Monday
Bursa is the home of the Turkish shadow puppet and there is a Museum. We were trying to get directions but were told that Turkish Museums close on Mondays. Too bad. We walked around this small church and found stairs leading down the wall in the direction of the mosque, which is famous for it’s calligraphy. We walked though a backstreet where a fresh market was being set-up. Down an alley and out onto the main street and there was the Mosque.
We found the walkway under the street and made our way to the Mosque and removed our shoes and covered hair and headed inside. The calligraphy was amazing. This certainly one of the most fabulous masques I have ever visited. There were some lovely stained glass windows as well. Islamic temples don’t have any images of people or animals so all the stained glass was abstract patterns or calligraphy.
Afterwards we walked around the covered markets. Bursa is a famous center for weaving and fabric. There were people buying fabric, dresses and scarves. I walked around and took pictures. There were some men sitting on a terrace near the mosque drinking tea. I took their picture and then showed it around. They invited me to have tea with them. I would loved to have join them but I had to rendezvous with the rest of the family in a few minutes. I managed to explain that to them and they shook my hand wished me luck and I was on my way. The girls had found a scarf shop and took me there so I could buy one. Then we met up with a young couple Huseyin and Rabia Tuluk who were staying in our same hotel and they invited us to have Kebaps with them.
Bursa is the home the Kebap. They were celebrating their one year anniversary at the hotel but lived in Istanbul. The husband Huseyin worked in the family business furnishing hotels. We walked off in the direction of the restaurant and he would periodically stop and ask directions. Finally we found it. It is either the actual first kepab restaurant or part of the first chain as it is named after the inventor of the kebap, Iskenedar. It had marble floors and beautiful wooden tables and wonderful lamb kebap. Huseyin and his wife Rabia don’t drink alcohol so we all had Ayran and Fanta with plates of really tasty meat over eggplant with a tomato sauce and browned butter poured over it. Wonderfully tender and flavorful! I was glad I ordered a small as it was a lot of food. Mehamet insisted on paying for the meal. So we insisted that he bring his family to florida to stay in our house!
We said our goodbyes to our new friends and walked back to the hotel and jumped in the car and fought our way out of Bursa to the main highway and I drove six hours south to Selczuk a small town next to Efes (Ephesus) We pulled over for a bathroom break at one point and just happened to be at a roadside mall with another Iskander kebap place and right next door an Iskander fast food place. They must be all over. There was also a Starbucks and a MacDonalds. The girls got French fries, Pippa, Randy and Martha coffee drinks and my father I went for the Magnums ( Turkish ice cream bars)
There was a candy place and I noticed they had candies shaped like fried eggs, which was a new one for me. We drove on and went over some very steep mountains with some very sharp turns with lots of crs and buses. Found the bypass around Izmir and then onto a toll road south towards Selczuk. The first toll booth had no place to pay but a big red button so I punched it and drove on.
We finally got to the Selczuk exit and there was another toll booth. We saw a man standing there and tried to hand him money but would wouldn’t take it and pointed to a building off to the side so we backed up and drove over there. Randy went inside and they sold him a card for 20 TL. We drove back to the man and he showed us how to swipe it. We did and as we drove through an alarm went off. We kept going and soon were right outside the village. I pulled over right as it was getting dark. Randy called a promising pensyione and soon we were parking outside and dragging our baggage through a beautiful courtyard and up and outside staircase to our rooms.
There was a rooftop restaurant next door and we walked through a rug and plate shop, up the stairs and sat down on carpet padded benches with pillows and ordered cold beer and mezzzes. There was a nest of storks with fledgling chicks on a pole across the street right at eye level. We ate some different eggplant, lamb and spinach dishes and then wandered back to the hotel and once again I fell exhausted from all the driving into bed!!! GOOD NIGHT!
I sleep until breakfast and then walk down the staircase into a pool of purple bougainvillea that covers the courtyard. There is a big circular wooden table with a bench on one side and chairs around. I settle on the bench and download photos while our hostess assembles breakfast. Cucumbers and tomtoes, bread, butter and jam, cheese and salami, black and green olives, boiled eggs and finally a cup of chair (tea) for me! It’s beautiful sitting in the purple shade in this wonderful country! Today we are off to Efes (Ephesus) which is a very large ancient Greek city. I saw when I was here last time and it was very cool. I hear there is a new section they have uncovered. I am very excited to see it.
After breakfast the owner of the restaurant next door loaded us into his van and drove us to the upper gate at Ephesus. The tour buses were rolling in and lots of people were milling around the vendors and the ticket booth. Half our group headed into the shops and I fought through the crowd and bought tickets. We gather our group, water, sunscreen and plunged into Ephesus. It is a huge site with a main street that runs downhill. People have been living and building here since at least 2000 BC. There are the remains of two theaters a large library and a public toilet with 44 seat and platform for a musician to cover all the noise! Now some of the walls remain and the marble benches with the seat holes cut in them.
There were lots of people speaking in many languages all trying to take pictures at once. My stepmother and Martha were absolutely entranced with the site. It really is amazing the first time you see it. Soon we came to the new section that runs up the hill and paid our 15 TL and headed in under a really amazing truss fabric roof structure that run up the hill and protected the new dig from weather. It was cool and quiet inside. There were only a few people inside which was a relief from the press of humanity outside. This section is incredible! They have uncovered a wealthy persons house or houses with beautiful mosaics on the floors an indoor fountain, marble wainscoting on the walls and frescos painted on the upper walls and ceilings. You could see the remains of indoor plumbing and one huge arched ceiling remains. It was truly fabulous to walk along on a glass walkway over the top and look down into the different rooms. There are sections were different archeologists and restorers are working. They had their tables and tools set-up. There were none working at the time but it was fun to see what their set-ups.
As we walked around I was leaning way over one of the rails to take a picture of a mosaic and one of the guards saw me and came over and took us off the walkway onto the top of a wall so I we could get better pictures. We were the only people in there at the time and the guard saw how thrilled we were and was about to take us down onto the floor but another group of people came along so he took Pippa’s camera and walked inside and took a whole series of pictures for her. He allowed me take a picture of him. We thanked him profusely and headed back up to the top and eventually out and down the side of the tent back to the main street. Amazingly the crowds were gone! We had the place almost to ourselves. So we wandered on down to the library, which was three stories tall and still has some wonderful carved statues in place. They had the walkway to the large theater blocked off as there was a huge crane lifting scaffolding up to a work site on one side.
We headed for the exit and I noticed people walking up into the theater from the other side. Pippa and my father headed for the shade while I ran up for a quick look. It is a very large theater that is still used occasionally for concerts. You can really fell the presence of actors and singers from the ages standing there gazing up at you from the stage. It’s fun to imagine what their performances were like. One the other hill next to the library I notice a Turkish soldier armed with a machine gun watching over the site. The Turks are very serious about guarding their antiquities!
As a I walked towards the exit I noticed lots of re poppies were blooming in the grass along side the ruins. It was very pretty. I found Pippa and my father relaxing in a shady breezy spot. We were in no hurry as my brother and his family, were just heading into the new section. We wandered down to the lower gate and Pippa convinced one of the guards to let her out the gate to buy ice cream and then return. We sat on the wall by the lavs under huge pine trees and listened to the wind singing in the trees and ate double chocolate magnums. Chocolate ice cream with a soft dark chocolate coating dipped in hard milk chocolate on a stick! What a great invention ice cream with a handle! After we finished our ice cream we watched some birds chasing on the many stray cats around. Pippa headed out the gate to shop and my father and I lay down on top f the wall and promptly dozed off.
I was awakened by Winfree talking about the stray cats. We grouped up and bought water and walked to the bookshop on the left. The proprietor called the restaurant and the owner picked us up and took us to the base of the Seven Sisters were he ushered us into the tent covered kitchen of a tent restaurant. There was a whole family busy cutting onions, eggplants, spinach and rolling out very thin dough with which they were making stuff flatbread and cooking them in a stone wood fired oven. We ordered some meat, some veggies and some dessert flatbreads and were ushered into another tent and asked to remove our shoes and were seated one low benches covered the Turkish carpets and pillows at a big low table under another tent. The people running the place looked like they were one step from nomadic or gypsy people. The flatbreads were excellent. One with veggies, anterh with lamb and veggies and two desserts on with banana and honey and another with peanut butter and Nutella ) chocolate hazelnut spread).
After we finished we walk up the hill to the Seven Sisters, which was a small ruin were people obviously lived and maybe were buried at some point. Soon the van appeared and we were driven back to the hotel. We headed to our rooms for a rest. Winfree and I played a couple of games of Boggle and then read for awhile. Soon it was 7 pm when we expected next door for dinner so we straggled over the and up to the rooftop restaurant and watched the stork babies practicing their flying on the edge of the nest while our food was delivered. We ordered a bunch of mezzes which came with bread and drank beer and water. Spinach, eggplant, chicken with veggies and yogurt. It was all tasty. After dinner Randy and family browsed in the ceramic and rug shop under the restaurant and Pippa and my father and I wandered up to the Church of St. Jean and walked around to the side to the see the sunset. There were two Turkish men who were just settling on the wall with half a roast chicken, salad, beer and raki for the dinner. When we appeared they smiled and asked us to share their meal. I explained that we had just eaten but thanked them and we watched the sunset and left them to their meal.
We walked up toward the fort on the hill but some young turks on a moped explain the fort is closed for repair. We headed back to our hotel and off to sleep. I am finally feeling like I am catching up on my rest! See you in the morning!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Istanbul to Bursa
Today we receive a rental van delivered to our hotel. But it has no map. I finally convince the driver to go and buy a map for me. There is no way we will get to Gocek with out one. After looking at the map and the route out of Istanbul the day before I booked passage on a car ferry across the Sea of Marmara to Yalova. So after we settled our hotel bill with a combination of Euros, Turkish Lira and Dollars (they didn’t accept credit cards) we loaded up the van (minibus) and found our way down the twisty side streets to the highway that runs along the shore and along to the ferry terminal. There were cash machines so we loaded up on Turkish lira since few people were accepting Euros. Only my bank wouldn’t give me money. Hmmm! Not good. Then I remembered that these are the days they are turning the last of Wachovia into Wells Fargo. I hope it works in a few days!!!
Winfree had a small Turkish coin she found and wanted to spend it. We walked over to the snack bar and with some help from my pocket book she was able to buy what turned out to be a chocolate granola bar type thingy. She enjoyed it and a guy started talking to us. He is Turkish but lived in Norfolk, Virginia for a while. He also drove through Florida all the way south to Key West. He was one of the ferry captains but unfortunately not for our ferry.
Too bad, as it would have been fun to get Winfree and Estill up on the bridge during the crossing. His bat came in so we said goodbye and walked back to the van and soon we were loaded on the ferry and grabbed a table on the first deck. But we soon realized that contrary to what I had been told people were sitting in their reserved seats. We were displaced by a family and their two daughters spent a lot of effort helping us find our seats which were scattered all about. They were fairly devout Muslim women in scarves and long coats and so the girls had a long conversation with Martha, Pippa and the girls. Winfree, Randy and I went out on deck to take some pics but a rain squall ran us back inside. So I sat and dozed and soon the announcement came to return to our vehicles. So we made or way below to the van and the two gals were waiting for us with a gift of wonderful thin sesame bread sticks.
We worked our way off the ferry in Turkish style pushing our way into the traffic and decided to drive to Termal which is a little town famous for it’s hot springs. It must be a tourist favorite as it was marked with big brown tourist site road signs. In about 30 minutes we arrived and the parking man let us park free and showed us were we could swim. Randy, Father the girls and I paid and were issued towels and
keys to two changing cabanas and told to shower well when we got out. They pool was in a very pretty little valley surrounded by trees next to a nice hotel. The pool was pretty warm and there were pipes along the sides that were jetting very hot water from the springs into the pool. We had a nice swim and sat in the sun for a while then showered and turned in our towels. We realized towards the end that everyone else was walking around in blue crocs from a rack by the entrance. The pool deck was marble and quite slippery. So I think the shoes would have helped with slipping.
After our swim we met up with Pippa and Martha and walk up to café on the hill for lunch. We ordered some yogurt with cucumber and Turkish pizzas and bread with melted cheese and salad. Turned out to be a lot of food. The bread with melted cheese was excellent and the pizza had ground meat, salami, tomatoes on them and were really tasty. We left stuffed and got back in the minibus and headed south to Bursa. The turks don’t post a top speed limit so people pretty much drive as fast as they can. They as a rule pass on the left and will false their headlights at you to get you to move over if they are in a big hurry. We drove back out of Termal and found a highway. Fill the tank with diesel and were on our way. They road was divided two lane most of the way except where they were working and they would send the traffic to the other side. There you had to watch carefully for vehicles passing in your face. They did on occasion and the vehicles on our side would move over as far as possible. It was about 4 hours to Bursa over some pretty mountainous terrain with some good curves with the turks moving at high speed. Took a bit of getting used to. It began to rain just outside of Bursa but stopped as we entered the inner city. We had a hotel but no directions on how to get there. Bursa is a large city with lots of traffic going every which way. I pulled off the road and luckily my brother was able to get the GPS to work on his phone and after driving around for a while we found our hotel on the hill inside the wall of the old city. Ketap Evi is a beautiful boutique hotel. We got settled and had a cup of apple tea.
I read online that Bursa had a large community of the Mevlevi Order which is small sect of Islamists who worship love and a better know as whirling dervishes because the men wear long full skirts and they spin as they pray. I was hoping to see them in action but was unable to find an address and really didn’t want to get back in the car and fight through the traffic!
Then we walked around and looked over the wall and dodged thunderstorms and walked down what seemed like a thousand stairs until we found a café at the base of the wall. They didn’t serve alcohol so we ordered Fanta (orange drink) and Aryan which is a salted yogurt drink and a couple of big cucumber and tomato salads. Followed by a bunch of desserts. Tiaramisu, chocolate pudding, and pistachio ice cream. I was so tired that I kept falling asleep at the table so when dessert was finished and the bill was paid, I staggered up the stairs and fell right into bed. I finally slept a full night and woke after dawn and felt fresher than in many days.
Winfree had a small Turkish coin she found and wanted to spend it. We walked over to the snack bar and with some help from my pocket book she was able to buy what turned out to be a chocolate granola bar type thingy. She enjoyed it and a guy started talking to us. He is Turkish but lived in Norfolk, Virginia for a while. He also drove through Florida all the way south to Key West. He was one of the ferry captains but unfortunately not for our ferry.
Too bad, as it would have been fun to get Winfree and Estill up on the bridge during the crossing. His bat came in so we said goodbye and walked back to the van and soon we were loaded on the ferry and grabbed a table on the first deck. But we soon realized that contrary to what I had been told people were sitting in their reserved seats. We were displaced by a family and their two daughters spent a lot of effort helping us find our seats which were scattered all about. They were fairly devout Muslim women in scarves and long coats and so the girls had a long conversation with Martha, Pippa and the girls. Winfree, Randy and I went out on deck to take some pics but a rain squall ran us back inside. So I sat and dozed and soon the announcement came to return to our vehicles. So we made or way below to the van and the two gals were waiting for us with a gift of wonderful thin sesame bread sticks.
We worked our way off the ferry in Turkish style pushing our way into the traffic and decided to drive to Termal which is a little town famous for it’s hot springs. It must be a tourist favorite as it was marked with big brown tourist site road signs. In about 30 minutes we arrived and the parking man let us park free and showed us were we could swim. Randy, Father the girls and I paid and were issued towels and
keys to two changing cabanas and told to shower well when we got out. They pool was in a very pretty little valley surrounded by trees next to a nice hotel. The pool was pretty warm and there were pipes along the sides that were jetting very hot water from the springs into the pool. We had a nice swim and sat in the sun for a while then showered and turned in our towels. We realized towards the end that everyone else was walking around in blue crocs from a rack by the entrance. The pool deck was marble and quite slippery. So I think the shoes would have helped with slipping.
After our swim we met up with Pippa and Martha and walk up to café on the hill for lunch. We ordered some yogurt with cucumber and Turkish pizzas and bread with melted cheese and salad. Turned out to be a lot of food. The bread with melted cheese was excellent and the pizza had ground meat, salami, tomatoes on them and were really tasty. We left stuffed and got back in the minibus and headed south to Bursa. The turks don’t post a top speed limit so people pretty much drive as fast as they can. They as a rule pass on the left and will false their headlights at you to get you to move over if they are in a big hurry. We drove back out of Termal and found a highway. Fill the tank with diesel and were on our way. They road was divided two lane most of the way except where they were working and they would send the traffic to the other side. There you had to watch carefully for vehicles passing in your face. They did on occasion and the vehicles on our side would move over as far as possible. It was about 4 hours to Bursa over some pretty mountainous terrain with some good curves with the turks moving at high speed. Took a bit of getting used to. It began to rain just outside of Bursa but stopped as we entered the inner city. We had a hotel but no directions on how to get there. Bursa is a large city with lots of traffic going every which way. I pulled off the road and luckily my brother was able to get the GPS to work on his phone and after driving around for a while we found our hotel on the hill inside the wall of the old city. Ketap Evi is a beautiful boutique hotel. We got settled and had a cup of apple tea.
I read online that Bursa had a large community of the Mevlevi Order which is small sect of Islamists who worship love and a better know as whirling dervishes because the men wear long full skirts and they spin as they pray. I was hoping to see them in action but was unable to find an address and really didn’t want to get back in the car and fight through the traffic!
Then we walked around and looked over the wall and dodged thunderstorms and walked down what seemed like a thousand stairs until we found a café at the base of the wall. They didn’t serve alcohol so we ordered Fanta (orange drink) and Aryan which is a salted yogurt drink and a couple of big cucumber and tomato salads. Followed by a bunch of desserts. Tiaramisu, chocolate pudding, and pistachio ice cream. I was so tired that I kept falling asleep at the table so when dessert was finished and the bill was paid, I staggered up the stairs and fell right into bed. I finally slept a full night and woke after dawn and felt fresher than in many days.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Sights and Sounds of istanbul
Morning comes early in Istanbul. I am deeply asleep when there is a sound like a finger tap on your shoulder. It is the first syllable of the morning call to worship from the Blue Mosque. The syllable grows and and ululates. Then dies away. You fall back into sleep. Then the call comes again with a vengence. It begins louder and and grows in volume and voice wails and ululates. You can hear it echoing off buildings. Then it falls away and you hear the answering calls from other mosques. It comes again and again until you are completely awake. Then silence. It’s 4:45 am and still dark and I am awake… Istanbul is waking up. Soon you hear the rumble of the first commuter train. Soon the light begins to color the sky rose and the sound of sweeping brooms as the street cleaners come through. The calls of the bread sellers begin to echo along the street.
It’s full light and I am up and ready for breakfast.
As you walk along the streets of Istanbul the shopkeepers stand in front of their shops and invite you in. They call “are you French?” “are you English?” “Hello English!” “Come have a tea with me.” They all want to sell something. You have to get used to politely saying no and walking on past. Some are more aggressive and will follow you down the sidewalk. There is always conversation in Turkish which is a little bit more guttural than Spanish or French but more musical that German. People smile and nod. If you greet them they will smile and return your greeting.
There are always street vendors. They have carts of bottled water and juices. You smell chestnuts and corn roasting on grills. Oranges and other fruit. There are always young boys walking around with trays of small glasses of tea. Tea is offered everywhere. If you go into a bank or a rug shop the owner will send a boy running for tea. They will offer you tea while they show you rugs. If you engage a Turk in conversation before they will offer you tea.
As you walk you can smell hints of spices from shops, roasting meats from the kebapi (kebab shops) little hints of sewage here and there, perfume and diesel exhaust, and scents from flowering trees and plants.
If you get off the main streets the side streets twist, turn, rise and fall and the houses and shops are packed cheek to jowl. They are full of people sitting on chairs and in cafes, kids playing on the sidewalks and people calling to each other. There are very few street signs so it’s easy to get lost. But if you look up you can usually spot the minarets (towers) of a nearby mosque and head for it. Mosques are always easy to find on the town maps and make good navigation points.
Turkey has Islamic, Christian and Jewish people living happily side by side. It has been a democracy since about 1926 when then President Attaturk declared it so. Turks are very proud of their democracy and their heritage and tke voting seriously. We are arrived during an election and their were polling stations set –up in the airport arrival areas. Many Turks are Islamic in faith but they are not Arabs. Like all Islamic peoples they are very clean. They before praying and the very faithful pray 6 times a day.
I love walking in Istanbul. People call out hello and smile and the men mostly dress in grey or blue slacks and short sleeve button down shirts. The women are dressed in a huge variety from very Western wear. Too black dresses with shawls so only their noses stick out. Women as a rule keep their shoulders covered and don’t wear blouses with revealing necklines. They wear a wonderful variety of scarves in any color and pattern you can image.
There were a few people begging on the street in Istanbul but not nearly as many as we saw in Athens. Here they seemed to be Turks where as in Greece they all seemed to be gypsies or North Africans.
Istanbul is quite clean for such a big city. There is not much trash lying around. There are people who pick up trash and you see them dragging huge containers of trash that are constructed of fabric on a PVC frame built around a hand truck. They stuff them as full as possible. It is amazing how much they can fit into their containers. At one place back in an alley I could see a bunch of these guys sorting out what they had collected. They seemed to be separating the metal from plastics etc.
We had some rain storms roll through and people pulled out umbrellas or put newspapers on their heads and continued on. They didn’t seem to mind the rain and luckily it never lasted too long.
We walked and rode the trolley, but not the buses this time. Turkey has a very extensive bus system around the country. Istanbul is such on old city that there are antiquities everywhere you look. People have been living here since before recorded time. I love the layers of the City. There are buildings of different styles and time periods all mixed together into a wonderful mosaic that Istanbul. If you look at older walls and buildings you can see bits and pieces of even older buildings that were used in their construction.
We walk and look until we are tired and hungry and then choose a café and sit down for a drink and a meal. One of my favorite drinks is Aryan, which is yogurt that has been mixed with water and salt. It is very tasty and refreshing. Especially on a hot day. You almost never see pork on a menu. Though one place that caters to Enlish and German tourists had swine frankfurters on the menu. They have wonderful lamb, beef and eggplant dishes. Also fresh grilled fish.
When the evening comes you see some Turks having alcohol with a meal but mostly after dinner. They make a tasty beer Efes (Ephesus) which comes as a pilsner or a dark. I prefer the pilsner. If they are going to drink hard liquor it will be Raki which is anise flavored like licorice and very strong. It is served like greek ouzo with a glass of water which is dripped into the raki which turns milky. When you have diluted it to your satisfaction it is then sipped. All is quiet save the low rumble of a large sleeping city. Turks as a rule don’t really drink to excess so Turkish cities are pretty quiet at night. Sometimes you hear some roosters giving their last calls as the last light falls away. At about 9:45 at night you hear the evening call to prayer and soon after Istanbul sleeps. As much as any major city ever sleeps. So I read a few sentences and drift off. Good night!
It’s full light and I am up and ready for breakfast.
As you walk along the streets of Istanbul the shopkeepers stand in front of their shops and invite you in. They call “are you French?” “are you English?” “Hello English!” “Come have a tea with me.” They all want to sell something. You have to get used to politely saying no and walking on past. Some are more aggressive and will follow you down the sidewalk. There is always conversation in Turkish which is a little bit more guttural than Spanish or French but more musical that German. People smile and nod. If you greet them they will smile and return your greeting.
There are always street vendors. They have carts of bottled water and juices. You smell chestnuts and corn roasting on grills. Oranges and other fruit. There are always young boys walking around with trays of small glasses of tea. Tea is offered everywhere. If you go into a bank or a rug shop the owner will send a boy running for tea. They will offer you tea while they show you rugs. If you engage a Turk in conversation before they will offer you tea.
As you walk you can smell hints of spices from shops, roasting meats from the kebapi (kebab shops) little hints of sewage here and there, perfume and diesel exhaust, and scents from flowering trees and plants.
If you get off the main streets the side streets twist, turn, rise and fall and the houses and shops are packed cheek to jowl. They are full of people sitting on chairs and in cafes, kids playing on the sidewalks and people calling to each other. There are very few street signs so it’s easy to get lost. But if you look up you can usually spot the minarets (towers) of a nearby mosque and head for it. Mosques are always easy to find on the town maps and make good navigation points.
Turkey has Islamic, Christian and Jewish people living happily side by side. It has been a democracy since about 1926 when then President Attaturk declared it so. Turks are very proud of their democracy and their heritage and tke voting seriously. We are arrived during an election and their were polling stations set –up in the airport arrival areas. Many Turks are Islamic in faith but they are not Arabs. Like all Islamic peoples they are very clean. They before praying and the very faithful pray 6 times a day.
I love walking in Istanbul. People call out hello and smile and the men mostly dress in grey or blue slacks and short sleeve button down shirts. The women are dressed in a huge variety from very Western wear. Too black dresses with shawls so only their noses stick out. Women as a rule keep their shoulders covered and don’t wear blouses with revealing necklines. They wear a wonderful variety of scarves in any color and pattern you can image.
There were a few people begging on the street in Istanbul but not nearly as many as we saw in Athens. Here they seemed to be Turks where as in Greece they all seemed to be gypsies or North Africans.
Istanbul is quite clean for such a big city. There is not much trash lying around. There are people who pick up trash and you see them dragging huge containers of trash that are constructed of fabric on a PVC frame built around a hand truck. They stuff them as full as possible. It is amazing how much they can fit into their containers. At one place back in an alley I could see a bunch of these guys sorting out what they had collected. They seemed to be separating the metal from plastics etc.
We had some rain storms roll through and people pulled out umbrellas or put newspapers on their heads and continued on. They didn’t seem to mind the rain and luckily it never lasted too long.
We walked and rode the trolley, but not the buses this time. Turkey has a very extensive bus system around the country. Istanbul is such on old city that there are antiquities everywhere you look. People have been living here since before recorded time. I love the layers of the City. There are buildings of different styles and time periods all mixed together into a wonderful mosaic that Istanbul. If you look at older walls and buildings you can see bits and pieces of even older buildings that were used in their construction.
We walk and look until we are tired and hungry and then choose a café and sit down for a drink and a meal. One of my favorite drinks is Aryan, which is yogurt that has been mixed with water and salt. It is very tasty and refreshing. Especially on a hot day. You almost never see pork on a menu. Though one place that caters to Enlish and German tourists had swine frankfurters on the menu. They have wonderful lamb, beef and eggplant dishes. Also fresh grilled fish.
When the evening comes you see some Turks having alcohol with a meal but mostly after dinner. They make a tasty beer Efes (Ephesus) which comes as a pilsner or a dark. I prefer the pilsner. If they are going to drink hard liquor it will be Raki which is anise flavored like licorice and very strong. It is served like greek ouzo with a glass of water which is dripped into the raki which turns milky. When you have diluted it to your satisfaction it is then sipped. All is quiet save the low rumble of a large sleeping city. Turks as a rule don’t really drink to excess so Turkish cities are pretty quiet at night. Sometimes you hear some roosters giving their last calls as the last light falls away. At about 9:45 at night you hear the evening call to prayer and soon after Istanbul sleeps. As much as any major city ever sleeps. So I read a few sentences and drift off. Good night!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Trip To Istanbul and western Turkey
Istanbul or Bust!
6/9/11
Well we finally made it!
After months of planning, changing plans, booking minibuses(vans) for 7 hotels, boats and planes the departure day has arrived.
I have a friend staying in my house so I didn’t have to shut it completely down this time, which was nice. A shout out to Christopher! Enjoy the treehouse.
As of bedtime last night I didn’t know exactly how we were all getting to the airport. I was thinking we would leave at 9:30 but at 8:38 a text came in from my neice Estill that a limo is picking me up at 9:05! I ran around like a nut for 40 minutes and got dressed and took care of the last chores. I was just taking the trash to the alley when this party bus rounds the corner and stops out front. My nieces Estill and Winfree jump out and run up to my front door. They help me with my suitcase. The limo has two drivers and my sister-in-law Martha is onboard. We olad up and head for my father house for he and my step-mother Pippa. Then off to Space Machine for my brother. And finally we unload at Tampa International Airport and haul and drag our Family Circus through Security and onto a Delta Flight to NY. We heave time for A slice of Pizza for lunch and then onto another Delta Flight to Istanbul. Then we sit…. And sit.. and sit….
We had to sit on the plane at the gate in NY for 7 hours as departures were backed up and a bad lightening storm rolled through.
At one point they let us back off the plane for a while. My father and I got gelato Dutch Chocolate yummy even at $5+ for a smallI got to chatting with to women on the flight and they wanted gelato so I walked them down there and the server gave me a free scoop for bringing more business. Nice!
Then back on the plane to wait some more…
Finally we got wheels up and arrived in Istanbul at Attaturk International Airport at 5:30 pm instead of 10:30 am. It is so nice to finally be in Turkey. We bought our visas and got out passports stamped and hit the cash points for Euros and Turkish lira and found our taxi to the hotel and off we went in a light drizzle to the Hotel Ahmet Efendi Evi.
The Hotel Ahmet is a cozy hotel with wonderfully helpful staff. They greeted us in English with tea in the living, dining room kitchen and told us some helpful facts and assisted me with booking a car ferry for Sunday to Yavlova so I won’t have to drive out of Istanbul the long way around which can be very difficult. Plus that will put us near the hot springs at Thermal. And near to Bursa where we have a hotel reserved for Sunday night.
We sorted out the rooms and settled in for a few minutes then gathered for a stroll and to look for a place dinner. Just down the street we found a place with a display full of fresh fish that smelled great. We ate wonderful fresh fish (sea bass, shrimp, swordfish and calamari for dinner and toured the Blue Mosque It is an amazing building with huge columns holding up an immense dome.
Pictures can be seen https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish:Sultanahmet Camii) is a historical mosque inIstanbul, the largest city in Turkey and the capital of the Ottoman Empire (from 1453 to 1923). The mosque is popularly known as theBlue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.
It was built between 1609 and 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, amadrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction.
More info at:: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Ahmed_Mosque
After we got back to the hotel I had a shower and then Winfree and I played Boggle and wrote in our logs before bed. She snores like the cutest little buzz saw! Buzz… snork Buzz snork snort!
She slept pretty soundly through the night. I didn't sleep much and was wide awake for the dawn call to morning prayers at about 4:30 am. Which are projected very loudly off the towers around the minarets. Now is 7:30 and Winfree is in the shower as it's almost time for brekkie.
6/10/11
I love the Turkish breakfast. We had a huge selection this time. Museli, yogurt, grape syrup, sesame oil, fresh bread and sesame ring bread, honeydew melon, raisins, dried figs, yellow cheese, salami and a feta like cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, French toast, honey, cherry jam, tea and coffee.
After breakfast we gathered and we head off in the direction of the Hagia Sophia but get sidetracked by the goodies in the windows of a shopping street. A few scarves, towels and blankets were bought many more intems like, rugs, shoes and lights were lusted after.
Then we worked our way over to the Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia;Turkish: Aya Sofya) is a former Orthodox patriarchalbasilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedralof Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.[1]
More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia
I was in it last time I was here 15 years ago but the line was too long today so we walked over to the Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Saray) which was built in 525 AD and toured this huge underground water storage room that is lit with theatrical lights. It is very cool!
This cathedral-sized cistern is an underground chamber approximately 143 metres (470 ft) by 65 metres (210 ft) - about 9,800 square metres (105,000 sq ft) in area - capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres (2,800,000 cu ft) of water. The ceiling is supported by a forest of 336 marble columns, each 9 metres (30 ft) high, arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns spaced 4.9 metres (16 ft) apart. The capitals of the columns are mainly Ionic and Corinthian styles, with the exception of a few Doric styles with no engravings.
Readmore: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Turkey/Istanbul_Ili/Istanbul-1837624/Things_To_Do-Istanbul-Palace_Cistern_Yerebatan_Saray-BR-1.html#ixzz1P1SNilNF
. A couple of which have Medusa’s face carved on them. One is upside down. There is a lot of speculation as to why as the reason is forgotten in time. There is also a café down there. It would be a great place to hang out on a hot day or Halloween!
Then we went looking for the Mosaics Museum and stopped in a café for lunch. Eggplant with souce (as written in the menu Eggplant with yogurt, hummus and lots of very fine pita bread almost a thin a crepes. The girls had a pancake each. Winfree Cheese and Estill potato. They were also crepe –like and very tasty. My brother had yogurt and cucumber and an eggplant- ground lamb kebab. It was all very tasty.
We found the Mosaics Museum and I realized I had seen it before so I walked around a bit in a light rain and looked at more shops while the others toured the Museum. It is full of beautiful tile pictures.
The museum hosts the mosaics used to decorate the pavement of a peristyle court, dating possibly to the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527-565). It was uncovered by Turkeyarchaeologists from the University of St Andrews in Scotlandduring extensive excavations at the Arasta Bazaar in Sultan Ahmet Square in 1935-1938 and 1951-1954. The area formed part of the south-western Great Palace, and the excavations discovered a large peristyle courtyard, with a surface of 1872 m², entirely decorated with mosaics
Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Palace_Mosaic_Museum
Then we hiked around through some of the crazy winding streets over to the Sultanahmet area with the Egyptian Obelisk and bought tickets for the tram and rode it around to beside the Golden Horn which is the famous harbor of Istanbul. From there we walked to the Spice market. It was very crowded but we fought our way in and tried some Turkish Delight which is a sweet sticky candy and I bought a tasty spice mix. It was too crowded for my taste so I headed back out.
While I was waiting for the others to finish shopping I peered through some barred windows into a garden with beautiful old carved headstones. It was a beautiful, peaceful spot.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
We got back on the tram and rode it across the bridge over the Golden Horn and we could see Asian Istanbul on the other side of the Bosporus. It was rush hour and the tram was full so we stood. At the end of the line the driver switched ends and drove the tram back the other direction. The others got off to take a boat ride up the Bosporus which I have also done and I went in search of the Cagaloglu Hammam or Turkish bath. It took a bit of wandering around but I finally found it.
The Cagaloglu Hammam located just near the Underground Cistern in Cagaloglu. In 1741, Sultan Mahmut ordered for construction of this hamam so as to generate revenue for his library and the famous monument of the time, Hagia Sofia. This hamam happens to be the last hamams built in the city before Sultan Mustafa III gave orders for banning construction of any hamams in 1768 to meet the city’s increasing demand for wood and water.
More info at: http://www.sultanahmet1.com/ahmet/cagaloglu-bath/
A bath with a scrub was more expensive than I remember 66 Turk Lira ($.65-$1) I was given room to change a towel, key and a pair of Crocs. Stripped down, toweled and Croced I walked into the hot seamy marble room and lay on the hot marble slab. I relaxed until an attendant came along and took me to an alcove in the side with a bench, a large water basin with hot and cold taps. He poured a pitcher of hot water on me and scrubbed me to within a inch of my life with a luffa glove and rinsed me down then scrubbed my hair and then washed everywhere but my privates with a soapy towel and rubbed me down a bit. Then a good rinse with the pitcher. Wow! Was I clean. I washed a bit more, then poured many bowls of cold water on myself and then lay abck on the hot slab in the center until I was done. Rinsed again and back to my clothes. A tip for the scrubber and I wandered back towards my hotel. I found a nice Indian restaurant (DUBB) on a side street and had stuff grape leaves (dolmas), lamb in spicy tomato sauce and garlic nan for dinner with a dark beer and sat and watched people for awhile.
I walked back to the hotel to discover that Pippa didn’t go on the boast ride. She got on bit it was rocking against the dock so she got off and got a sandwich and went back to the hotel to read. The rest of the gang came back in a few minutes later. After the boat ride my father walked back to the hotel to eat with Pippa and got lost for while. The rest found him after they ate on the way home. He was just around the corner from the hotel. Since he hadn’t eaten I walked him back to the Indian place and he order dolmas and we each got a dark beer. They said they had one last dolmas, but the dish that was delivered was completely different from what I had eaten. He said they were very tasty and the perfect amount. We spoke for a few minutes with a young couple at the next table who were from Buenos Aries and they told us a bit about their wonderful trip and some places we might stop. They were leaving for London the next day. We bit them bon voyage and headed back to the hotel where I shaved brush my teeth wand was too tired to play Boggle with Winfree before bed. Goodnight!
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
6/9/11
Well we finally made it!
After months of planning, changing plans, booking minibuses(vans) for 7 hotels, boats and planes the departure day has arrived.
I have a friend staying in my house so I didn’t have to shut it completely down this time, which was nice. A shout out to Christopher! Enjoy the treehouse.
As of bedtime last night I didn’t know exactly how we were all getting to the airport. I was thinking we would leave at 9:30 but at 8:38 a text came in from my neice Estill that a limo is picking me up at 9:05! I ran around like a nut for 40 minutes and got dressed and took care of the last chores. I was just taking the trash to the alley when this party bus rounds the corner and stops out front. My nieces Estill and Winfree jump out and run up to my front door. They help me with my suitcase. The limo has two drivers and my sister-in-law Martha is onboard. We olad up and head for my father house for he and my step-mother Pippa. Then off to Space Machine for my brother. And finally we unload at Tampa International Airport and haul and drag our Family Circus through Security and onto a Delta Flight to NY. We heave time for A slice of Pizza for lunch and then onto another Delta Flight to Istanbul. Then we sit…. And sit.. and sit….
We had to sit on the plane at the gate in NY for 7 hours as departures were backed up and a bad lightening storm rolled through.
At one point they let us back off the plane for a while. My father and I got gelato Dutch Chocolate yummy even at $5+ for a smallI got to chatting with to women on the flight and they wanted gelato so I walked them down there and the server gave me a free scoop for bringing more business. Nice!
Then back on the plane to wait some more…
Finally we got wheels up and arrived in Istanbul at Attaturk International Airport at 5:30 pm instead of 10:30 am. It is so nice to finally be in Turkey. We bought our visas and got out passports stamped and hit the cash points for Euros and Turkish lira and found our taxi to the hotel and off we went in a light drizzle to the Hotel Ahmet Efendi Evi.
The Hotel Ahmet is a cozy hotel with wonderfully helpful staff. They greeted us in English with tea in the living, dining room kitchen and told us some helpful facts and assisted me with booking a car ferry for Sunday to Yavlova so I won’t have to drive out of Istanbul the long way around which can be very difficult. Plus that will put us near the hot springs at Thermal. And near to Bursa where we have a hotel reserved for Sunday night.
We sorted out the rooms and settled in for a few minutes then gathered for a stroll and to look for a place dinner. Just down the street we found a place with a display full of fresh fish that smelled great. We ate wonderful fresh fish (sea bass, shrimp, swordfish and calamari for dinner and toured the Blue Mosque It is an amazing building with huge columns holding up an immense dome.
Pictures can be seen https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish:Sultanahmet Camii) is a historical mosque inIstanbul, the largest city in Turkey and the capital of the Ottoman Empire (from 1453 to 1923). The mosque is popularly known as theBlue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.
It was built between 1609 and 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, amadrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction.
More info at:: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Ahmed_Mosque
After we got back to the hotel I had a shower and then Winfree and I played Boggle and wrote in our logs before bed. She snores like the cutest little buzz saw! Buzz… snork Buzz snork snort!
She slept pretty soundly through the night. I didn't sleep much and was wide awake for the dawn call to morning prayers at about 4:30 am. Which are projected very loudly off the towers around the minarets. Now is 7:30 and Winfree is in the shower as it's almost time for brekkie.
6/10/11
I love the Turkish breakfast. We had a huge selection this time. Museli, yogurt, grape syrup, sesame oil, fresh bread and sesame ring bread, honeydew melon, raisins, dried figs, yellow cheese, salami and a feta like cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, French toast, honey, cherry jam, tea and coffee.
After breakfast we gathered and we head off in the direction of the Hagia Sophia but get sidetracked by the goodies in the windows of a shopping street. A few scarves, towels and blankets were bought many more intems like, rugs, shoes and lights were lusted after.
Then we worked our way over to the Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia (from the Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, "Holy Wisdom"; Latin: Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia;Turkish: Aya Sofya) is a former Orthodox patriarchalbasilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedralof Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.[1]
More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia
I was in it last time I was here 15 years ago but the line was too long today so we walked over to the Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Saray) which was built in 525 AD and toured this huge underground water storage room that is lit with theatrical lights. It is very cool!
This cathedral-sized cistern is an underground chamber approximately 143 metres (470 ft) by 65 metres (210 ft) - about 9,800 square metres (105,000 sq ft) in area - capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres (2,800,000 cu ft) of water. The ceiling is supported by a forest of 336 marble columns, each 9 metres (30 ft) high, arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns spaced 4.9 metres (16 ft) apart. The capitals of the columns are mainly Ionic and Corinthian styles, with the exception of a few Doric styles with no engravings.
Readmore: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Turkey/Istanbul_Ili/Istanbul-1837624/Things_To_Do-Istanbul-Palace_Cistern_Yerebatan_Saray-BR-1.html#ixzz1P1SNilNF
. A couple of which have Medusa’s face carved on them. One is upside down. There is a lot of speculation as to why as the reason is forgotten in time. There is also a café down there. It would be a great place to hang out on a hot day or Halloween!
Then we went looking for the Mosaics Museum and stopped in a café for lunch. Eggplant with souce (as written in the menu Eggplant with yogurt, hummus and lots of very fine pita bread almost a thin a crepes. The girls had a pancake each. Winfree Cheese and Estill potato. They were also crepe –like and very tasty. My brother had yogurt and cucumber and an eggplant- ground lamb kebab. It was all very tasty.
We found the Mosaics Museum and I realized I had seen it before so I walked around a bit in a light rain and looked at more shops while the others toured the Museum. It is full of beautiful tile pictures.
The museum hosts the mosaics used to decorate the pavement of a peristyle court, dating possibly to the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527-565). It was uncovered by Turkeyarchaeologists from the University of St Andrews in Scotlandduring extensive excavations at the Arasta Bazaar in Sultan Ahmet Square in 1935-1938 and 1951-1954. The area formed part of the south-western Great Palace, and the excavations discovered a large peristyle courtyard, with a surface of 1872 m², entirely decorated with mosaics
Read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Palace_Mosaic_Museum
Then we hiked around through some of the crazy winding streets over to the Sultanahmet area with the Egyptian Obelisk and bought tickets for the tram and rode it around to beside the Golden Horn which is the famous harbor of Istanbul. From there we walked to the Spice market. It was very crowded but we fought our way in and tried some Turkish Delight which is a sweet sticky candy and I bought a tasty spice mix. It was too crowded for my taste so I headed back out.
While I was waiting for the others to finish shopping I peered through some barred windows into a garden with beautiful old carved headstones. It was a beautiful, peaceful spot.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
We got back on the tram and rode it across the bridge over the Golden Horn and we could see Asian Istanbul on the other side of the Bosporus. It was rush hour and the tram was full so we stood. At the end of the line the driver switched ends and drove the tram back the other direction. The others got off to take a boat ride up the Bosporus which I have also done and I went in search of the Cagaloglu Hammam or Turkish bath. It took a bit of wandering around but I finally found it.
The Cagaloglu Hammam located just near the Underground Cistern in Cagaloglu. In 1741, Sultan Mahmut ordered for construction of this hamam so as to generate revenue for his library and the famous monument of the time, Hagia Sofia. This hamam happens to be the last hamams built in the city before Sultan Mustafa III gave orders for banning construction of any hamams in 1768 to meet the city’s increasing demand for wood and water.
More info at: http://www.sultanahmet1.com/ahmet/cagaloglu-bath/
A bath with a scrub was more expensive than I remember 66 Turk Lira ($.65-$1) I was given room to change a towel, key and a pair of Crocs. Stripped down, toweled and Croced I walked into the hot seamy marble room and lay on the hot marble slab. I relaxed until an attendant came along and took me to an alcove in the side with a bench, a large water basin with hot and cold taps. He poured a pitcher of hot water on me and scrubbed me to within a inch of my life with a luffa glove and rinsed me down then scrubbed my hair and then washed everywhere but my privates with a soapy towel and rubbed me down a bit. Then a good rinse with the pitcher. Wow! Was I clean. I washed a bit more, then poured many bowls of cold water on myself and then lay abck on the hot slab in the center until I was done. Rinsed again and back to my clothes. A tip for the scrubber and I wandered back towards my hotel. I found a nice Indian restaurant (DUBB) on a side street and had stuff grape leaves (dolmas), lamb in spicy tomato sauce and garlic nan for dinner with a dark beer and sat and watched people for awhile.
I walked back to the hotel to discover that Pippa didn’t go on the boast ride. She got on bit it was rocking against the dock so she got off and got a sandwich and went back to the hotel to read. The rest of the gang came back in a few minutes later. After the boat ride my father walked back to the hotel to eat with Pippa and got lost for while. The rest found him after they ate on the way home. He was just around the corner from the hotel. Since he hadn’t eaten I walked him back to the Indian place and he order dolmas and we each got a dark beer. They said they had one last dolmas, but the dish that was delivered was completely different from what I had eaten. He said they were very tasty and the perfect amount. We spoke for a few minutes with a young couple at the next table who were from Buenos Aries and they told us a bit about their wonderful trip and some places we might stop. They were leaving for London the next day. We bit them bon voyage and headed back to the hotel where I shaved brush my teeth wand was too tired to play Boggle with Winfree before bed. Goodnight!
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos
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