent days there...) we made our way across the park to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. On the way we stopped at a street vendor and sampled a treat of melted, flavored sugars wrapped around a stick that is similar to a taffy treat at home. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque for the numerous blue tiles and stained glass the decorates its interior, is the national Mosque of Turkey and was constructed for Sultan Ahmed (I) during his reign over the Ottoman Empire. Funny story here, the main mosque of the holy Islamic city of Mecca had five minarets when the Blue Mosque was constructed. As the legend goes, no mosque was to have more minarets than Mecca, however some way along the construction of the Blue Mosque, this instruction was lost and six were built. Not wanting to seem more holy than Mecca, Sultan Ahmed I had two more minarets built and sent to Mecca so it would have seven. While the Hagia Sophia may have the Blue Mosque beat on the inside, the outer structure of the Blue Mosque is far more magnificent than that of the Hagia Sophia. With the six massive minarets and massive domes all over, the building is a prominent point on the Istanbul skyline. As the first mosque I have ever entered (shoes must be removed and women must wear head scarves), I was blown away by the typical Islamic designs on the carpet and domes. There are massive stained glass windows and, as the mosque is still in use, visitors may not pass a fence in the rear of the mosque so as to not disturb those who are praying inside.

The Beautiful Exterior of the Blue Mosque:

            Following the Blue Mosque, we made our way across the park to the Basilica Cisterns museum. The Cisterns is an underground museum that puts its visitors inside an ancient roman cistern that was used as a water store for the city inhabitants. Visitors enter a giant room filled with water and hundreds of Roman columns, and are allowed to walk around the structure. It is very eerie as huge carp swim around the shallow waters, the columns are illuminated with red light, and traditional Turkish music plays softly as tourists hear water drip from the ceiling. Perhaps most intriguing of all, at the far end of the walkways is steps down to the base of two special columns. One of these columns is decorated with a Medusa head upside-down, and the other depicts Medusa head on its side. Why the builders did this is unknown—quite mysterious. After we walked around the museum, we stopped for an apple tea at a café inside the cisterns, and made our way back to the shops of Sultanahmet.

The Roman Columns of Basilica Cisterns:

            For dinner we stopped at a restaurant in Sultanahmet with windows facing the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. It was a great location, and I had Köfte—Ottoman Meatballs with a yogurt sauce and an assortment of veggies. It was here that I also tried Rakı, a favorite Turkish alcoholic drink, for the first time. Rakı is flavored like anise, or black licorice, and is said to taste the best with seafood. I also got to try my first cup of Turkish Coffee after dinner: a cup of coffee boiled with the coffee grains still in it over a wood fire. Very tasty! Following dinner, Jen and I took the light-rail and metro bus back to our hotel and enjoyed some white wine from Cappadocia, a bottle of grape variety “Narince,” and heated up some stuffed mussels from the previous night. We headed to bed early, as we knew we had a long day ahead.