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Treasures
Justin in front of the Blue Mosque It's regrettable, but inevitable, that on a trip such as this, sometimes places don't get their just due. It could be bad weather, it could be logistical complications, or it could be they fall during a break in our verve. While we had a great time in Istanbul, and saw more than we thought upon reflection, we certainly didn't do our best job of getting off the beaten path.
One reason for this was the crew that travelled with us from V.T. continued their corrupting influence in Istanbul. While Farrah went off with her parents to stay in four-star luxury, Adam and Joel stayed in the same hostel. This lead to many a good night, but cut into cultural exploration.
This isn't to say we didn't get a fairly good sample of Istanbul during our four nights. Literally straddling the European and Asian continants, it is a huge city, numbering some 12 million people. Although it isn't the biggest port we've visited by the stats, it was certainly the most bustling. Continually fought over during its history because of its advantageous location, Istanbul shows traces of several different cultures. The country is now strongly Muslim, with announcements for daily
Another Late Night
Chris and the Belly Dancer get their grooves on. prayers ringing out over loudspeakers and observant Muslim women's covered heads everywhere. However, as Turkey's attempt to gain EU status shows, they also embrace a European cosmopolitinism unusual in the Middle East.
The first day, we napped extensively to recover from our epic train trip. Although the 12 liters of beer disappeared quickly, they left their mark. Let's just say we didn't get an early start. After eating a great meal of kebabs, pide. and borek at Doy Doy, we walked up to the Covered Market, or Grand Bazaar. A medieval structure, it houses some 4500 shops. Tourists that we are, we had a hard time finding our way back to whence we came. This allowed us a leisurely walk through more local streets. It was nice to get back to an area with a totally different flavor than we've ever seen before.
The bazaar was a zoo, but underscored an important difference between Turkish and Asian hawkers - the Turks take no for an answer. The salesman in Asia will follow down two blocks, not taking 10 no's for an answer. After being shocked the first few times at being told to have a nice day after
No Snow
Kids make their own sleds in Istanbul saying no, we realized this was not an aberration.
Chris headed back early, while Justin went to see Inside Man, which featured an unexpected intermission, where the film simply stopped for five minutes and everyone else got refreshments while he looked around confusedly. The next day, we got out early and hit the big sites. This means Aya Sofya (built in 532 by Justinian to be the grandest church in the world) and the Blue Mosque (built in 1619 as one of the most breathtaking mosques), both minutes from the hostel. After a quick kebab, we headed to the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, where we actually made 5 lira, due to a confused guard who wouldn't take our money and gave us back change we didn't deserve. Since the museum was quite lacking, it was probably just. A little wandering around near the museum uncovered a polling place, filled with volunteers hawking their candidates. It was election day, and all the trappings of democracy, from colorful signs to music to buttons, were on display.
Chris bowed out at this point, as Justin met up with Adam and Joel and headed to Cemberlitas Hamami, a 300-year-old Turkish Bath.
The Castle
No matter how far you walk, there's always a cell phone Expecting the relaxed splendor of Hungary, they budgeted several hours. When arriving, they were stripped and shoved into a steam bath. One by one, they were placed on a stone bench to be beat on by a large Turkish man for 10 minutes, and then led over to a sink where he washed their hair and threw buckets of water on them. Given that they eschewed the assisted scrub, they saved some homoerotic points for later in life, but they got plenty of views to haunt them in the future.
Afterward, we began a series of very late nights, mostly spent at bars near the hostel. The first night, we ate a great meal of iskender kebab before everything got blurry. We definetely slept in the next day, before heading to the Topkapi Palace, the seat of the Ottoman sultans for centuries. A Middle Eastern style palace, it featured more outdoor areas and gardens than common in Europe. Although we arrived too late for the tour of the Harem, we got to see many trophies, including the skull and arm of John the Baptist. In another creepily religious room, the teeth and hair of Muhammad were on display as
Fresh Fish
A vendor sells today's catch in Eminonu a oman chanted continually from the Koran.
As touristy as it is, one feels compelled see belly dancing somewhere in the Middle East. Since our hostel was has a free show on Mondays, we decided we owed it to ourselves to go. While Chris claims the dancer wasn't doing any actual belly dancing, her charm and personality (and smoking hot looks) caused everyone else to overlook that in any other culture she'd be a stripper. She even got Chris and Adam up for some lessons.
We decided we needed to see more of the city on our final day, so we grabbed a ferry that headed up to Anadolu Kavagi on the Black Sea. During the hour and a half trip, we got to see the sprawling city that Istanbul truly is. Situated along the Bosphorus is neighborhood after neighborhood of beautiful coastal houses. During our two hour stop, we climbed to the top of a hill that contained the ruins of an ancient castle and great views. Since we ran into Farrah and her family on the boat, we were able to pass the ride back quickly in conversation.
Since Adam and Joel left earlier in
Farewell to Arms
Adam and Joel say a tearful goodbye the day, and Chris felt the flu coming on, we were able to pass our last night quietly. This morning, we headed to the airport for a quick hop to Tel Aviv. After landing uneventfully, we took a cab ride into town straight out of Grand Theft Auto, with our driver weaving in and out skillfully if disturbingly. He also informed us that today in Israel's Independence Day, although most of the celebrations unfortunately were last night. Within a half-hour of checking into the hostel, Justin was swimming in the Mediteranean, before we watched the sunset over a milkshake. Tel Aviv is like Miami Beach without the style or Hispanic influence. It's the kind of place where middle-aged people sing What A Wonderful World karaoke style over loudspeakers during dusk, while the young rich go to dance clubs every night. Basically, it seems like a standard busy resort town. Until, of course, you realize you're a stone's throw away from a community of refugees who'll never frolic on the picturesque beaches of their homeland, and who've had their human rights and lives continually stolen for 58 years. Then it just becomes obscene.
We're walking over to Jaffa tomorrow before
Cold Ride
Chris and Farrah on the boat to Anadolu Kavagi grabbing the bus to Jerusalem.
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