Life around Friedensau had returned to normal after our Christmas break had finished. The daily attendance to class followed by the normal after school activities. We finally had snow, which fulfilled my every wish about winter. It stuck around for a while too. We built a giant snowman which became a bit famous as it was right in front of the building everyone had classes. Through all the time we had, Michael and I inadvertently reverted to our original plan for the coming trip. Have a plane ticket to Istanbul and a global pass train ticket out, other than that wing it. We did intend to do a bit of planning but that fell by the wayside. Life is more fun to live spontaneously anyways.
So we were off to Istanbul. I had never been farther east than Germany so I had no idea what to expect other than delightful food in Istanbul. The name Turkish delight is a bit of an understatement, its more like heaven in a cube, but in my eyes it also refers to anything edible in this country. If the food on the flight was any indication, it was going to be good eating for the next few days. It was not wrong. I was pleased. We landed in Ataturk around 11pm and found passport control and the visa counter. After that, we headed to the metro to get to our hostel. As we approached we noticed something a bit odd. There weren't many people heading that way and those that were, were running. A bit curious, we found our answer in the form of a rushing metro attendant who told us the last metro left at midnight. It was about a minute til. He ran around getting us the passes we needed and we boarded with seconds to spare. It was good because the airport was a really long ways from the rest of the town, and subsequently our hostel. We got off the metro to find all other forms of public transportation also closed. We kinda guessed where to go and managed to eventually find our hostel. We had several stray dogs follow us for about a half hour and when we got to the park separating the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, they wandered off. Our hostel was right around the corner. Perfect location. We made it there by 2am, slept in a bit, and started Day 1 refreshed and ready to go.
*****
Day 1 in Istanbul started with an awesome, albeit fairly small, breakfast on the roof of our hostel. The perfect location allowed us to see the Blue Mosque and the ocean at the same time. Not a bad spot indeed. We met up with Jessica and Jeremy, other ACA friends who were in Istanbul, in the park between the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. I didn't realize the night before just how big they were. They are quite massive. While waiting, I heard my first call to prayer in the minarets from the Blue Mosque. It was a really cool cultural experience. I also found some street vendors that were selling some awesome looking pastries with Nutella in them for one Turkish Lira (the currency there. 1 Lira = about 50 cents USD) so naturally I ate some.
The weather was never terrible in Istanbul. The one time it "rained" it lasted a whole five minutes and I think I felt two drops on me. We explored the insides of the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque where you had to adhere to the customs of Islam and take off your shoes and cover your head if you were a woman.
After this we wandered around the Grand Bazaar marveling at all the vendors. The way they tried to get business from us was interesting. Following us around, sometimes grabbing our arms, and always practicing their English vernacular. Things like 'sup bro, and others were things they used to get our attention. We eventually got hungry and found a place to eat. I wasn't too hungry because I had snacked on the wares of the street vendors so I only purchased some Baklava and some Turkish Tea. Good life choice. It was amazing. The best Baklava I have ever eaten. The Turks also know how to make some good beverages. Tea and coffee there are phenomenal. If I ate lots of Turkish food for the rest of my life, it wouldn't make me sad. As the evening progressed and we wandered through the streets more, we found ourselves wanting to find something new. There was a square that, from what we heard, was where lots of people liked to hang out, and we thought some people watching was in order. But when we got there, all was not as we planned.
Our first indication that something was up should have been that no one was going up the stairs, in fact, people were going down the up escalators. Not really thinking much of it we pressed through the crowds and just as we stepped onto the escalator everything became clear…in that fuzzy, I can't really see way. Apparently there was a protest up in this square and tear gas had been thrown to disperse the crowds. We walked right into it. We continued up to see what the deal was and we saw lots of police and riot control teams, etc. We hung around for a little bit, but as things appeared to escalate we bid a hasty retreat to anywhere other than where we were. We eventually decided to end the evening and head back to the hostel.
*****
Day 2 in Istanbul started a lot like the first. A wonderful breakfast on the roof, sun beating down on us in glorious spring like fervor. We had a few hours before meeting the others so we went up a nearby tower to see over the city. It was also beautiful. Wind was a bit of an issue whenever we were up high, or by the water. No big deal though.
When we met the others we decided to go to the Prince's Islands; some islands a few miles off the mainland. The ferry ride was nice and we saw many birds playing with the people on the deck as they threw food to the birds and watched them catch it. It was a fun game all seemed to enjoy. I did not participate because if I was going to spend some money on food, you can be sure I was going to the the one eating it.
The island we got off on was nice. At the top was a park. We wandered around that and saw the back side of the island where we took many pictures. It was a nice time and the only motivation to leave was the threat of being left on the island by the last ferry and our increasing hunger. After we found out we had time, we ate at a local restaurant. Clearly this was not your average tourist restaurant because no one spoke a word of English. With a lot of pointing at the menu we finally got our order taken care of. We were excited. It was going to be delicious. When it came out, we were not disappointed. We did however, probably get taken for a loop on the bill later. They used the excuse of not speaking a common language to over charge us. Whatever, it was in Lira and the exchange rate wasn't too bad.
We took the last ferry out and when we got to the mainland, went our separate ways for the night. At our hostel Michael and I had to plan on how to get to Sofia, Bulgaria. We always figured we could take a train out, because that's what you do in every European country. We could do this for Istanbul too, but the only train out was at 10pm the next night.
*****
Day 3 in Istanbul. We weren't really sure how things were going to go in the train department so we checked out of our hostel early the next morning and headed to the train station. There we got a little more information, emphasis on little. We made our reservation and stored our bags in the locker, and went out for one last day in the city.
That morning before we had gotten ready to go, I woke up to the 6:30 call to prayer from the minaret on the Blue Mosque. I hadn't woken up to it any previous mornings so it was interesting that I did this time. I wasn't really unhappy. It was quite cool and after it was done I fell back asleep. I wanted to go to the Asian side of the city just to say that I have been to Asia, so we hopped on the ferry and went across, meeting the other two for the last day. Since we arrived early we walked around the city for a while, finding slums and pretty areas alike. We met up with the others right around linch time so I grabbed a snack and we headed off. This morning for breakfast I had eaten two portions. It turned out to be a good choice. We had heard a tale of a fancy district in the hills so we headed that direction. We found it and walked around for a while. I was pleased to get pictures and since the weather was gorgeous, we just meandered around the park. Eventually we got hungry and so we made plans for the rest of the day. We wanted to go on the Bosphorus cruise, but more importantly we wanted food. We didn't find much other than street vendors until we walked around a corner and found a very local place. It was very much off the beaten path and was about as authentic as it could get. No one who worked there spoke English or German, but a customer did. He translated for us, but we were still a little unclear about what we were getting. We knew it was something to do with chicken. But we were okay with just being surprised.
It was the best surprise ever. It was amazing food. I really have no words for it other than that. We ate the food and then he offered us a complementary tea. As I had previously said, the beverages here are great. We gladly obliged. The bill was considerably less than the day before, and when we left we headed for the boat dock. We found a cruise that left 40 minutes from when we were there so we found a bench in the sun to sit for a while. It was lovely. At 16 C, I was wearing a thin T-Shirt and was very comfortable, I had packed my jacked away long before. The day was not all perfect because when I went to the water's edge to take some pictures, I dropped a lens cap into the water and it quickly vanished. I was a little upset by this but I wasn't going to let it ruin my day. I wrapped a lens cloth around the lens and rubber banded it to it and buried it deep in my camera bag.
The cruise came and we found that it was money well spent. At this point it was late afternoon and the sun was dipping low in the sky creating beautiful lighting everywhere. All the couples were out on the deck enjoying the romantic atmosphere. I was out on the deck with all available lenses enjoying the lighting as well. Bridges and mosques were lit up by the setting sun and I couldn't let this moment pass without snapping a few (hundred) pictures.
Back on the main land we walked through the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar one last time. I had about 30 pictures left on my card and used them there as sparingly as I would if I were shooting a roll of film. We ended up back on the water's edge and wanted something to drink and just sit and relax as we waited for the time to head our separate ways. On the main market bridge, similar to the Rialto in Venice, we got hounded by restaurant workers to come to their place. We wanted something less expensive and less…chaotic so we chose a square looking out over the bridge in front and some mosques behind. I got some salep and a basket of pastries from the vendors and we watched the people. I must tell you about salep. It is the most wonderful drink in the world. It is the consistency, and heat, of molten lava, but it tastes fantastic. It is made up of honey, orchid blossom extract, vanilla, milk and a few other things, with cinnamon on the top. For 1 lira, I had to buy it. Since I had it the night before I knew what I was getting into. Best lira spent ever. The pastries were similar to donuts or dumplings. A fluffy goodness covered in honey. I was eating well while watching the people. It was a great way to end a great start of the trip.
*****
We headed to the train station a little early because we still weren't sure what was going on. There I saw something familiar that I didn't expect to see. A crew was setting up film equipment all over the station. Cables for lights running everywhere, jibs and cranes set up, camera crews waiting on the crop and electric department, and the directing team sitting in a back room with the actors. I watched this with interest. It was strange not being a part of it. I wanted to see the differences between the way they ran the program versus the way we do in America. There weren't many.
We figured out that we would have to catch a bus to a train somewhere else because Turkey doesn't do a lot of trains. The bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere that happened to have a train. It all seemed to be a little haphazard. We get to our sleeper car and find it to be pretty janky. Just like I had envisioned things to be. I wasn't disappointed at all, in fact I was quite pleased with the new adventure. I had also never been in a sleeper car so I was stoked to sleep while going across a country. Its funny that I thought I would sleep. The first bit I did, but border control woke us up three times and the ticket man twice. One of the times for passport control, we had to go out into this building with nothing there other than a desk with people wearing the stereotypical Slavic police uniforms. Later in Bulgaria the border police came in and made sure we weren't smuggling people across, took our passports to make sure we were not villainous and then we finally got some sleep.
Our trip to Turkey was awesome. The rest of the trip promises grand adventure into the world of the unknown…eastern Europe. The Bulgarian train ride is not over. It in fact becomes more interesting. To find out more be sure to read my upcoming blog about Bulgaria.
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