Today was only a half day in port, so we did our best to make the most of our short day in Istanbul. We thought it best to go with a Celebrity sponsored excursion so we wouldn't miss the ship. The excursion was comprised of three parts: an hour and a half cruise down the Bosphorus Strait, a stop at a jewelry store (that sneaky cruise line!), and some time at the Spice Bazaar. We boarded the bus and our guide gave us an overview of the day. No one seemed thrilled about the jewelry store, but all were excited to stimulate the Turkish economy (again) at the Bazaar.
After a very short bus ride across the Galata Bridge, we boarded a smaller boat with other Celebrity passengers and prepared for our narrated sail along the Bosphorus. The cruise took us past our ship and we were finally able to get a good look at our flag! The cruise was uneventful and the narrator difficult to understand. Seriously, it was like listening to the teacher from Charlie Brown for the majority of the trip.
The strait was littered with fishermen eager to sell their catch to the restaurants below the bridge-talk about using fresh and local products! We have tons of pictures from the cruise, but of course can't remember what 90% actually are (or we never knew in the first place). A well known Turkish tale goes something like this:
A king (or sultan...not sure) was warned by a witch that on her eighteenth birthday, his daughter would be bitten by a snake and die. In order to ensure her safety, he had a tower built in the middle of the Strait so that it would be impossible for a snake to bite her. When she turned eighteen, the king was thrilled that the prophecy hadn't come true. So happy that he went to visit his daughter, celebratory basket of fruit in hand. The basket also happened to house a snake. It bit her and she died.
Sound familiar? I thought so! Well, believe it or not, this is the tower which coincides with the tale. Pretty crazy, huh? Unfortunately, neither of us can remember the name of the tower; sorry!
So, we're cruising along and I finally whisper in John's ear, "I don't want to go to the jewelry store." I know, music to every man's ears! His happy response was expected and he jumped at the opportunity. After talking with the guide, we determined it would be easy to separate fom the group after the cruise and meet at the Spice Bazaar. At one point John declared, "Under no circumstance will I go to that jewelry store!" This ended up being the quote of the day and we all used the starter, "Under no circumstance..." for the remainder of the day.
So, we made the short walk to the Bazaar with Denise, Fontaine, and Nick and had extra time to shop there. This certainly ended up being a fantastic idea, as it gave us time to stroll leisurely. (Envision an indoor farmer's market.) We even had time to explore a neighboring market less visited by tourists. The scene of the market enveloped us as we entered. Vendors beckoned us to visit their shops, while others played to our sense of smell and let their products speak for themselves. Mounds of fresh spices and teas packed crammed vendor stalls, and yet others were plastered with brightly colored ceramics. The scent of fresh baklava married nicely with frequent and kind offers of green apple tea. Samples of Turkish Delight every few steps made it seem as though we never set foot off the ship! We browsed in a few shops, and after about half an hour we made our way through the entire marketplace. This gave us the chance to compare prices and deide what we really wanted to purchase. But, it also gave us time to do something else.
Just outside the Spice Bazaar is another, much smaller market--the pet and plant market. We thought it would be interesting to check it out, to delve deeper into Turkish culture. Well, we did, and it was interesting to say the least! The first thing we laid eyes on was a group of large plastic jars filled about halfway with water...and eels...and leeches. As we meandered our way through the narrow walkways we came across fruit trees wrapped in burlap, ready for transport and roses in just about any color imaginable. The plants in the market were simply stunning! Unfortunately a large potion of the market was pets (or supplies for them). Many types of fish swam in aquariums, and we heard cats meowing and dogs barking from somewhere upstairs. Cages lined storefronts from cobblestone to ceiling with birds: ducks, peacocks, guinea hens... You name it, they had it! Still other outdoor cages housed bunnies, hamsters, puppies, and kittens. Totally made us miss Glory and we left soon thereafter. I know one thing...PETA would have a field day with that place and its' small, overcrowded cages. There was one good thing about this market. All of the vendors knew we were tourists, and so no one badgered us to buy their product. I guess customs isn't always bad! Anyway, back to the Spice Bazaar for the real shopping! Some purchases of note: tea, various spices, and of course, a big box of Turkish Delight. Thus ended our fun in Istanbul.
We hung out with Nick and Fontaine for the rest of the night. After a game of trivia (lost in sudden death) and a quick listen in on the a capella group onboard, we headed to dinner. The men were more than happy since cheese stuffed meatballs and filet mignon were on the menu. Yes, they each ordered both. We heard the a capella group again, then settled into the movie theatre for Bridesmaids. Absolutely hilarious! I guess that one can be removed fom the Netflix queue now. After a busy day, our heads hit our pillows hard. tomorrow will be another busy day. Thank you, Constantinople for the beautiful sights in your city. Here's hoping we'll be well rested and fully charged for our last day in Turkey!
Today began our two days in Istanbul, Turkey. This overnight visit to Istanbul was one of the primary reasons we chose this particular cruise, so I was greatly looking forward to the day. We met up with a couple in the morning to join us for our tour of the historic part of the city. We had booked a tour with the company Private Tours in Turkey, and our guide met us outside the port at 08:00. Unfortunately, our originally booked guide was unavailable due to a family situation, but another guide, Hale, filled in for her. We hopped onto the city tram, which easily whisked us away to the historical core of Istanbul, the area known as Sultanahmet. Our first stop was the Hippodrome, a square which is situated over an area originally built by Constantine for chariot races in Constantinople. The obelisk shown to the right was originally an Egyptian obelisk, carved in about 1500 BC. The part of the obelisk in Istanbul is only the upper third, as it was chopped in pieces for transport to Constantinople.
Following our walk through the Hippodrome, we entered the famed Blue Mosque, which was stunning from both inside and out. As is customary in mosques, we removed our shoes and walked on the carpet in the mosque in socks or barefoot. The mosque was built in the early 1600s and received its name due to its ornate blue tiles on the inside. According to Hale, the building was originally to be constructed with golden (altin) minarets, but this was too expensive, so the sultan ordered six (alti) minarets instead.
Next on our tour was Hagia Sophia, a museum which was built as a church in the sixth century by Justinian (a rebuild of an earlier church by Constantine which was destroyed). When the Ottoman Empire took control of Constantinople in the 1500s, it was repurposed into a mosque and the Christian mosaics were plastered over. In the twentieth century, it was secularized and turned into a museum. Since then, work has continued to reveal the Christian mosaics, and as such, the church is an incredible example of both Christian and Islamic art and design at the same time. This can be seen in the interior picture below. The second picture shows the exterior.
A short walk away was the sprawling complex known as Topkapi Palace, the former palace of the Sultans. We explored a number of different sections of the palace, but the most notable included the treasury (filled with a huge number of jewels), and the Harem. The Harem was the part of the palace in which the Sultan lived, along with the his mother (who served as the de facto queen, as almost all sultans did not marry), servant eunuchs, concubines, and his favorites, who were the women chosen by the Queen Mother to keep company with the Sultan and bear him children. The entire Topkapi Palace was overwhelming, and we easily spent the most time here of any site of the day. The picture to the left shows just one of the courtyards of the Palace.
After the Topkapi Palace, our tour guide pointed us in the direction of a nearby restaurant which served cuisine which she described as "the same as we would cook at home". We all ordered far too much of the delicious food, and took a much needed break from all of the walking.
Our next stop was the Underground Cistern, which was built in the sixth century (during Justinian's time) in order to provide fresh water to the blue bloods of the city. Turns out it didn't really matter what the blue bloods did with their water, since most of it was poisoned with lead from the aqueducts (built using lead) and drank from lead cups. The term blue blood refers to the more noble people of the city, whose fairer skin meant that their veins appeared blue below their skin. The working class and slaves had darker skin from being in the sun, and as such, their veins appeared green, and they were called green bloods. The cistern was an extremely peaceful place, which included some neat architecture, as well as some very cool carvings of Medusa which were transplanted here. It is an interesting take on early recycling, as all of the columns here were used from other structures.
Our final stop of the tour was the Grand Bazaar. We found the bazaar to be overwhelming, and a large mismash of the same goods over and over. Since nothing has price tags, you are forced to speak to the shopkeepers to try and determine the value of goods and compare pricing; a tedious task, when even saying hello to a shopkeeper can then make it difficult to extract yourself from conversation with them. Even with these difficulties, we did our part to stimulate the Turkish economy with a few choice purchases.
Following the Grand Bazaar and approximately 8 hours of touring, we hopped back on the tram and made our way back to the ship. We parted ways with Hale, who proved to be a wonderful tour guide. We were quite pleased with the insights she provided and the little tricks she used throughout the day to save us time in lines and elsewhere.
We took a brief rest in our room, and then made our way back out in what at that time was a relatively steady rain in order to take in the modern side of Istanbul. There is a pedestrian friendly street, Istiklal Street, which according to RS provides a nice counterpoint between the Istanbul of the past and present. We originally planned to take a taxi, however, after one turned us down (for reasons unknown to me), we found our way to the funicular, which proved to be a cheap and easy way to reach Taksim Square (on one end of Istiklal Street). By the time we reached the Square, the rain had died down and we wandered the street for about an hour, shopping for books for Sarah, among other things, and also securing some baklava. The very busy pedestrian street had a number of upscale shops and was a whole different world compared with Istanbul's Old City. We were very glad to have made the journey. We hopped on the funicular and took the short walk back to the cruise ship. One very late dinner later, we rested for the the night, ready for more Istanbul in the morning.
