Constantinople! oh wait ...

Hey folks!  I'm writing from Istanbul Turkey!  Finally!  In some ways I have been waiting to arrive here since November 8th, when I departed Stockholm for Casablanca.  In another, more cosmic way, I have been waiting to get here my entire life.  The city is, like every other city I guess, hard to capture with words and pictures, but I will give it a go here because really, it's pretty damn cool.

So, given where I am coming from, I have been most pleased with things like warm showers, being able to walk down the street without being hassled, not feeling ripped off every time I buy something, throw toilet paper int he toilet, having toilet paper near toilets, basically being able to drink the tap water and breathe the air.  And as of this writing I've only been here for about 24 hours.  But let's face it, I'm a romantic - and I'm in love.

First of all, the city is pretty large, and divided among a few peninsulas (I can't seem to find a decent online map so yoyo there).  I'm staying in the 'old city,' which is quite touristy, though incredibly lovely, called Sultanahmet.  The Blue Mosque and the Aya Sophia face off over a lovely park about 5 minutes from where Corinne and I are staying.  Some street photos:

This is near where we are staying  - lots of hotels and restaurants

Blue Mosque in the evening

View from Taksim Square

Down a main street

Figuring out backgammon

Today is Thursday the 23^rd of December, C and I are sitting in the square of the Blue Mosque, an enormous structure staring across the square to the Aya Sophia.  This morning we packed our things for an overnight bus trip to Goreme and the otherworldly landscapes of Capadocia.  We’ve been here for four days, me for almost six, yet it feels like we just got here and could spend another several weeks before I would feel like I’ve seen what there is to see.  Corinne and I have been resting a bit, her from finals and me from traveling, and along with the major sites of Istanbul, we have easily filled four days.  I’ll do my best to catalogue here the sites we saw along with the feel of the city, but again, most I feel like I just touched down here. 

One of our first ‘touristy’ stops was the Grand Bazaar, a complex of various shops selling ridiculous and beautiful things, lots of jewelry, carpets, brassy things, and plenty of miscellany.  The shops were comfortably spaced, covered, and not only were there street signs and flat screen TVs, the shop keepers were quite polite in their interactions.  Perhaps I appear less relatively affluent than I did in Morocco or Egypt, or maybe walking with Corinne gave us a more impervious air, but it felt comfortable to walk around there.  We even saw one or two things we might go back for. 

Another major piece of Istanbul we saw was the Aya Sophia, which was breathtaking from the moment we walked in.  The building is shorter than the blue mosque, but has similar features – several domes around a main dome, four minarets, plenty of sightlines and photos waiting to happen.  The Aya Sophia is reddish, porous clay formed into hollow brinks imported from south of Turkey.  This allowed for an incredible dome, supported by the surrounding domes rather than by pillars.  It looks like it would have been built after the Blue Mosque, which had massive stone columns  (elephants legs) supporting its main dome.  The construction allowed for such grace – it was one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen – impressive for its mastery over size rather than just size itself (which has been the case for every other massive church building I’ve seen).  It was the most elegant large-scale building I have ever seen. 

Istanbul street!

There were huge buttresses supporting the dome, but it looked light from the inside

The Aya Sophia looked quite red from the outside

Having been a church and mosque, it had both iconography side by side

Massive discs - not sure what this one says - note C on the right for perspective

The dome

A step up from leaded windows

View from Hagia Sophia of the Blue Mosque

Slightly out of order - the Blue Mosque.  It compares or contrasts well with the Aya Sophia - thought the latter was built in 570s while the Blue Mosque was built in the 1500s.  It was much more visually stunning from the outside, and landmark in the Istanbul landscape, but we preferred the Aya Sophia overall.  Enjoy!  

The court of the Blue Mosque

Inside - C with headcscarf

Note the pillars

Lots and lots of lights on cables

After the Aya Sophia we appreciated an underground work of architecture, the Basilica Cistern.  It was used for water storage during the Byzantine era (I think), and was disused for several hundred years.  Apparently folks would drop buckets into holes in the ground for water, and could even catch fish inside the cistern, though it was not used officially until someone or other renovated it again for use.  It was quite big, and impressive to see, though I could not find any holes in the ceiling that might allow for buckets or fishing lines.  The lighting and underground water-y feel was exciting, we were trespassing super-spy style into Istanbul. 

The Cistern

Medusa!!!

Sun setting over Taksim Square

Yesterday we spent the afternoon exploring the castle area of Old Istanbul, along with the archeological museum.  The museum had a lot of literally unbelievable artifacts, including Mohammed’s footprint, Fatima’s cloak and prayer rug, the sword of David (as in King David), Moses’ staff, and Abraham’s cooking pot.  At present no one else claims these things, so who the heck knows.  Either way it was not was Corinne and I were expecting to see in the museum.  The views were fabulous, and walking around in courts that were until 100 years ago reserved for royalty was fun – C and I plotted our royal ascension AND bought candy in a little shop.  They did not allow photos in the museums, but here are a few from outside.  

Awwwww.  Noted here in the NYT - Anyone know Cuneiform?  (translation)

Pan!  In statue and photograph!

View across the Golden Horn

In a few hours we will head out to Cappadocia by overnight bus.  The city is intoxicating, a fitting meeting place for C and I - her coming from Europe and I from the Middle East - Istanbul is both.  People on the street ask us to visit their rug shop, but they take no for an answer, food is cheap and available on the street but is also safe and delicious.  They have water pipes and baklava off of cobblestone streets and tramways.  Traffic makes sense, but is still pretty chaotic.  There plenty of tourists, but perhaps because we are here in December there aren't too many, and the weather has been sunny and 60s everyday.  Of the cities I have visited, I have felt most quickly comfortable here - likely in part because it is so western, but also because it still feels authentic and open (it is far more comfortable than Stockholm, or London).  It's a city I can take home to mother, but also enjoy for a night on the town.  I have felt that I could visit any of the cities I've seen again, but I feel a connection here; the surface of the city has been so inviting and my sense is that the invitation extends further.  Yes Istanbul; yes I sd yes I will yes.  Thanks for reading!