Istanbul: where East meets West

Extended my trip in London for a few days so I could travel to Istanbul with Bailey!!  :-)  Such good luck that she was looking for somewhere to go and had the time off.  Had a bit of drama in London, but c'e la vie, eh?  Except sometimes it seems more like deja vu.... :-/

Anyways, Istanbul with Bails!  Hilarious, hot, and very interesting.  The city itself is pretty cosmopolitan, and the main tourist area is VERY touristy.  And also full of young men trying to pick up tourist women (hi strange men!  you're awfully friendly!).   But it also begs the question:  where are all the women?  Are they in hiding, or are they all in the suburbs?

On our first day, Bailey and I proceeded to wander around looking at the gorgeous mosques everywhere, get lost trying to find an underground cistern that we were literally on top of, and then scare ourselves in it.  We also got invitations from no less than 3 groups of guys to go out with them at night.  And I'm pretty sure the entire wait staff of one restaurant wanted to be our best friends.  haha.  Well meaning as we were, Bailey and I opted to chill at a hookah bar near the water instead, where I proceeded to have a very, very hilarious conversation with our waiter in a broken mix of Turkish and English.  Do I speak Turkish?  no.  Did the waiter speak English?  no.  Hence the hilariousness.  However, I'm told I can make decent approximations of Turkish words/syllables.  Maybe I should learn Turkish! 

I find Turkish and Arabic really beautiful languages, especially in songs.  We popped into a bar with live music that night as well (in a sad, language hampered attempt to find hookah prior that night), and the woman singing had the most gorgeous voice I've ever heard live.  I kept thinking it was a pity that her voice wouldn't be heard internationally unless she sang in English/Spanish/French.  But then, by the way she was chain smoking, I don't know if that voice will last long.

Over the next few days, we tried to see as much as we could- the Grand Bazaar, the Blue Mosque, and even did a river cruise.  We also took a LONG walk while exercising our special map skills to the Topkapi Palace, which was gorgeous, and covered in intricate artwork.  And gold- lots of gold.  We made sure to visit the Harem and ooh and ahhh over everything.  The best part was on the way out, when we asked a man to take our picture for us.  After chatting for a bit, he offered me a job selling rugs in Istanbul!!  My first job offer!!  Unfortunately, I had to turn him down because I had so many other travel plans.  Maybe I shouldn't have... ah, if only I had more time.  :-(

one of the rooms in the Harem

After all the sightseeing, Bailey and I were intent on some R&R at the famous Turkish baths.  Now here is the fun part- putting on the bikinis that are provided for 'modesty'.  Erm, suffice to say, the tops they gave us were not modest at all!  After we asked them for something more than two tiny triangles tied together with string, a little man came by in the bath to switch the tops for us...  Literally!  He told just to hold our arms out and he proceeded to take off the tops and replace them!!  Hilarious and embarrassing.  We decided later that the little man just wanted to see us with our tops off.  Whatevs- we were pretty much nude anyways!  The Turkish bath experience was interesting- a combination of a hot sauna, a serious scrub-down, and a little massage.   Much better than what I'd expected, given a friend's description of being 'whipped by water' during his Turkish bath experience!

On our last night in Istanbul together, on the recommendation of the Aussie hotel guy (who'd married a Turkish woman), we were driven to what we described to us as the 'seafood market'.  In reality, it was a huge area of restaurants and rowdy groups of people wining and dining themselves.  yay!  It was great people watching and trying to puzzle out what other people were eating.  Especially the dishes that were being set on fire by the waiters (flambé, olé!).  The musicians who came by our table were fun too  :-).

Dinner at the 'seafood market'

After dinner, Bailey and I found another hookah bar near our hotel and hung out there until the wee hours of the morning with some other foreign travelers and a few Turkish guys.  As usual, we spent most of the night refusing invitations from the guys to go clubbing, but had a great time- especially after we found a little black kitten to play with.

The next day, Bailey left to fly back to London, and I spent the day wandering around a museum near the palace and visiting the Hagia Sofia.  I didn't have huge expectations for the museum, but as some know, I am a fan of museums, especially in cities where there is a lot of history/culture and high probability of good collections.  The biggest gem of the museum complex was a sculpture museum I stumbled upon.  Not many people are aware that I am slightly/obsessively fond of classical sculpture, and consider sculpture among the highest forms of artistry.  This gallery made me want to cry a little bit.  In fact, I may have.  It was an extraordinary collection...  I would live there if it wouldn't scare the bejesus out of me to see so many lifelike, life-size and disembodied sculptures alone at night.

The Hagia Sofia is amazing too- the mosque was turned into a Catholic cathedral at some point in its history, so it has the amazing vaulted, rounded turrets, an incredible space, and yet it has mosaics of the Virgin Mary and the Apostles around the walls.  The space is just like Istanbul- where East meets West.

Inside the Hagia Sofia

I keep hearing good things about the rest of Turkey from other travelers.  Must resolve to return one day.