Istanbul

I know, I still haven't posted about Spring Break. I am slowly slowly working on it. School is starting to pick up on the amount of work classes are requiring and blogging about 11 days worth of  travel is a large endeavor to undertake. With that said...

I FREAKING WENT TO ISTANBUL THIS WEEKEND!!!

Let me tell you a short little backstory.

In 10th grade, 5 years ago, I learned about the Hagia Sophia in my sophomore world history class. And since I saw the pictures of the basilica turned mosque turned museum I've wanted to see it. It is (was!!!) in the top 3 items of my bucket list!

So, obviously I've wanted to go to Istanbul but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would. I mean, come on, it's Istanbul... in Turkey!! Actually, It was my top destination (along with Greece) for this semester. Although I'm unfortunately not going to make it to Greece this time...

Our flight flew out of Bologna thursday evening. I took a train after class, a whopping 37 minute train ride, and met Will and Jordan in the train station. We took a taxi to the airport where we met Claire, Will's cousin who is studying in Rome.

Turkish Air is an awesome airline! We got a meal, which was actually good for airplane food, and nice big comfy seats. Although after flying Ryan Air (the equivalent to Spirit in the US), any type of airline is wonderful! We landed in Istanbul at around 10:45 and made our way to our hostel. The Sultan Hostel. Which, I think, is only fitting. We hung out in the restaurant below our hostel that evening. And by hung out I mean we lounged on the divans like kings and queens!

FRIDAY

After the free hostel breakfast we started the morning by touring the Topkapi Palace. Thanks to our main man Rick Steves, we had a wonderful time not only touring the Palace, but the rest of Istanbul as well.

Gate of Salutation. Entrance into the second courtyard

Second Courtyard

The palace grounds were covered with gorgeous flowers. The thousands of Lavender flowers and Tulips were absolutely beautiful.

Tower of Justice

Imperial Divan. This is the first divan ever! So awesome. The gold grill you see above the divan is where the emperor/sultan could listen in on council meeting without being seen.

Detail of domed ceiling

View from Palace

View from Palace

The palace is also home to some pretty cool old stuff. Like the beard of Muhammed. Which was a legitimate single strand of hair! They also claim to have the staff of Moses, the turban of Joseph, and the ceramic cooking pot of Abraham (my personal favorite), amongst other things. They also had a lot of really beautiful armor and weapons from the Ottoman Empire.

Next on the list, after we ate some kebap's for lunch, the Hagia Sophia!!! (Ayasofya in Turkish)

Will and I in front of the Hagia Sophia. It was so sunny and warm! I don't think either of our eyes are open it was so bright outside! I haven't seen the sun all semester, this weekend was absolutely beautiful!

Ya.... I'm pretty stinking excited!

And yes, I did actually go inside! 

So, I was kind of obsessed with the Hagia Sophia, no surprise, and took a billion pictures. Plus, no one really reads blogs anyways right? They just look at the pictures, so I'm giving you that opportunity now with my picture happy Hagia Sophia!

I absolutely loved these chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. They are gorgeous! 

The massive chandelier hanging from the center of the dome

You can tell in this picture that the mihrab, where the altar used to be (lit in the far left), isn't exactly centered underneath the middle window of the apse. This is because muslims pray towards Mecca and the Mihrab points in the direction of Mecca. Pretty cool. 

Panorama

The medallions represent the names of Allah and Muhammed. They are nearly 25 feet across and have beautiful calligraphy.

Safe to say, I fell in love with the Hagia Sophia, as if I didn't love it already the past 5 years of my life. The experience of walking through this structure felt like another life. What were left of the mosaics from the Basilica of the Byzantine Empire were breathtaking. The domed interior was huge. I teared up on a few occasions as I aimlessly wandered through the nave with my head turned towards the ceiling and jaw dropped. I still can not believe I was there. 

I saw this picture 5 years ago in a text book and my heart has longed to visit this site ever since. I wish I could explain the emotions and gratitude and overwhelming sense of majesty and power this original Basilica gave me. I wish I could see it in its prime. As a basilica during the Byzantine Empire, with the beautiful mosaics, worshipping the One True God.

Okay, sorry... enough about the Hagia Sophia.

Next we went to the Blue Mosque. Okay. I have a confession. I hadn't seen the outside of the Hagia Sophia since 10th grade and when we were heading to our hostel at midnight on Thursday night I saw the blue mosque and freaked out. I thought it was the Hagia Sophia. It is so beautiful on the outside and massive. But, it has nothing on the interior of my beloved Hagia Sophia.

Blue Mosque. Also known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. The term Blue Mosque comes from the blue tiles decorating the interior of the mosque

Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque is still a mosque and is used daily by muslims. We had to wait 30 minutes until after prayer was over to be able to enter the mosque. And when we entered we had to remove our shoes and women were required to cover their heads.

Claire, Will and I inside the Blue Mosque. Not going to lie, I was really excited to cover my head and have that cultural experience

Shoeless on the lush carpet in the mosque

Interior of the Blue Mosque. I only took one picture. There is no competition with the Hagia Sophia as you now see. But this mosque was absolutely beautiful. I loved the decoration of everything in Istanbul. It is so different from the Renaissance I only see in Florence. There are no figures, it is all decorative and patterned and stunning.

Then we found our way to the Basilica Cistern. This is the largest of several hundred cisterns in Istanbul. It is supported by a forest of columns. 

These two Medusa heads are thought to be from Ancient Roman times. Historians think that they were taken from a Roman temple (they don't actually know the source of the heads) and used as the column bases. 

It was insanely beautiful. And also kind of creepy. There were big ugly fish in the 5ish feet of water in the cistern and it really freaked me out. So, to lighten the mood, we decided to have our picture made.

Yes. Yes we did. Who knew at the bottom of the entrance to the cistern there would be a photo opportunity like this one? This picture is so hilarious.

Yes. I know what you're thinking. Our picture is fantastic, a real gem, and we make some mighty fine Sultans and Sultanesses (...ya we totally made that word up..).

So, after quite the busy day. We decided to relax in true Turkish fashion. With the Turkish Baths. 

My oh my... what an experience. 

[Be forewarned.. the baths portion of this post may or may not contain more mature content, however hilarious and cultural it may be.]

I was pretty skeptical going in. I didn't really want to do the Turkish Bath thing. But, I did it. And I do not regret it. 

The baths were separated by gender and we had heard there was nudity, so we thought we were prepared. But, coming from the south.. no way was I ready, but we had no choice in the matter.

Claire and I were given panties and a towel when we paid for our classic turkish bath. Which includes laying on a warm rock, being bathed, being able to bathe yourself again, and laying on the warm rock as long as you so desire. We changed and walked into the warm rock bath room and were instantly submerged in the world of bathing topless women. There was no way I could have imagined meeting Will's cousin and then having "naked time" together with her, as we called it the rest of the weekend. It was a really new experience for both of us. But, once I embraced that the large Turkish woman wearing her lacy black bra and panties did this daily as her job, and that it was part of their culture, and that I was the only uncomfortable one in the room, it was easy to become one with the bath.

I laid on the warm rock for a while. I was bathed. Which made me feel like a child again. The lady that washed me was so sweet. She was humming the whole time and obviously loved her job. It made me more at ease. Then Claire and I sat in the pool and hot tub for a while and bathed ourselves again in an alcove they had off of the big bathing rock room. 

At this point they made us put our towels in a shoot and we were told to walk through a door into another room. Cool. Im wet, in black undies, and going through a door to who knows where. Don't worry, it was a small warm room with hot towels for us to dry off with. It was fabulous. Then we were led back into the area where we had changed. We sat and chatted and had Turkish tea in our warm towels. It was absolutely divine! 

The Turkish baths were quite the experience. I have never felt so clean and relaxed in my life! Claire and I decided, besides the fact that were just way too many boobs in the baths, that is was so so great. I felt like a child, I was warm, and clean, and had a grand time participating in such an old cultural tradition. 

After we were all squeaky clean from the baths we followed Rick to a really yummy Turkish restaurant. We were the only tourists there. Our waiter asked us "Rick Steves? You know this from Rick Steves? Number 3?" Their restaurant is labeled number 3 on the map in Rick's guide. I guess the only tourists they get are the ones with the Rick Steves' Istanbul guide. 

My yummy chicken shish kabobs. I loved the Turkish food!

The owner of the restaurant was hanging out at one of the tables the whole time. He was the kindest man. He bought us baklava and let us try some of the freshly made bread, which tasted like corn bread and made me want some of my mom's cornbread with a big slice of butter on top.

SATURDAY

I must say. Waking up at 5am to the morning prayer over the mosque speakers is a little eery. During the day its fine, But at 5am it just kind of creeped me out. Other than that, I felt surprisingly safe in Istanbul, or as safe as I would let myself feel. 

Saturday we walked. And walked and walked and walked.

We started off going to the Bazaar!!! So awesome!

Entrance to the Bazaar!

Inside the Bazaar

Inside the Bazaar

Claire got some pashmina and silk scarves but other than that we just loved walking through the huge Bazaar and looking at everything. I don't know if the guys enjoyed it as much as we did but they tolerated the window shopping and let us enjoy ourselves!

Next we made our way to the spice market!

Entrance to the spice market

one of the many many many many shops in the market.

The Spice Market was so fun! We tried some turkish delight! It was actually pretty good! I bought the best and most expensive pistachios I've ever had in my life. They are to die for. Pistachios are from this region, which is why they have pistachio baklava and pistachio turkish delight. All of us loved the spice market and the yummy treats it had to offer. 

Then ... we made our way to Asia.... or what we thought to be Asia.

Crossing the bridge to the New City side of Istanbul

What we thought to be Asia (buildings on the right)

I was really pumped to get to go to Asia this weekend. I want to go to all 7 continents. Just something I want to try and do. I was hoping to get Asia marked off the list.. But, we crossed the wrong bridge to the wrong part of the city. So what we thought to be Asia all day wasn't. Maybe next time right?

Either way we took a walking tour guided by none other than Rick Steves himself. Thanks Rick!

We started the walking tour at this tower at the top of a hill. It was quite a steep hill but definitely worth it. We got a little lost along the way since we were doing the walking tour backwards but it's an adventure, right? And how else are we going to see Istanbul?

Found my store. A little difficult to read but its called 'Paris Texas'. Even though I've never been to Paris, Texas I claimed it. Because here in Italy/Europe I'm Paris and I'm from Texas. Also note that it was definitely warm enough for me to ditch my cardigan and show off my muscles!! So great (the warm part, not the muscle part :P)!!!

We found ourselves caught in the middle of a parade type thing. There were two trolley cars, the first filled with children, the second filled with men playing instruments! It was so fun! 

A basilica that still functions as a basilica. On our walking tour.

At the end of the walking tour we found ourselves at a nice big park where we sat and rested in the grass and warm sun! 

The huge main street that led us to the park. You can see the smog as it got pretty bad by the end of the day. Who knew that Istanbul was a city of 15 million!!!! 98% of which are muslim. It blew our mind when we found out from Rick. Insanely massive.

We decided that we walked around 4-5 miles on Saturday. And so we took the metro back to the hostel. Good decision.

We ate at another great Turkish place for dinner. This time Jordan was the one who found the restaurant. He is a Trip Advisor restaurant whisperer. Has never led us to a bad place to eat.

Another plate of yummy chicken shish kabobs

I had 20 Turkish Lira left over after dinner excluding the money I would need for the metro in the morning. So, I decided to buy a rug.

This is my room, or I guess... my bed. My Turkish rug is shown. I love it. Especially since Italy, and Europe in general, doesn't believe in rugs or carpets! I can remember and count on one hand each time I have stayed somewhere with a rug or carpet.

We actually couldn't decide if it was a rug or a prayer mat. I think we ended up leaning towards prayer mat but hey, its my magic carpet now! 

We went to bed early-ish Saturday night since we had an early morning to get the the airport on Sunday.

SUNDAY

We woke up around 6am. It took us an hour by metro to get to the airport, double the amount of time the guys thought it took. Good thing Claire and I were there to allot more time or we would've missed our flight.

We got to the airport and went straight through security. We didn't have a printer at the hostel and all the internet cafe's were closed when we were looking for one Saturday night. So, we didn't have our boarding passes yet. We finally found a desk without a line. The woman printed our boarding passes and told us that "now is the time to run" since our flight was already boarding. She had no hope for us.

We sprinted through the airport. Went through a passport check and another security point and then continued the sprint to the gate. We got to the gate with people still boarding. Perfect. A little too close for our liking but we made it. I'm just glad my parents didn't get a call at 1am in America from me saying I was stuck in Turkey. You're welcome mom and dad!

This weekend was my favorite by far. I absolutely loved Istanbul. The culture was so different than anything I've ever experienced and boy did we experience it. It was so much fun. 4 people is such a great traveling group size and I couldn't have asked for better company! Next weekend I'm off to Cinque Terre and I'll hopefully have some time to work on my spring break posts before then! 

I am safe, I am in Italy, and I am having the time of my life.