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Day 2
This morning I got up at 630 am and for those that know me that is just unheard of so I am going to bore you with a few facts before we start to pass the time. Turkey has 81 provinces and 8 different climatic regions. Within those provinces lie 80 million people; 14 of which are found in Istanbul. On top of that Istanbul has an area that is 2000 square kilometers smaller than the city of Toronto which has 5 million people. Istanbul is also the only city in the world to be in two continents.
Enough boring stuff, lets get down to the nitty gritty!
This morning at sunrise, before even I got up, the prayers could be heard above the songs of the birds. It doesn't take long for the sun to warm this place up with temperatures hitting close to 30 degrees celcius and close to 90% humitity. Terri and I wandered up for a free breakfast which was a nice spread of eggs, fruit, veggies, cheese, tea, and most importantly BREAD!
After a relaxing breakfast I had a scalding shower because apparently I don't know how to operate the
cold water tap. After applying my SPF 110 sunscreen and throwing on my Tilley hat and Shades we were up and running.
Today was a get up and go day where we were going to take the metro and do whatever seemed to interest us. There is a little backstory to this; the previous night we met a couple of fellow Canadians on our way back to the hostel. They had asked us how we found out about the little club section in the Sultamet region of Istanbul and we told them that we just got up and went exploring. This seemed to befuddle them, they carried the same expression on their faces that I quite often carry when Kim, Terri, and/or Danette try implement the nose rule. They were surprised by how adventurous we were because they were quite content with staying on the path that Lonely Planet leads them on. This will all come full circle in a minute. We hopped on the train after a long hike in the heat up a very steep hill to get to the boarding platform. We thought the train would just keep going to where we wanted to go but
that is not the case. Since neither Terri nor I speak fluent arabic we had a little trouble deciferring the routes, we atleast got on the metro that was heading in the right diretion, baby steps right! After a kind Turkish gentleman informed us throught the use of the universal language of facial expressions and hand waving that we had to transfer trains we were once again on the right path. We got off at the end of the line and started our adventure.
We first entered Dolmabace Mosque in which we knew enough to take off our shoes before entering. This little security man then scuttles over to inform us that Terri must have her head covered so after some convincing that it was something she needed to see Momma Bear wore the scarf over her head and we proceded into the Mosque. It was quite beautiful and is one of many that have been here for thousands of years. The pictures will be attached to this entry and I promise I will try to get a photo with Terri wearing a scarf over her head.
Next we wondered over to the palace where we had to
go through a security check point and then stand in line for approximately 45 minutes. We were the only people in that line who didn't know what we were lined up for; maybe had we read Lonely Planet we would have been informed that this was Dolmabace Palace. A palace that took 13 years to build, a palace that has a 4.5 metric tonne crystal chandalier in its main ballroom. I won't spend a whole lot of time on the history because you are all educated indivduals who can read about it on the internet. I also cannot post pictures of the inside because we were not allowed the use of cameras. It was definitely a site to see as far as architecture was concerned and since our guide didn't speak very good english I myself am going to look up the history of it. Like I said to Terrri, "now that we know what we stood in line for I guess we should read about it!"
Afterwards when I decided that I was hot, sweaty, and hungry we decided that we would do an afternoon nap and then head out into the night life to grab a bite
to eat. We arrived back at the hostel at around 530pm local time and I set the alarm for 730pm. As I later found out my 110db alarm clock is not near loud enough to wake me from a deep sleep. According to Terri I was able to shut of the alarm mid-snor without even contemplating the idea of waking up. I don't remember the alarm going off and we are both amazed and my ability to complete tasks while asleep. So as 1030pm rolls around I finally get up from my afternoon nap, like my magnet says "Damn right I'm good in bed, I can sleep for days!" We decided to head out into the night life and see what was out there.
Once again we tackled the rather steep hills giving our calves and hip flexors quite the workout. At this point we are getting really good at brushing off the persistent salesmen so our walk was slightly less disruptive. We found this place we had seen the other night and proceeded to have a good evening of eating and people watching once again.
As midnight approaches the street vendours start to venture out in droves.
This is quite a site to be had as it is almost like a whole different culture than that which one might experience throughout the day. We saw a man trade half of his meal for a wooden sculpture which really puts in perspective that the value of currency is not always monetary.
We toured around the street vendours barely being able to move between them and then started to wander back to the hostel around 1am.
On the walk back (the metro was down for construction) I said lets go walk by the sea towards our hostel to which Terri said no. I asked, "don't you trust me not to get us lost on the way back?" Again her reply was a resounding NO! I then asked if she trusted herself to get us home on a different route and her reply was once again NO! We had forgot our map at home but I was determined to prove Momma Bear wrong so off the beaten path we went. Just before we turned for the sea her response was that the last time she walked in a direction she hadn't land marked she was walking for 4
hours and she abruptly told me that if we end up walking for 4 hours she is going to kick my ass!
We walked south towards the sea and once again saw a new culture to Istanbul life. The simple fact that fruit stands are open 24hours because their is no place to lock up their produce inside or the culture where the kids start coming out to play soccer in the streets because they are at less risk of getting run over. The enormous amount of stray cats reminds me of Batmans Catwoman with Michelle Pfeifer. We even found a little seaside community with restaurants and music buzzing in the background. The only problem is I knew what direction to head in general but I too had no landmarks to go by and eventually the question was asked "are you lost?" My reply was...Yep!! It's all good though because Terri didn't know where we were either so I didn't feel so inept. We then proceeded to head up the steep hills once again to gain a reference point; a thought that overjoyed the both of us (that was sarcasm for those that don't know me well). We found
our landmarks allthough I will admit that Terri picked up on where we were a little quicker than I did this time. Our walk was only 45min longer than the normal 15 but it was less than 4 hours so I feel that I came out ahead on this one. I win!
After arriving at the hostel we decided to try and figure out how to get our sim card to work on the ipad. Something we still have yet to accomplish. Terri needed to contact her bank regarding her Visa because they kindly locked her card up. Not to mention the fact that we weren't tired yet because we had a 5 hour afternoon nap. Instead of going to bed we made friends with a stray cat who is very protective of its territory. When another cat wondered near there was hell to be had; I just figure the cat was protecting Momma Bear. It didn't take long for 430am to roll around and off to bed. Just as we were going to sleep the morning prayers came on and Terri said I didn't even wait for them to finish, it was like they lulabied me to sleep
and I was snoring in no time.
We'll see what tomorrow brings, I think I turn 19 tomorrow! I can't remember all these numbers the older I get so lets say 19 plus or minus 19. Sorry, I'm a math nerd; good night!
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Aunt Cathie
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Catwoman in Turkey
I for one cannot imagine what it would feel like to be wearing that plastic suit in Turkey's hot, sticky heat. Just the thought causes me to flash. Gawd!!! Enjoyed your entry - keep it up! Blogging that is...