Turkey: Day III (Istanbul)

Monday, March 21st:

Today we awoke early enough to enjoy the (included) breakfast at the Villa Denise. Breakfast here consists of coffee, lots of bread, jam, three different types of white cheese, black and green olives, honey, butter, coffee, and a roll of salamı (like ham, but nobody in Islamic regions eat pig). After breakfast we went to the Ortaköy Mosque which is right on the Bosphorus. The mosque has a beautiful exterior, has massive minarets, and is decorated with large crystal chandeliers and baroque paintings. As we walked out of the mosque, Jen’s boot zipper broke, so we travelled to her dorm room in Etiler to get her a new pair of shoes. Following that, we took a bus to Beşiktaş to go to the Dolmabahçe Palace, but it was closed (for Mondays), so we walked to Eminönü to check out the famous Spice Bazaar!

The Ortaköy Mosque:

The Istanbul Spice Bazaar is a very cool place filled with vendors selling Turkish delights, tea leaves, dried fruits, spices, dried vegetable skins, cheese, olives, and tons of nuts. Most of the Turkish delights are filled with pistachios, which is a huge staple of the nation. It is very enjoyable to walk around because you are allowed to take small, free samples of things without buying the large quantities in which they are typically sold. At the end of the spice bazaar, we bought a Vefa drink, which tastes like applesauce mixed with yogurt with hazelnuts in it. From there we walked up a large hill to the Süleymaniye Mosque which is one of the largest in the city and most prominent as it sits on top of a hill overlooking the Golden Horn River that divides the city. The mosque was constructed for the Ottoman sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. The inside is gorgeous and decorated with typical Ottoman styles much like the Blue Mosque.

A Typical Shop-Front in the Istanbul Spice Bazaar:

After a short taxi (taksi) ride north of the city center, we arrived at the Church of St. Savior at Chora (the Kariye Müzesi). This church is a Byzantine church that is much smaller than the Hagia Sophia, but similar style and interior decoration. The church has a series of small hallways that are decorated from top-to-bottom in religious mosaics. It is absolutely beautiful, and much lower-key than the Hagia Sophia. The mosaics are of similar style but are much closer to the viewer as the building is smaller. It is one of the few remaining churches from the Byzantine era that seemed to avoid Islamic influence and the addition of minarets during their reign.

A Beautiful Mosaic of Jesus Christ at The Church of St. Savior at Chora:

After trying unsuccessfully to use the bus system to get to the Grand Bazaar, we rode a taxi to Beyazit for lunch and some shopping. At a café outside the bazaar, I tried Et Dönner, another very traditional Turkish meal. This dish is made by putting a vertical spit through a stack of red meat while it spins and roasts next to a flame. After it cooks, the chef slices down the meat to remove small chunks of the meat, which fall to a plate below and are put in a sandwich with veggies for you to eat. It is a very salty but savory lunch, and I enjoyed it with a cup of fresh squeezed pomegranate juice. We went inside the Grand Bazaar after lunch and I was amazed at how crazy it was! There is a labyrinth inside of hallways, and it seems like an American mall, only almost 600 years old and every store sells the same thing. You need to bring your best skills at dodging hecklers here, as they can be very pushy sometimes. In there I purchased some backgammon pieces to go with my new board, and some Italian black leather gloves after some bargaining. It is also absolutely hilarious what you can find for fake designer wares in here, such as D&G, Burberry, Versace, Prada, etc. We left the bazaar and made a short walk to the Column of Constantine, which is nicknamed the Burnt Column for its black scorch marks from a fire centuries ago.

The 550+ Year Old Grand Bazaar:

Now the best treat of the day: we wanted to go to a Turkish Bath (or Hamam) and thanks to a recommendation by a good friend, Jesse Suchoff, we went to the world famous “Cağaloğlu Hamamı.” The place, as advertised, is apparently included on a famous “List of 1000 things to do before you die” and is very Western and spa-like in business, but fully Turkish inside. After purchasing your treatment package and undressing into a traditional Turkish bath towel, you walk inside the Hamam room. This room is basically a massive marble steam room filled with hot water sinks, a marble platform in the center, and a massive domed ceiling with star-shaped holes for natural light to feed inside. If you google “Turkish Bath,” this is the one you will see. After soaking in the steam while laying on the center platform, a Turkish masseur comes inside and hands you a pillow. I will warn people attending this, that a Turkish Massage is not for everyone, as it can be very rough but it will feel very good on the joints after. The masseur digs his elbows and hands deep into your back and legs and stretches all of your joints for fifteen minutes, before you sit next to a sink and he douses you in hot water. Following that, the masseur will take an exfoliating scrub and soap and scrub your skin on your chest, back, legs, and arms. He also dumps shampoo on your head and washes the hair, then leaves you some to clean the regions that would be inappropriate to touch (although, apparently women are naked inside their bath and these boundaries to not exist). This bath was one of the coolest experiences of my life, and after washing myself I sat again soaking in the steam before heading outside to dry off and drink a fresh squeezed fruit juice and a tea. I was basking in this feeling of bliss for hours.

Jen and I made our way back to the hotel for a short nap before heading out to dinner in Arnavutköy next to the Kuruçeşme Park at a restaurant called Marina Balik. Balik is Turkish for fish, and this restaurant is right on the Bosphorus. My brother, Brad, deserved credit for the recommendation here, as he and his wife, Laura, went here on their birthday (yes, they are both born on the same day) when they visited Istanbul. For dinner we both had Grilled Octopus and an extremely delicious Grilled Salt Fish kebap with tomatoes and peppers. We also enjoyed some Turkish white wine with the dinner, a bottle of “Bornova Misketi,” or Muscat, which was by far the best of the trip so far. We digested our food on the walk back to the hotel, and after some prodding from Jen, we took a few pre-game shots of a Turkish vodka called Binbao, flavored like blood-orange, and went to the club called Reina. Reina is apparently one of the best clubs in the world and especially Europe, and is noted as the best club in Istanbul. The location is awesome, right under the bridge to Asia in Ortaköy, however in the winter months the outside deck is closed as it is too cold. We had heard that the doormen are typically against letting Americans inside, but we got inside. I figured that it being a Monday night and being fairly empty was the reason that this was so easy. We still enjoyed the club very much and stayed dancing until it closed at three in the morning. Just a note to people who want to go here: The club is awesome, the service is great if you get inside, but be prepared for a hefty bill. We drank three gin and tonics between the two of us and it was 100TL for them. Finally it is bedtime after such a long and eventful day!

The Exterior of the St. Savior Church at Chora: