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Published: March 31st 2008
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For Spring Break my travels took me to exotic Turkey. We flew in to Istanbul and checked into a hostel called Chambers of the Boheme, where the beds felt like sleeping on a flying carpet in a night sky full of clouds. We were right off the famous Istikal street, which is bustling with people day and night, looking for treasures in the many retail stores or bookshops or grabbing a bite to eat at a kebab restaurant or one of the street vendors selling roasted corn and chestnuts. At night the place lights up like a festival and music can be heard pumping out of various doorways, as well as the shouts of waiters standing outside hooka (nargalay) lounges where patrons get lost in a cloud of apple or melon flavored smoke and drink Turkish coffee.
Istanbul brought an array of breathtaking sights, sounds, and smells. We hopped off the tram to resounding chants echoing from the minurettes of the Blue Mosque. After dodging the aggressive Turkish men, who called me “yellow woman” or said that my eyes were blue and fresh “like vegetables,” among other creative pick-up lines, we were glad to disappear into the cool marble walls of
Hagia Sophia, Basilica cisterns or the enchanting mosaics that donned the Topkapi Palace and harem. I am not one for architecture lectures in the halls of USC, but seeing these sights in person was truly breathtaking. There is no way to convey, unless one experiences it, the magnitude of the arched walls of Hagia Sophia, the grandeur and opulence of it all. However, I refer to a quote I included in a previous entry from “Room With A View” when I concur that while these sights were breathtaking, the greatest spiritual refreshment came for me on a cruise on a sunny afternoon along the Bosporus, where the refreshing sea air tickled my face, while we sailed past palaces and fishing villages, and the boat played traditional music, the waves lapping playfully at our sides and translucent jellyfish reminding us that we were in an environment that was “nobody’s business but the Turks” (song: Istanbul by They Might Be Giants).
After a long bus ride through green countryside with olive trees, vineyards, and misty mountains we arrived at our next stop Izmir, which brought us seaside again and we had a couple pleasant evenings dining on the strand. In Izmir
there was fantastic bazaar shopping with all sorts of treasures (camel saddles, evil eyes), spices, and Turkish delight at a much better price than Istanbul. We also sampled the famous Turkish baths, which was one of the most euphoric experiences I have ever had. We entered a misty lobby (if you could call it that) where four very large women sat smoking, wrapped in towels and told them we wanted to take the bath. They chuckled a little looking at us seven little white girls and handed us a key to a dressing room and a towel. We came back down and were led to a steamy room where faucets gushed hot water into pools and canals along the floor. They ripped our towels off us and plopped us down on the marble, telling us to use the bowls beside the pools to pour the water over our naked bodies. Self-conscious at first, I was very quickly drawn into the steamy environment and had no second thoughts about being asked to lay down on a large marble slab in the middle of the room, and have every inch of my body were exfoliated, scrubbed, and massaged. As I peered through
the steam at the shafts of light coming through the cylindrical windows cut into the domed ceiling I felt as if I had taken part in some sort of hallucinogenic experience. Heaven.
Our next couple of days were spent in Selcuk and while we saw some amazing ruins (Ephesus, Temple of Artimus, House of the Virgin Mary) the weather declined and our guide had the airs of an American car salesman, except with a unibrow, so there is not much to report. After a day and a half that included a spa experience as bad as the previous was good (picture being buried alive in heavy, hot mud that smells of sulpher) we took a night bus back to Istanbul. Again it gets interesting. At six in the morning we were awoken to a loud honk, accompanied by a loud crash and our bus jolted. Apparently we had driven onto the ferry that crosses the Golden Horn to Istanbul and in the foggy morning, the ferry had hit another boat. People poured off our bus and ran to see what had happened, a few returning with life jackets on. This was an over-reaction and the only damage was done
to the cars parked in the section of the ferry that was hit and we were able to return to shore without further incident, but it made for quite the exciting wake-up, especially not being able to understand what everyone was yelling about.
Turkey brought amazing sights, adventures, and many comical stories, and for those who have not visited I highly recommend it. Even as a blonde woman, I felt safer than when I traveled to Bratislava. Everyone is so nice and speaks English with incredible fluidity and the colors have the enchanting veracity of Greece, without the cost of the Euro.
Cheers,
Kate
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