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Published: January 21st 2006
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On 12/15/05 We left Bangkok close to midnight and arrived in Athens early in the morning (12 hour flight). After a brief stop over we headed to Istanbul.
Lucky for us a driver from the hotel, Jengus, was waiting at the airport to take us to our hotel. The Ambassador Hotel is centrally located in Sultanhamet, with a beautiful view of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia from its rooftop patio.
After the long trip we were both exhausted, so we settled into our room for some rest. As it turns out television on Turkey takes you back in time. As we relaxed we were psyched to watch episodes of 'The Golden Girls', 'Who's the Boss', 'Moonlighting' and 'Dallas.' Amazing! At least for us they were in english.
That night we celebrated our 4th anniversary by going out to a nearby restaurant called Masal. The food and wine were both great, but what struck us both were the amount of Spaniards there. We were literally the only two people in the place that weren't from Spain and the place was packed! Its probably about time Julia starts brushing up on her spanish given that South America is right
around the corner.
We should mention that earlier that day Holden met a man who worked for the hotel named Nori. Nori specialized in helping foreigners buy Turkish rugs at decent prices. He told Holden he would take us around the following day and show us some good pieces.
So, the next morning we met up with Nori. As it turns out, Nori is not only a liason between foreigners and rug merchants, but also a tour guide. Before we even looked at rugs he took us to 2 of Istanbuls most important sights, the Blue Mosque and the Roman-built Cistern.
He gave us a brief history lesson of Istanbul and gave us his take on Turkish people as kind-hearted, proud Muslims. Then he brought us to a local cafe for some Turkish coffee. We were instructed to drink a bit of water and then the coffee. Wow, very strong stuff. Distinctively concentrated and gritty, but a very good taste.
When we were finished with our coffee Nori read Julia's coffee grounds. This is akin to reading someones cards or their tea leaves. The sooty remains of the cooffe are turned upside down in the saucer
and let to rest awhile. Afterwards, Nori read Julia's fortune by divining the stream of grounds on the inside of the cup. The fortune was a good one to say the least! Flattering, even.
After a few hours walking around in the rain, it was finally time to see some rugs! We were taken to a warehouse off the beaten path where 3 men repair and sell rugs, most of them more than a hundred years old! We had told Nori we were on a budget and could not afford them, even for a gift, but he would not relent: He said to Holden, "My brother. If you like then you can buy. I make you good price," as if oblivious to our disclaimer.
Nonetheless, it was to prove a good education in Turkish rugs and their value. After over an hour of looking at rugs and getting a "rug lesson" from Nori we were tired and waiting for the bottom line. Appeased with some apple tea we were to wait a little while longer.
Finally, Nori gave us the quote. Prefaced with the statement, "So cheap you're not even going to believe how cheap when I
Blue Mosque in background
Picture taken by Nori, the rug dealer/pusher tell you!" Anyway, the bottom line was a little over 2000 USD for 2 rugs, with repair and shipping. No doubt an amazing price for 2 beautiful antique Turkish rugs, but alas we are unemployed travellers with no extra dough for things of that kind.
But, oh how we would have loved to splurge! In typical Turkish fashion, Nori was quite pushy about the rugs and wanted to make a sale. However, even despite his pushiness, we would recommend him to anyone making a trip to Istanbul and interested in antique rugs. He is obviously knowledgable.
The next day we decided to see a couple of the sights we missed the day before; first stop the Hagia Sophia. Unfortunately for us, most of the dome inside was covered in scafolding. Bummer! Nevertheless, it was awe inspiring and certainly one of the most beautiful mosques or churches (it has been both) in the world.
After that we headed for the Topkapi palace. We took a long walk around the grounds and lucky for us the weather was quite an improvment from the day before...Sunny skies 😊
That night we decided to check out another popular area in
Istanbul, Taksim. It was reminicent of many plazas in Spain and a social center for young people. The restaurant we went to was called Andon. It was a cafe, restaurant and disco all in one. Unfortunately for us we didn't have reservations, so we ended up in the cafe.
As we enjoyed our bottle of wine we looked around to notice that we were the only ones drinking. Everyone else was only drinking coffee. I suppose we needed a reminder that we were in a Muslim country.
The following day we took a long walk around the city, and did a quick pass through the famous bazaar. In no mood to barter we headed back to the hotel. During the walk we circled the old city wall at the seashore below Sultanhamet on Kennedy drive. The Bosphorus and Istanbul sit on the Sea of Marmara, which is an important shipping channel to the Mediteranean Sea.
Our hotel offered a number of tours, but with limited time in Turkey we decided on a 2 day trip to see Gallipoli and Troy. We would leave very early the next morning - See next Blog site.
Returning to Istanbul
late on the night before we were to return to Athens and meet Julia's parents for the holidays, we simply crashed out back at the Ambassador.
The next day, while Julia e-mailed, Holden returned to the Blue Mosque to do a more thorough photo study. The tourist destinations are always surrounded by locals trying to sell you something. Holden brushed by one so abruptly it warranted disapproval from the pusher saying, "You've got your nose so high in the air, don't you mister?" Whatever, its a buyers market.
Just a note: The Blue Mosque got its name because of the colors of the decorative tiles inside. Another note: The Blue Mosque was built by the Sultan to upstage the design and splendor of the Hagia Sophia.
Turkey was a great place to visit. It was an even better surprise because our original itinerary did not include it. It would have been a shame to miss it, for sure.
What was a shame was that Julia had come down with a mighty cough that made her very uncomfortable and kept her from sleeping well. This cough would persist until finally visiting a doctor in Greece. The cause?
Who knows: maybe the temperature change from Thailand to Turkey; maybe exhaustion; maybe it was even the sub-zero air-conditioning in the hotels in SoEast Asia. Whatever the cause, it was a shame, and it would need attention later.
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