http://s349.photobucket.com/albums/q385/Kobrans/UEA/Winter%20Break/
Here's a taste, and hopefully it will encourage you to waste some time and look at the rest of them.
Right, that having been said, I suppose I should update. If you've been reading my blog, then you know that I have quite the adventure this past break.
After my trip to Durham to visit Erica, I basically sat around in my room for three days. On Sunday afternoon I went into town to meet Stephen and Pawel. We had hot cocoa in front of the Forum and then I went with them to Tesco to pick up some vodka and munchies for a party they were going to later that night. They were hung over all day, and this was the third consecutive night of drinking they had planned. I guess that's what it means to be Polish. Just kidding. But I was really glad to see them before I left.
On Monday, Dec. 22, around noon, I left with my enormous rolling duffle bag on a train for London, dragged my luggage through the Tube all the way to Heathrow, and got a bus over to the Holiday Inn for the night. I spent the rest of the night in the hotel, ate dinner in the hotel restaurant, and watched some TV. I think The Brothers Grimm was on. I had forgotten how much I hated that movie. In the morning I got up early, took a taxi to Heathrow, and got on a plane to Istanbul. I have to say, I'm not impressed with British Airways.
I landed in Istanbul about 3:15 local time, got my visa (basically a $20 postage stamp) and met my parents after going through customs. It was weird seeing them after so much time, because it didn't feel like it had been that long, thanks to Skype. It was just physically being with them. And then the family dynamics started coming into play once we were all together again. I had sort of forgotten how we all interact when together.
We took a shuttle to our hotel in Sultanahmet. Now, I'll preface this by saying that we were almost excusively in the touristy part of the city, but from what I saw, Istanbul is a really lovely, clean city. My sister remarked that it felt like walking through the Disney Epcot Morocco exhibit, and I sort of agree. Streets were clean and cobblestoned, there were Christmas lights everywhere (not that Turkey, being a Muslim country, celebrates Christmas, but they know where to hit the tourists), and music was playing from every shop and restaurant. Our hotel was amazing. We had a wonderful (although small) room with a balcony that overlooked the Hagia Sophia. Couldn't have asked for a better view. And, although it was annoying at 6AM, we could hear the call to prayer coming from the Blue Moque.
Istanbul really is where East meets West. Just different enough to know you're not in the West anymore, but there is so much that is familiar, that it's not uncomfortable. Almost everyone spoke English, which was very helpful, although somewhat regrettable, since I didn't have to pick up any Turkish. I did use "Teshekur ederim" quite often, which means "Thank you." A nice and patient waiter at one restaurant taught us to say it "Tea, sugar, a dream." I'm relatively good with languages, but pronunciation is not my strongest skill.
I can't possibly recount everything that happened, but I'll mention the highlights. Our first night, we wandered around our immediate neighborhood, went to dinner, and got pulled into this carpet shop and were offered apple tea (which is AMAZING) while this guy tried to sell my parents Turkish rugs. One thing I noticed throughout the trip, especially the next day when we went to the Grand and Spice Bazaars, was that everyone is VERY nice and welcoming. Now, to be fair, most of them are trying to sell something, but beyond that, everyone wants to talk to you, learn where you're from. If they've been to America, they want to talk to you about it. Everyone says, "Welcome to my country!" They offer you tea, they give you advice on which places to visit and what times are the best. They all offer you business cards. One man even gave us his personal phone number and offered to show us where the nearest hospital was, because we had mentioned that my sister was ill back at the hotel.
So, Dec. 24 we walked around the Grand Bazaar. Then we met my friend Duygu from Dickinson (she lived across the hall from me freshman year) and her friend Gul, who spent the rest of the day with us. Having them there to show us around was definitely one of the best parts of the trip. We went to lunch in the Grand Bazaar and they made sure we tried all sorts of traditional Turkish things, like iran, a drink made from plain yogurt. I can't say I'm a fan. (Oh, a side note. It turns out that they don't do falafel in Turkey. It's more of a Middle Eastern thing. I was crushed.) Then we walked through the Spice Market and bought some real Turkish Delight. At one point Gul stopped a man pushing a cart with this big cauldron on it and got us sahlep, a hot winter drink made from Turkish rice pudding. That was delicious. Then they took us to Taksim, the trendy shopping district of the new side of Istanbul, where all the hip, cool people hang out. We had dinner there, and looked around some shops.
On Christmas, Mel wasn't feeling well, so she stayed in the hotel. Mom, Dad, and I went to the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, and the Hagia Sophia. The Hippodrome is just this big park of what used to be the Roman stadium, but it still houses the Egyptian obelisk, Constantine's Column, and the remains of the Serpentine Column. The Blue Mosque was closed for prayer when we first got there, but we eventually got inside. It's massive, and absolutely beautiful. The Hagia Sophia is literally right across the street. It, too, while a bit more run down (although it's in excellent shape for being 1500 years old), is absolutely gorgeous and very impressive. In the afternoon we went back to the hotel. Everyone else napped while I checked my email on the hotel computer, and then we went back over to where we had been earlier to show Mel the area at night. We wandered around almost to the river and back before settling on this awesome little restaurant in a building that looked, again, like a front from a Disney ride. We ran into plenty of stray cats along the way. Istanbul is flooded with stray cats. A couple stray dogs, too.
The next day we toured Topkapi Palace, which is a bit too much, but more...understandable? than Versailles. The set-up of the Harem was really interesting, too. While I was waiting for my parents to get tickets, I sat on this bench surrounded three stray cats. I started petting one, and he immediately jumped on my lap. Then another one got jealous and jumped up, too. Then some Japanese tourists came over and took pictures.
In the afternoon we took a boat tour of the Bosphorous. It was raining and windy, so we stayed in the cabin for most of it. Mel and I nearly fell off the boat when we went up on deck, it was rocking so much. But now I can say that I've seen Asia, even if we didn't land on the Asian side. Then we took a coach up to Pierre Loti Hill, which normally has a beautiful view over the city, but it was cloudy and sort of miserable, so we didn't stay there long. We took a cable car down from the hill, and then back to Sultanahmet, where we walked back to our hotel.
In the morning, Mom was sort of tired, but Dad and I took Mel back to the Blue Mosque, which she had missed on Christmas, and then the three of us went to the Yerebatan Cistern, which is this underground...well...cistern. It reminded me of Moria from Lord of the Rings. In the afternoon we went to the airport and flew to Munich. But that'll be another post. Right now, I should probably leave my room and do something productive, like start my HUM 310 paper on...I'm not sure yet. I think poems. Maybe.
But definitely check out my pictures. Still to come: Munich and Bavaria, Belfast, the Giant's Causeway, Dublin, Holyhead, London, and my return to Norwich!
1 comment:
sultanahmet is my best destination in Istanbul.
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