Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

(Sorry if I get the They Might Be Giants song, Istanbul (not Constantinople) stuck in your head; I’m afraid it was going through mine the whole time I was there! Don’t click the link unless you want to risk the earworm. Apparently it was originally a song performed by the Canadian band The Four Lads in 1953. But their version isn’t as much fun.)

​In the airport in Kuwait I met a sweet young man who was heading to Istanbul to go back to his studies. He is in an engineering program. He told me he was Syrian. Later in the conversation it came out that he was born in Kuwait and has always lived there, but that doesn’t make him a citizen. Likewise, one of my fellow panelists in Kuwait, a successful local businesswoman, said she was Palestinian. Turned out that she, too, had lived her whole life in Kuwait. To me it seems surprising that people who were born in a country and have lived their whole lives there still, without hesitation, list a different country as where they are “from”.

My young friend was warning me about the dangers of being ripped off as a tourist in Istanbul. I wondered if he was trying to sell me his services as a tour guide, as he did insist that it would be best to have a local guide. Later, when we were leaving the plane, he joined me in the customs lineup and wanted to escort me to the shuttle bus stop, to ensure that I found it OK. When I found out that he was not going that way (and my suitcase had already come out but his hadn’t), I assured him I’d be fine, and he gave me detailed directions as to where to find it. I think he was just being sweet and protective.

One nice thing about flying in the middle of the night is that when you arrive at 5:55 a.m. the airport isn’t the zoo it is reputed to be. Getting through customs was fast and easy, and my suitcase had come out before I had returned from the washroom! The bus also left about three minutes after I got on it. So far, so good…

The Midtown Hotel is lovely.  Having traveled through the night, I was pretty tired when I got there, and disheartened when they told the guy before me that they didn’t have a room ready for him to check in at that hour. That said, I helped the desk clerk explain to him that one can’t assume that a hotel room would be ready for occupation that early in the morning. They did offer him a free breakfast though.

When he was gone, the young man at the desk told me he did have a room ready for me. I had sent a request beforehand, so I’m assuming that he guessed that I was the one and that’s why he saved it for me instead of letting the other guy have it. The desk clerk also offered me a free breakfast for the first day. It turned out to be so extensive that I ended up buying breakfast there every day. (Product sampling works, folks!)

What a busy three days of touring I had! There is so much to see and do in Istanbul. 

For 1,000 years this was the biggest cathedral in the world. Built in 532-537 AD (C.E.? terminology has changed). I wondered how something so massive could be built in five years. Turns out 10,000 people worked to build it. Think about the sophisticated operations management skills that must have taken!  For its first 900 years it was an Eastern Orthodox cathedral, except for a 57 year break in 1204 – 1261 when the Crusaders held it. When the Ottomans invaded it was turned into a Mosque, and continued to be one from 1453 until 1931.

​Beautiful! The “blue” nickname comes from the interior colours, not the exterior. The tilework is astounding, and the stained glass windows add to the luminescence. There is something cozy and welcoming about a place of worship that is fully carpeted, as opposed to the cold, echoing marble cathedrals of the Christians. (Though in hot weather, those cool cathedrals are a blessing!)  

Istanbul is still a largely secular city, although you do hear the calls to prayer five times a day, echoing from hundreds of minarets. It seems to me that more than half the women wear head coverings. They were typically more colourful than the basic black of Kuwait, and not many women that I saw in Istanbul were wearing full niquabs or burkas. But at least in Kuwait many of the men were also in traditional garb, whereas in Istanbul they were all in Western clothing. Somehow that just doesn’t seem fair to me.

On the other hand, seeing so many in headscarves it does get normalized. And beautiful women with well-applied makeup look beautiful whether or not their hair is hidden. I guess that’s what motivates the more extreme adherents to make women hide their faces too. 

I was particularly struck watching groups of giggly teenage hijab-wearing girls; they seemed no different from the early teen girls back home. I actually got to chat with a few of them. They had been assigned by their teacher to approach tourists and “interview” them, to practice their English. Being a smiling woman with “polar blonde” hair wandering around alone made me their dream, non-threatening, interview subject, so I was approached by two different groups. It was hard to answer the question about what my favourite Turkish food is. It was just way too complicated to start explaining about allergies! 

Water storage tanks capable of holding 80,000 cubic metres of water were built in AD 532 in the reign of Emperor Justinian I to supply the water needs of the Great Palace. It was built using marble columns from many different places in the empire, so there are several different styles incorporated, but with the even spacing the create a beautiful whole. Two of the most interesting pillars include huge Medusa heads, one on its side and the other upside down. 

Wow! The word palatial really makes sense when you visit the Topkapi Palace compound. I was there for hours and still didn’t manage to see it all. In retrospect, I should have tackled it on another day; as it was I ran out of time to see the Harem before they closed for the day.
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I was also feeling kind of sick, as I had made the mistake of snacking on a boiled corn on the cob from a vendor. There were many vendors selling corn (boiled or grilled) and roasted chestnuts. I thought the boiled corn would be safe – not grilled on the same surface potentially as the chestnuts —  but maybe he handled it with the same tongs he had used for the chestnuts. So I went home, swigged some Benadryl, and had a long night’s sleep. 

It was sunny today, so I decided to do the Bosphorous cruise. I had read (and been told by friends) that you can take the public ferry for a fraction of the price of the tourist boats. But the government has figured out that there’s huge demand for it, so the regular ferry is no longer much cheaper (although it does take you further).

I got lost trying to find the right place to take the public ferry and then missed the boat. So I ended up just taking a random tour, which was disappointing. It didn’t go all that far, and the commentary was unintelligible. 

That said, it was lovely to look at the palaces as we sailed along. The wealth this city had is amazing! 

In the evening I went to see the Whirling Dervishes. They make a great fuss about it not being a performance, but rather a religious ritual. That said, it sure felt like a performance put on for the tourists. I suppose it is a great way for them to finance their activities.

Freaky fact: To train, the novices stand on a board with a peg between their big toe and the next one. They learn to spin in place that way. Part of the ritual is preserving the skin that gets ripped off their toes in the process. Yuck.

I am intrigued by how they can spin so much without getting dizzy.
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I wasn’t very hungry, and didn’t feel like risking another allergic reaction, so I just ate some of my beef jerkey in the hotel room for dinner, with a dessert of Kuwaiti dates. Just as well I ended up with such a large package of them!

Museum day and a visit to the Grand Bazaar. I went to the Great Palace Mosaics Museum, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts. I also wandered around the city a lot.

​The Great Palace Mosaics museum houses unearthed large mosaic floors from grand palaces built between AD 450 – 550. Unlike the religious mosaics in the cathedrals, these showed everyday life and allusions to Greek or Roman mythology. Walking through, it is easy to imagine yourself living in a palace with beautiful mosaic floors.

The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts is worth it almost as much for the setting as the contents. It is the only private palace outside the Sultan’s area still standing. It houses an extensive antique carpet collection, as well as beautiful wood carvings, ceramics, stone, glass and metal pieces that were, in many cases, both functional and beautiful.

Then off to the Grand Bazaar. It is enormous, but there are different sections that focus on specific types of merchandise. I wanted to buy some jewellry (because carpets are just way too big to bring with me on my travels!) so I focused my time in the (still massive) jewellry section.

The stall/store staff were much less aggressive than I’d expected. I guess they’ve learned that the wheedling approach doesn’t work well with today’s tourists, or at least not until you’ve shown clear interest. I looked in many, many windows, but almost none of the staff guarding the entrances to the stalls approached me unless I asked a question or made it very clear that I was interested.

I did end up buying a ring – nothing fancy, but a nice memory. Despite the salesman’s claims, I assume that the blue stone is not a real sapphire. I bargained him down a fair bit, though I probably should have pushed harder. My mom would have! (Mind you, she would have bought a more expensive piece, so a % reduction would have made a bigger difference. She has a great story about her experience buying a ring in the Grand Bazaar, but it is hers to tell, so I won’t tell it here. The ring she bought that day is still my favourite of all her rings.) 

I woke up super-early and couldn’t sleep any more, so I had a leisurely start to the day. With my books sold and some of my travel food eaten, I was able to compress things down to just my roll-on bag and backpack, although they are both bursting full, and the roll on is expanded and well over 8 kg, so I had to check it. I hope that by the time I leave for Spain next week I will have it down to carry on size. (Though even with being allergic to most of the food in Israel, I don’t think I’ve got 4 kg of food to eat in my bag. I’m hoping that Air France has a higher carry on weight limit than Pegasus.)

When I had arrived in Istanbul, it was still dark for the drive in from the airport, and I was exhausted from lack of sleep. (I am so envious of DH’s ability to sleep on planes.) So today, I was enjoying the scenery on the way to the airport. I got there in plenty of time. But…

There are two Istanbul airports. I had gone to the wrong one. So, one expensive cab ride later, I made it to the correct airport in time. I’m so glad I had left myself plenty of time for the airport(s).

As a reaction to the airport bombing of three years ago, they now make you go through screening before you can enter the airport. (I ended up doing that at both airports, because I hadn’t realized right away that I was at the wrong one.) Then you go through another security check when you are going to your gate. And then, at least for the Israel flight, there is a final screening and pat-down before you get into the departure lounge for that flight.
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I hope I will get to return to Turkey and see more of it. I do worry about the direction it’s current leader is taking it though.