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Istanbul, Turkey
We've had a great three days
in Istanbul!
Friday was an unscheduled day
and Pam and I had granola, fruit, and coffee delivered by
room service while we watched the daily depression from CNN
and BBC. Again, what a superb hotel with stunning decorations
and wonderful service! At lunch yesterday, our waiter had
recommended taking the Bosphorus ferry to the end of the line
and returning, which would provide us with wonderful views
of the famous natural waterway between the Black Sea and the
Sea of Marmara. We decided to follow his advice and called
the hotel concierge to get more info. She said there were
two sailings: 10:35 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., and the total round
trip would take about 6 hours, and hour and a half each way
and a three-hour wait at the terminus. Alternately, we could
take a taxi back to the city for a much faster option.
We decided to take the early
departure, so quickly got ready and walked the mile or so
to the pier. I decided to not take the camera with me today;
just enjoy the views and the people without that encumbrance.
It was windy and chilly, probably
never got much above 55, and as the day passed more and more
clouds rolled in. The ferry boat was a large, two-decker affair
for walk-on passengers only, no cars. Although it still serves
a useful function of providing transportation for those who
live in the numerous Borphorus shore villages, it seems to
equally be devoted to tourists. The cost, one-way, was 1,500,000
Turkish Lira…about a dollar, US! This must be the best tourist
value in all of Turkey!
We cruised under two large suspension
bridges connecting Europe on the west with Asia on the east.
There were palaces and forts along the shore as well as hundreds
of quite lovely Victorian-era villas, quite large. (Well,
you need the room, when you have a harem!)
In an hour and a half, with about
five intermediate, quick, stops along the way, we arrived
at the last stop, only a couple of miles from the end of the
Bosphorus and the start of the Black Sea. (Funny sidelight:
They have postcards of the Black Sea in some tourist shops.
It is a pure black card with the words "Black Sea" on it.)
I asked about the name and was told that, due to it not having
as much salt content as most ocean-connected seas, that it
appeared darker than normal…hence, Black Sea. It's color seemed
about normal to me.
The little town at the end of
the line had a bazillion seafood cafes and restaurants near
the dock, all vying for the tourist trade. We were accosted
- but in a nice way! - by salesmen outside of all of the eating
establishments as we strolled through the town and we finally
decided on one to favor with our business. Pam had sole and
I had red mullet, a fish the guidebook indicated was a local
specialty. All was quite good. The large restaurant had no
more than fifteen guests. Wonder how much of this dearth of
business is due to the events of 9/11?
We decided to save the time and
take a taxi back to Istanbul. The driver was quite courteous
but spoke only a little more English than we spoke Turkish!
He drove us up to the remains of a huge old fort above the
city from which we had the view of the Black Sea. This fort
was made by the French, and up until the mid-1990s it was
the site of a joint US-Turkish surveillance operation "spying"
on the Soviet Union. As we drove back the 40 kilometers to
our hotel, first on the Asian side and then on the European
side, we saw a lot of military installations along the Asian
side of this strategic passage that the driver said were mostly
US. I guess we still like to count the number of Russian submarines
going out on patrol, yes?
The drive back cost $23. Prices
in Turkey are very cheap. Their economy is having a horrible
time and the poor Turks have seen their currency lose 60%
or more of its value in the last year!
After a quick break at the Four
Seasons, we decided to walk through the old city, where we
were located, to the Grand Bazaar and spend a little time
there. Well, we cried "Uncle." We got lost more than once
on the circuitous streets of Sultanahmet (the Old City area)
and we felt a tad bit uncomfortable being the only westerners
among so many Muslims. Once, however, as we stood poring over
the map in perplexed confusion, a middle-aged, slender, Turkish
man came up and offered help. He showed us precisely where
to go (but we didn't follow the instructions very well) and
then asked if we were Americans. "Damn!" I thought. "I guess
this is where he's gonna declare his own little Jihad on these
two innocent bodies!"
Boy, was I wrong! He apologized
for the events of 9/11 and said that the Muslim people were
not the ones who did this, but that the fanatical elements
of evil were a threat to all humans, of all religions and
cultures. Pam and I both had tears in our eyes as we grasped
the hands of this warm human in a goodbye gesture of thanks
and recognition…recognition of the tender, caring, humanness
of most of mankind.
Not finding the Bazaar in a reasonable
period of time, we retreated to the comfort and safety of
the hotel. Went downstairs to eat dinner and then P & A showed
up unexpectedly and they joined us at our table. Nice evening!
Saturday was our arranged day
of touring and again we ran into each other in the restaurant
at breakfast. Artun Ermed, our guide, introduced himself as
we were finishing up and then we connected with him in the
lobby. What a blessing Artun turned out to be!
Artun turned 28 on - are you
ready? - September 11, 2001. He is the only child of a two-doctor
family in Ankara, and his uncle is a scientist at the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Although he
could be mistaken for a right tackle for the Cardinals - well,
not quite that big, I guess - he is a gentle, intelligent,
and highly-educated 28-year old with degrees in Art History
and Archeology with a specialty in underwater archeology.
Rarely have I been so impressed by a young man.
His knowledge of what he was
showing us, the manner by which he instructed us, and the
sense of humor and warm humanity he demonstrated throughout
our association with him were inspiring to all of us. A Muslim,
like 99% of his Turkish countrymen? Of course. But he explained
time and again how the fanatical elements of Islam were not
what Turkey was all about. In fact, Kamel Attaturk, the founder
of the Turkish republic that overthrew the Ottoman Sultanate
in 1922, outlawed the dress and culture of the fundamentalists
as he fought to bring Turkey into the modern world. Just as
the region of present-day Turkey is such a bridge between
east and west, so it seems to me that the Turkish Republic
is also a great bridge between the Christian and Muslim mindsets.
I have neither the memory nor the time to go into great detail
about what we learned from Artun, both concerning the history
of the sites we saw and the cultural differences that we experienced.
But let me say that, of all of our great guides thus far,
he is head-and-shoulders above the others.
Our tour started at the Basilican
Cistern, the underground water storage area for the Byzantines
that is now a unique city asset where art shows and concerts
are held as well as being an ongoing tourist draw. The columns
that support the roof of this marvel came from old Greek and
Roman temples that the Christian rulers of the Eastern Roman
Empire (the Byzantine Empire) considered to be barbaric and
pagan, so they were destroyed and their pieces were used for
other construction, such as this. Attached is a picture of
me standing by one of the columns that is mounted on a carved
marble head of Medusa, the one with the hair made of snakes.
Notice that this head lies on its side, and another one we
saw was upside down. Why dignify the pagan gods by mounting
them in the proper position?
Next it was the Church of St.
Sophia, now a museum. In Cordoba, Spain, we had seen a mosque
converted into a church. Here is the opposite: A church converted
into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of the Eastern Roman
Empire is the year 1453. Now, it is a public museum. I will
attach three pictures of this wondrous place: An overall exterior
view, a close-up of one of the minarets, and an inside view
of some of the huge dome. By the way, the minarets are still
used to broadcast the call to prayer five times a day, at
about 6:00 a.m., 1:00, 4:00, 6:00, and 8:00 p.m. I was amazed
to find that the loud broadcast - sounding somewhat like a
sick cow in heat, I thought - was pretty much ignored by most
of the Turks on the street. Artun explained that it you were
busy at work, then you did not heed the call, but you'd try
to make up the missed prayer, perhaps at home on your own
time. Also, he said that the call was in an old Arabic tongue
that few, if any, Turks could understand. I guess it was somewhat
like my Catholic friends and relatives in the 50s and 60s
who said all prayers in Latin.
Next on Saturday we drove to
a wonderful restaurant for lunch and again were aghast at
the lack of business in this decidedly tourist-oriented place.
It was first-class all the way with impeccable service and
food. After lunch we viewed the mosaics in St. Savior in Chora
church/mosque/museum, then went to the Suleymaniye Mosque,
the only active mosque we visited. Here, we had to take off
our shoes and the women had to cover their heads as we entered
the interior. A lovely place, entirely carpeted with a designated
carpet prayer space for about 3,000 people. Lastly, we spent
time in the Istanbul Archeological Museum, viewing lots of
bas reliefs, statues, and artifacts from the Greek/Roman period
of this area. There is a picture of Pat and Artun ("Call me
Art") discussing politics (?) among the museum's statues.
One thing I have learned in the
past few days is the futility of trying to apply the modern
definition of countries to the ancient maps. The Greek civilization
covered a lot of territory outside of modern Greece. Troy,
Helen's home, was in present-day Turkey, for example. A recurring
theme kept coming up, right or wrong: That the ancient civilizations
of this part of the world were somewhat like the Indian tribes
of the Americas, with tribal warfare and constantly-shifting
alliances and animosities.
At our request, Artun timed the
tour so that we could include the Grand Bazaar and the spice
market at the end of the day. Our driver took us to one of
the Grand Bazaar's entrances and we followed Art through the
labyrinth of shops to the Osman carpet shop. Depending on
your viewpoint, this was a big, big, mistake, or one of the
highlights of the day. No, seriously, although costing all
of us some money, I think it was a highlight for all four.
What marvelous rugs and hangings, and how wonderfully presented!
I have never had a shopping experience so pleasant and Pam's
and my coffers are a bit lighter now but our home will be
even more inviting with the warmth and beauty of the Turkish
rugs we purchased.
We enjoyed Artun's companionship
so much that we accepted his suggestion to leave a little
later Sunday for Izmir and use the morning for viewing the
Topkapi Palace with him. Pam and I vegetated in our room when
we finally returned to the hotel Saturday night after our
long day of touring and we arose and packed Sunday morning
and asked the front desk for a late checkout.
As we walked through the lobby
on our way to breakfast about an hour before our scheduled
8:30 a.m. meeting time with Artun, there he was! Poor guy.
He had forgotten that it was the "Fall Back" night when Daylight
Savings Time ended so he was there an hour too soon. No problem.
He sat with us for breakfast and finally we all started off
on the palace tour. This was right in the "back yard" of the
hotel so we needed no driver. All was on foot. The weather
had turned rather nasty. It was chilly and rainy but thankfully
without much wind. Pam and I had on our sweaters, jackets,
and raincoats, and carried our collapsible umbrellas too…and
needed them a lot.
The Topkapi (pronounced somewhat
like TOP-ka-pah) Palace was the home for the thirty-six generations
of the Ottoman Sultans, from the 1300s until 1922. In a word,
amazing! I am so glad we took the extra time to allow Artun
to show us this wonder. Again, I did not burden myself with
the camera, and, due to the rain, was happy with my decision.
What a palace!
We finished the tour and returned
to the Four Seasons for lunch and then caught our rides to
the airport for our flight to Izmir. But that's for the next
journal entry.
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