2010 Trip: Istanbul Day 2
4th May 2010
As everyone was sleepy and in holiday mode, no one was up till late and we barely made it out of the house until 11! I say house in a colloquial fashion, Simon’s 6th floor apartment is an experience! Mere blocks from the metro and a major shopping area, it has a great location. In addition the view out over Istanbul is pretty fabulous.
The flat itself has seen better days, but ingenious systems for filling the toilet cistern, stopping the electric hot water heater from overloading the fuse and internet shared with a family living in the basement keep the place ticking over. It has character and it’s occupants are awesome!! By occupants, I of course include the resident pigeons who roost just outside of bathroom window, ready to startle a shower goer with their cooing.
Paula, Bree and I set out to Taksim square for the start of our day, just one stop down the metro. We wandered down Istiklal Caddesi, a major shopping street in ‘downtown’ Istanbul. Every second shop was a major international brand. It is very interesting to see that even in the past five years, Istanbul has become significantly more westernised. It seems quite clear that the wealthier parts of Turkish society have really made a decision on what they want to spend their money on.
Talking of money, prices in Turkey are for the most part very similar to there equivalents in New Zealand. Ranging from food to transport. There are a few exceptions: taxis are notably cheaper and it is technically possible to survive on a much lower poverty-level budget that in New Zealand. The Turkish Lira converts approximately 1:1 with the New Zealand Dollar as well.
With that brief aside, we headed down past the Galata Tower (Completed 1348, 66.9m tall), a wide stone tower with an encompassing view of the Golden Horn and out onto the Bosphorus. At the bottom of the hill, we marvelled at the view across the water to Eminonu and Sultanahmet. We wandered past crowds of surprisingly successful fishermen as we crossed over the Golden Horn on the Galata Bridge (well, its fourth iteration).
We explored the New Mosque next to the bridge. This happened to coincide with the midday prayers. The mosque was stunning, with incredibly ornate tiling. Amusingly, all of the lines of bulbs that used to hold standard globes had been converted to mini energy savers. The atmosphere during the prayers, as during any religious ceremony, is something to behold. While the Muslim holy day is Friday, five times each day they are called to prayer. Though most may only attend one prayer session at the mosque each day, they will pray at these times in their homes or workplaces.
The muzzein, a man employed by each mosque to ‘call out’ to the people to pray, puts out the call one hour before sunrise, the middle of the day and an hour after sunset, plus two in between. These days, this call is electronically amplified. Calls from this mosque and others start and are joined. Each seem to echo the others.
After leaving the New Mosque, we wandered up the hill, through the spice bazaar - full of olives, mounded tubs of spices, and herbs hanging from the ceiling. Wandering further up the hill, we eventually entered the Grand Bazaar and after pausing briefly for a wrap for lunch, proceeded to investigate. It is very much part of the tourist area and hawkers, with often surprisingly poor English - “Yes, Thank you” - as you walk by a shop, are everywhere. But the amount of pretty stuff gabbles the mind - scarves in pashmina and silk, hanging mosaic’d lanterns (Paula’s small obsession!), jewellery, tiles, and porcelain with stunning Islamic patterns. But yes, touristy!
After this we wandered down into the heart of Sultanahmet, the heart of the old Roman city and modern day tourist hub. Admittedly, for good reason as the attractions here are many. Today, we visited the Basilica Cisterns, an underground Roman water storage facility. Columns stretch out into the darkness, some illuminated, casting flickering lights across the dark water. An incredibly atmospheric location.
After this, we wandered across the park between the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, stopping to take photos and for Simit (bagel like bread, covered in seasame seeds). We looked around the Blue Mosque, one of the largest in the world. It was particularly awe-inspiring. Tourists had to enter through a side entrance, where after taking our shoes off, we were also presented with a stand of free ‘guides’ in a variety of languages. They were amusing Muslim recruitment pamphlets that could be summarised into, “you have seen this amazing mosque so now you should become Muslim.” After this we caught the tram back towards Simon’s flat and found a quick spot of dinner.