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Today was a busy day! I woke early, took a relaxing shower, and went to the roof for a nee breakfast of eggs, olives, cucumbers and cheese. In the reviews for the hotel, some people complained about the breakfast, but this is typical arabic breakfast - a lot of light options. There were meats, bread, cereal, yogurt, fried potatoes as well.
We then walked to my friends hotel nearby and waited for our personal tour to arrive. Sibel was our guide and she was fantastic! She seemed a little shy to start but soon she just became a wealth of valuable information. We started at the area of the Hippodrome and she explained the previous chariot races and the extent of it. She knew not to go to the Blue Mosque at the moment because it was packed with tourists; she said the crowds would thin in the afternoon.
So our next stop was the Topkapi Palace. Here was also large amounts of tourists. She had us wait at the museum bookshop while she got our tickets in her VIP line and then we were able to go directly in. There was a little more space to walk and
spread around. We visited the "jewels" area, but it was way too crowded and I had seen similar items at the fabulous Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, so I took a seat and waited for my friends to make their rounds. Then we went into the costume exhibit which was really cool, but there were like no explanations. And what did the women wear???
After the palace, we made our way to Hagia Sophia - Oh. My. God. The Blue Mosque looks better from outside, but just walking into the Hagia Sophia is an eye opening experience. Just amazing. It is very old - built in the sixth century - and was originally a church then became a mosque when Istanbul was conquered in 1453. Fortunately, unlike the Romans, the muslims did not destroy the church but built within it and added the minarets. They apparently covered the frescoes instead of completely removing them, so there are all these beautiful Christian works of art from the 10th century and on. The Empress would climb the ramp at the back of the structure to attend church services, so we also were able to get a view from the balcony
of the interior. Just an impressive amount of history here, so of course I was in heaven.
Next, was the noon call to prayer, so the Blue Mosque was not open to visitors. Instead, we walked to this carpet place in the old town. Somehow Jesse and Meredith and I wound up with beautiful carpets! I won't say the price of mine, but it was definitely an investment! And it is just gorgeous. I am actually ok with having bought one because I don't usually buy myself nice things for my home (since I don't have a home). The guys were great showman, throwing out all types and colors of carpets. We learned a lot as well: there was the wool on wool, wool on cotton, and silk on cotton rugs. The silk were obviously the most expensive. Mine is wool on cotton. I was hesitant about buying one because I am basically living my life out of two suitcases, but they were able to roll it up and put it into a small travel bag - I was sold.
We then went to the Blue Mosque, which was lovely inside, but jam-packed with tourists of course. We
had to cover our heads, but I had my own scarf so I didn't have to wear the tacky head wraps available to visitors. The inside was quite nice, the those beautiful Iznik tiles. I liked how the covered the carpet with plastic to preserve it as well. But having seen the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, this place didn't overwhelm me (the Hagia Sophia did!). However, the Blue Mosque is impressive, gorgeous and overwhelming from the outside - definitely worth a visit.
After this, the bus picked us up to take us to the Grand Bazaar. We stopped for lunch at a little side shop where we got durme(?) - wraps with meat in there. I got lamb, of course, and it was delicious. Then we walked to the bazaar gate. Again, not quite what I was expecting - in the souks I've gone to before, there is a lot of men shouting at you to buy things and haggling going on. This was pretty tame. I bought a ceramic dish set for company, which I like. If you do ever buy ceramics here, know that many of them are made with lead - they will tell you
if they are or not. The ones with lead can hold cold foods, but do NOT cook with them. I just plan to use my dishes to serve fruits and cheeses and nuts and things like that, so I got the cheaper one.
We didn't spend much time at the gianormous Grand Bazaar and soon took the bus back to the hotel. It had been a long day so we took naps before dinner. We had dinner at a place our guide had recommended, Matbeh, near the Hagia Sophia. It was pretty good. I had lamb (again) - roasted lamb with vegetables and it was delicious! Jesse had a nice chicken cooked in a sweet sauce and Jamie had some kind of fried cheese plate, that you dipped in honey. All very good.
Finally, we stopped at a nearby cafe to smoke some sheesha and watch the swirling dervish. He waited for about 5 minutes for the call to prayer to end, twirled for one song, and apparently that was it. So we smoked and chatted for about an hour, sipping my tea, then went home.
Long but FUN day!!!
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