Istanbul - Meeting the East

Traveling to Turkey was the place to test us as independent travelers in what we expected to be a very different culture. So far our travels in Western Europe were in cultures similar to our own and most of our travel arrangements had been made before leaving home. As travelers, Turkey was going to be our step into the unknown. Apart from having an airline tickets to Istanbul, the intention to depart Turkey by ferry to the island of Rhodes, and some advice from a friend in Newfoundland, this part of our journey was going to be by the seat of our pants.

Tea!!

We arrived in Istanbul, on December 29 and as soon as we arrived at our hotel we knew the Turkish people had a different approach. Before we even checked in we were served tea (the first of many during our time in Turkey) and the check-in process was a combination of socialization and business as we got to know our hosts and they us. What we were soon to discover drinking tea and getting to know people are an important part of Turkish culture and hospitality. This particularly extended to Aaron, who attracted special attention from our hosts at the hotel, restaurants, and even people just passing by.

Our hotel was well located in the Sultanahamet section of the city and we were within walking distance of most of the major attractions and markets. On our first afternoon we did a little exploration along the main street and soon learned that as you passed any restaurant or fastfood stand someone would greet you and try to convince you to eat in their restaurant. Eventually, we let ourselves be convinced by one and sat down for our first Turkish meal of warm pita bread, salads, and main course followed by our first of many cups of apple tea.

Blue Mosque

The next day we decided to start our explorations in earnest with a visit to the Blue Mosque, Istanbul's equivalent to the famous cathedrals we visited in France. The mosque is famous for its domes, 6 minarets, and the blue mosaics on the inside. Unlike the churches, a mosque has now pews. People pray on the carpeted floor and to keep them clean we were asked to remove our shoes. In someways it was just like home in Newfoundland, take your shoes off when you come inside except this was 100's of people doing it all at once.

After leaving the mosque and its beautiful mosaics and carpets we got our first of what would be many invitations to visit a carpet shop. It seems to be that every visitor is expected to buy a carpet or it is assumed every visitor wants to buy one. As beautiful and colourful as they are we decided we would not be tempted. For us it was more exploring and soon we discovered the Spice Bazaar near the shores of the harbour called the Golden Horn.

Spice Bazaar

The Spice Bazaar was an incredible market of spices, foods, jewelry, and all sorts of Turkish handcrafts. The colours, smells, and swell of people created an amazing atmosphere. It was fascinating to watch and we were soon drawn into it and discovered first hand the markets life and vibrancy as people conducted busines in that Turkish way of forth right sales pitch combined with hospitality. We made a few purchases but wished we had more room in our suitcases as there were so many beautiful items.

Spices at the Spice Bazaar

We finished our day by attending a show of traditional Turkish folk dancing and music. The music was great and the dancing spectacular. The band consisted of a violin, accordion, clarinet, a guitar like instrument, and some percussion and together they produced some lively and fun rthyms. In many ways it was like a traditional band in Newfoundland just “plankin'er down” except the music was completely different. The dances were very diverse from the expected belly dancing to something more akin to Ukraine dancing and all this was combined with the bright colours of their costumes. It was a great show, even the boys enjoyed it a lot. Of course Aaron and Niall liked the dances that involved sword fights and throwing flaming knives but I preferred the belly dancing.

The next day was New Year's Eve and we decided to visit the Grand Bazaar. This was a much bigger market than the Spice Bazaar, it is suppose to have over a thousand shops and to us it was like a maze. It wasn't long before we were lost and soon one carpet shop looked like the rest. It didn't seem to be very busy and of course everywhere we went we were invited in to view the merchandise. In the end, we tried our hand at bargaining but I don't think we were too successful. We much preferred the Spice Bazaar as it was busier and there, if you were not interested the shopkeepers would leave you alone and move onto another customer.

In the afternoon we visited Topkapi Palace, once the home of the Sultans that ruled Turkey and the Ottoman Empire. Like kings of the large European empires, the sultans lived in great luxury and amassed some amazing treasures. After visiting the palace we had an appreciation for how there is a whole other history in this part of the world that we know so little about in the west.

Out with new friends

New Year's Eve is not a big day in Istanbul, but they do try to put on a few celebrations for the tourists. Our hotel had a few fireworks and wine in the restaurant on the top floor. It was here we met another Canadian family, Monique and Greg and their 2 children Molly (9 years) and Noah (11 years). They are teachers in Saudi Arabia and were visiting Turkey over Christmas. The kids hit it off great and we made plans to do the boat tour of the Bosphorus River the next day.

The boat tour the next day was great but even better was the conversation with some new found friends. The kids entertained each other all day giving the adults a break and Susan and I enjoyed talking with other adults and comparing travel notes. The day went by quickly and left us just enough time to visit an impressive underground cistern before we rejoined our new friends for supper.

Roman cistern

Soon New Year's Day was drawing to a close and our new friends were taking a night flight back to Saudi Arabia and we had to pack for our departure to Selcuk, the next stop in our Turkish travels. Our time in Istanbul was great. The city was fascinating and the people were friendly. Each day as we understood the Turkish way of doing things we came to better appreciate the hospitality of Turkish people. It was a great start to our visit to Turkey and a confidence booster to our travel skills.

For more photos check out our web album of Istanbul.