Turkey, Turkey, Turkey!

Late April, 2006. Orthodox Easter weekend. Angela and I finally embark upon our long-awaited trip to Turkey! We spent four entire days lounging around Istanbul and it was absolutely marvelous. I'd go back in a heartbeat!
Our hotel was located in the historic district, surrounded by restaurants, hostels, shops and a view of the Marmara Sea. Day one consisted of strolling around the Blue Mosque (pictured to the left) and Hagia Sophia, shopping (pictured below), and dining. The Blue Mosque, so-named for the beautiful blue Iznik tiles covering its interior, was built in the early 17th c. for the Great Sultanahmet I. It has six minarets, rivialing those of Mecca until Mecca built a seventh minaret. All other moqsues have only four minarets, as Hagia Sophia does, another mosque (now a museum) which sits opposite the Blue Mosque. The Orthodox Church of Transilvania in Sibiu, which sits across from my office, was modelled on Hagia Sophia, once an Eastern Orthodox Christian church built in the 6th c., and later turned into a mosque in the 15th c., I believe. Here is a shot of Hagia Sophia at night from a rooftop restaurant where we dined. Prayer services are still held at the Blue Mosque (five times daily), though tourists are allowed entrance, as long as you remove your shoes and women cover their knees and shoulders. Good thing that Angela and I had already gone shopping to buy our scarves in the bazaars!
True to Turkish custom, while shopping amongst the many bazaars (in search of the perfect scarf/ves, of course) we were enticed to look at merchants' wares, examine carpets, and pause for a cup of apple tea or freshly squeezed orange juice. I will say that the merchants here in Istanbul were a lot less hagglesome or bothersome than those in Morocco or Egypt (according to Angela). We also found that if we went shopping in the mornings, people were less bothersome, but also less likely to cut us a better deal as they had all day to make their sales quotas. We made friends with a couple of vendors who took us out dancing on the modern side of Istanbul later that night, on the other side of the Golden Horn, an inlet off the Bosphorus River. It was amazing to be in Turkey, a muslim country, yet be surrounded by so much more modernity than one can find in Bucharest! It was soooo refreshing! And clean, too!
Day two in Istanbul.
More shopping. Duh. They don't call it the GRAND Bazaar for nothing, folks! We visited no less than three bazaars this day, buying all sorts of wonderful trinkets and goodies, from tea and spices to scarves and those beautiful blue Iznik tiles I love so much. And, of course, what trip to Istanbul would be complete without experiencing a little shisha, or nargile? Shisha (arabic name) or nargile (turkish name) is a waterpipe, commonly associated with smoking illegal substances back home in the States. :-) Angela and I each bought our very own nargile and tobacco, to be dragged all the way back to Romania, and eventually, the US. But, let me assure you, Mom and Dad, only flavored tobacco (I have mint and apricot) was smoked and will be smoked in my nargile. :-) I actually was able to find a purple nargile, too! More fun on that to come once I return to the States...
Day three was spent yes, again visiting the bazaars, and going to an authentic Turkish Bath. Now, while Angela will be less than pleased to have this picture published on my blog, it is VERY fuzzy, and for good reason, as a turkish bath is taken completely in the nude. :-) Sorry girl. It looks like our pinup days are only just beginning...
Regardless, the turkish bath we went to has been in existance for a couple hundred of years, with separate entrances for both men and women. They do offer other services, but the typical bath experience goes like this: change into your birthday suit in a little dressing room, donning a very old, worn towel and some treacherous-looking wooden flip-flops; head over into the bathing room, where your towels are unceremoniously ripped from your body by one of the very large, grandmotherly-looking attendants who then shoves a pail with washcloth and soap in your direction, indicating that you should wash yourself first (seems somewhat redundant, non?); next, you are taken one at a time to a heated stone platform in the middle of the large room where your grandmotherly attendant washes your entire front and back; after you are rinsed off, your attendant will take you to another corner of the bathing room where she will wash your hair for you. There are about a dozen or so women in the room waiting to be bathed, in addition to the five or so attendents, so there's no room to be squeemish or bashful. Once I got over the initial shock of being on public display, the bathing actually wasn't that bad; grandmother attendant was both gentle and kind, displaying her near-toothless grin to comfort me whenever I appeared to jump out of my skin. If you can handle the nudity (both your own and that of the other women), I highly recommend this "coming of age" experience that somehow I must have missed growing up...
Day four was yet another day of questionable weather, as it had been raining off and on the entire time we were in Istanbul. A far cry from the sunny warm weather we had been expecting! We went to Topkapi Palace, home to the Sultans and their harems. The weather finally cleared up for a clear view across the Bosphorus to see Asia on the other side. Here are Angela and I with the Bosphorus and Asia in the background. Alas, the two things that I did not get to do in Istanbul were stepping onto the Asian side and taking a cruise on the Bosphorus. Something to look forward to on my return, I suppose. We finished out the day by going to the Archaeological Museum (actually, there are seven museums within the complex) and having fun "conquering" Troy, etc. Okay, so it was a children's exhibit, but c'mon, you know you'd do the same! :-)
The last exciting adventure we had was attending a performance of the Whirling Dervishes, a ritual performance of an ancient sect of Islam fused with the northern African tradition of Sufism. Performances last about half an hour, accompanied by traditional music. They spiral in the same place, with the right hand opened up to the heavens, and the left facing earthward, connecting the two. Can you imagine twirling in place for 30 minutes at a constant rate without falling down? No wonder this ritual is used to go into a trancelike state!
So that is all from our trip to Turkey! We had a wonderful time, and if you want to see more pictures, email me for the Shutterfly link. :-)