Our Last Day in Istanbul

Sadly, today was our last full day in Istanbul.  So we tried to plan in careful to make sure we did not miss anything important.

View from the roof terrace of our hotel

We finally visited the Little Hagia Sophia--a small mosque, that was a Byzantine church, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, completed shortly before Hagia Sophia was built.  Some theories exist that this building influenced the design of Hagia Sophia.

The Apse of the Little Hagia Sophia

The Little Hagia Sophia is very close to the water--the Sea of Marmara.  So to reach our next destination, Valens Aquaduct, we had to scamper up a steep hill.  Curiously, the neighborhood we walked through was full of shops supplying fabric and accesories for making shoes and bags.  We also got to walk through an area teeming with students of Istanbul University--an interesting crowd.  The Valens Aquaduct, impressively large with cars running under it, was built by the Romans in the late 4th century. 

Valens Aquaduct

Next, our attempt to visit the Suleyman Mosque was not particularly successful.  Even though the mosque was supposed to reopen in August, it is still closed for restoration.  Moreover, the tombs of Suleyman and his wife, Roxelana, were also closed. 

Slightly disappointed we headed back to the Galata Bridge, where we enjoyed watching the ships and crowds go by while eating some "balik ekmek", fish sandwichs, for lunch.

Eminonu, area near the Galata Bridge

Preparing balik ekmek

Our next adventure was to cruise the Bosphorus.  The boat we went on sailed under the Bosphorus Bridge and up to the second bridge along the straight.  Along the way we saw many enormous cargo ships heading towards the Black Sea.  With Turkish techno music blasting through the speakers, we sailed by Rumeli Fortress, used by the Ottomans to control Bosphorus. 

Cruising under the Bosphorus Bridge

After the cruise we did a bit more shopping at the Grand Bazaar and enjoyed our last cups of chai and apple tea.  In the end, we never did set foot in Asia, unless being on a boat that is docked in Asia counts. 

Nick next to a singular column in the Underground Cistern

We were on our way to dinner when we realized that the Underground Cistern was still open--so we decided to go in again, and the second visit was well worth it.  We had the place pretty much to ourselves--a lovely end our adventures.

We will have to return to Istanbul, at least for the following reasons:

• To eat more fish sandwichs, kofti and fried anchovies
• To go inside Suleyman Mosque when it reopens after restoration
• To visit Hagia Sophia again (which unfortunately was closed today)
• Just because Istanbul is a beatiful city... The list can go on and on.

Istanbul: Exploring the New District

Before crossing the Golden Horn to the New District, Nick and I visited the Rüstem Paşa mosque.  It is a small mosque not far from the Spice Market, whose exterior and interior are richly decovered with 16th century Iznik tiles. 

Nick under the portico covering the courtyard of the Rüstem Paşa mosque

Having spent a considerable amount of time obsorbing the tiles' floral patterns, we crossed the Galata Bridge and visited the well hidden (down a tiny alley) and rather empty Museum of Turkish Jews.  For example, I did not know that in the 1930s the Turkish government invited many German and Austrian Jewish scietists and professors to relocate and continue their work in Turkey in order to escape the Nazi regime. 

Our next adventure was the Galata Tower.  There was quite a crowd on the viewing platform, but the views were well worth the pushing and shoving.

View of the Bosphorus Straight and Bosphorus Bridge from Galata Tower

After the tower we continued walking up the hill and soon reached Istiklal Street--the main pedestrian "drag" of the New District.  This street was very busy as promised by our guide book, but pleasantly there were as many (if not more) locals as tourists strolling by.  We followed Istiklal Caddesi all the way up to Taksim Square.  On the way we counted at least 3 Burger King joints, several Starbucks cafes, and a few clothing stores whose names we actually recognized, among many other fancy stores, cafes and restaurants full of locals. 

Looking down Istiklal Caddesi

Taksim Square was partially closed off to pedestrians, and it was only after we got back to our hotel that we realized that there was a suicide bombing there in the morning. 

Republic Monument in Taksim Square

From Taksim Square we walked down to the water on the Bosphorus Straight and enjoyed the sunset.

Bosphorus Bridge



With Bosphorus Bridge behind me

Nick with Hagia Sophia in the background



The Istanbul Walkathon

We started our day rather tamely--at the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, where the carpets and tiles were beautiful, and at least half of the exposition was closed for restoration. 

Only an hour later we took a taxi to the Chora Church to view its amazing mosaics.  I mention the taxi mainly to underline the fact that the Chora Church is about 4 miles away from the Sultanahmet district of the Old Town. 

The mosaic pieces used for the jars are actually pieces of terra-cotta

After looking at the mosaics in the Chora Church, we sort of, kind of messed up, and did not eat lunch before continuing on our journey.  We climbed the walls of the city (Constantinople had multiple walls, and these were the Walls of Theodosius, built in the 4th century) for some some amazing views.

Afterwards, we marched through several neighborhoods, thankfully yet untouched by hords of tourists.  The lack of tourist industry can be a blessing and a curse, in particularly the latter if you really need to eat. 

Tekfur Palace--the world's only surviving Byzantine palace

About two hours after leaving the church and losing all hope of finding real food (little corner shops selling potato chips do not count), we came upon a little restaurant and decided to go in.  We were clearly the only non-locals, but the waiter was extremely nice, and the food was very good.  I guess we just got really lucky. 

After lunch, we strolled along the Golden Horn for about two more miles until we reached the Galata Bridge.  The pedestrian and automobile traffic was horrandous, but nevertheless we made it to the Spice Market about an hour before it closed.

The Spice Market was very crowded, and merchants lost no time trying to get us to buy something from them.  I actually found it harder to shop here than at the Grand Bazaar.  We quickly learned that prices visible outside the shop are not necessarily honored in the shop.  Finally all "spiced" out we walked out and turned onto a street busy with shops selling similar items, but to locals.  Prices here turned out to be lower, and the merchandise also included things like a dozen varieties of olives, feta cheese, and fish.

We rewarded ourselves for all the miles walked by eating dinner at the Adonin restaurant.  The food was good, but for a noticably higher price we got significantly worse service here than in Pasazade, where we ate yesterday.

Istanbul in the Rain ...and Wind

Honestly, we did not explore Istanbul in the rain.  Having learned our lesson in Prague last summer (e.g. do not stand under a gargoyle spouting water...), we used two criteria for visiting a "sight": is what we want to see indoors, and how much walking would we have to do to get there.  And the Thursday finalists were Istanbul Archaelogical Museum and the Grand Bazaar.

Far from being an archaelogy buff, I still got excited about a few things in the Archaelogical Museum:

• Alexander Sarcophagus--The sarcophagus did have Alexander the Great portrayed on the sides, but it was carved for another king

  

  

  The Tetrarchs: the statues are now in Venice, but the heel is in Istanbul

  
• Tetrarchs' Heel--Remember those double porphyry statues of the Tetrarchs in the Piazza of San Marco in Venice.  We saw them last summer.  They were actually from Constantinople (as were the four hourses on top of the Saint Mark's Basilica), and one of them is missing a foot.  Now we saw the missing foot here in Istanbul.
• The Tiled Kiosk--a small 15th century building exhibiting cool tiles
• A piece of chain that was strung across from Constantinople to Galata Tower (from sometime before 10th century till at least the 15th century) to prevent unwanted ships from entering the Golden Horn

In the Grand Bazaar we were thankfully not harassed nearly as much as we expected.  The bazaar was very festive as it was the eve of the Turkey Republic Day. 

We went to sleep on Thursday to the sounds of the winds wailing.  The next morning--today--it was still really windy, but the rain subsided a little bit, so we decided to brave the weather and tour the Topkapi Palace. 

Apparently many many other people decided to tour the Topkapi Palace today as well. (Because today is a holiday in Turkey, both the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market were closed, which probably did not help.)

Nick in front of some tiles in the Harem of Topkapi Palace

In short, the pros:

• the Harem was relatively uncrowded and full of tiles
• Helen is addicted to looking at tiles, and hence loved the Harem

and the cons:

• we froze to death while fighting the crowds
• the European porcelain exhibit was closed

Helen in front of tiles, of course, in the Harem of Topkapi Palace

After touring the palace, we headed towards the Galata Bridge.  And this is when finally the sun came out.

Fishermen on the Galata Bridge, with the view of Galata Tower in the background. 
And the sun is out!!!

We were going to tour the Spice Market, but this was when we found out that it was closed.  So we just wondered through the back streets. 

Local boys sliding down a street

We finished the evening with a nice dinner at Pasazade (where amazingly the prices were the same as at a place we had lunch yesterday, but service and food were several levels above that) and a nice stroll by Hagia Sophia.

Hagia Sophia at night

Our First Full Day in Istanbul

We are staying in Sultanahmet district of the Old Town, which means that we are just a couple of short blocks away from many of the "must see" sights here in Istanbul.  Without doing much walking, we visited three of them today. 

Underground Cistern
Built in the 6th century by Byzantine Emperor Justinian, the Underground Cistern is an enormous underground chamber that can and used to store water.  It supplied water to the Great Palace of Constantinople and later to the Topkapi Palace. 

The cistern was restored in the 1980s and the walkways were added to allow public access.  Before the walkways, visistors had to rent boats and row around in the dark.  Rain water still accumulates in the cistern today due to cracks in the mortor, and shockingly the water is teeming with fish, some of it quite large, but the excess water is pumped out regularly.

In the Underground Cistern, by a one of the two Medusa heads "squeezed" in under a pillar

Hagia Sophia
We have been really looking forward to going inside Hagia Sophia--the Great Church of Constantinople (built in the 6th century), later converted into a mosque (15th century), and now a museum. 

In the process of restoration, there has been layers of mosaics uncovered under layers of plaster and paint.  The restoration continues, but you can see parts of these layers in different parts of this magnificent building. 

Nick admiring Viking graffiti (from the 9th century) in Hagia Sophia

Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque
The mosque, built in early 17th century, is one of many churches and mosques whose architectural design uses many elements of Hagia Sophia.  It is popularly known as the Blue Mosque because the color dominates the wall designs and tiles decorating the mosque's interior.

Inside the inner courtyard of the Blue Mosque, ready to go inside

Unlike Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque is an active mosque, so all visitors are required to have their shoulders and knees covered.  Our faithful guide, Rick Steves, tells us that women should also cover their heads with a scarf.  While it is not required, it is appreciated as a sign of respect.  So we followed his suggestion.

When we left the Blue Mosque, we discovered that a nice gray turned into a rainy and windy one.  So we did not do much of anything else, except for eating an excellent meal at Tarihi Sultanahmet Koftecisi (click on this link to see exactly the food we had).  This restaurant was not only recommended by the venerable Rick Steves, but also by our dear friend, American in London.

Istanbul: The First Glimpse

We could have easily fallen asleep as soon as we got to our hotel, but it was not even 5pm here yet.  So Nick and I ventured out for the first glimpse of the city and a bite to eat.  The real sightseeing will start tomorrow. 

Hagia Sophia, first completed in 537A.D., built in just 5 years

Blue Mosque, built in 7 years, completed in 1616