Do what the Turks do: Istanbul

Istanbul is a little tricky to describe. Mostly because I had never been in a city like it ever before. I have been in very large cities before like Shanghai and Beijing, but none of them compared to Istanbul. There is just so much culture, and history packed into that city. Since there is so much to see and do in Istanbul, I had the wonderful chance to go twice in 2 weeks. First with my host family, then with the exchange students.

For my first journey to Istanbul, my family decided to pile into a car and undertake the 7 hour drive in 1 day. Unfortunately it was at night, so I didn't get to see most of the country side. But due to all the light pollution, I was able to see where is Istanbul was long before I actually saw it. Since Istanbul is on the other side of the Marmara, I finally got to get out and stretch my legs. Of course I decided to sit out in the cold wind as the boat made its journey across the little stretch of sea. The excitement that was building up inside me was overwhelming. It took only a little longer to get to my uncle's apartment, which was where we would be staying. Once we got in the door, there was a grand welcome waiting for us. My sister who is in university in Istanbul was there, along with, grandma, my uncle, his wife, their 3 year-old daughter, and my other uncle who I met at Bayram. Since we were all tired, after some brief conversation, we all went to sleep.

The next day I awoke to a huge breakfast and lots of questions. Most of them were repeats were repeats from before, but the newest one was "What would you like to see in Istanbul?" Of course I wanted to see as much as I could, but I didn't really know what there was aside from the Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar. Once we had finished planing we headed out for our day on the town. Now where we were staying is on the Asian side of Istanbul, and we were headed to the European part. To get the we had to take the commuter train to a ferry station, then hopped on the ferry and rode it across the Bosporus. That day the fog decided to lay a thin blanket over the city, so visibility wasn't very good, although I did see some really cool things on the ride between continents. The thought that I was traveling to a different continent was a pretty crazy thought.

The stop we got off at was crawling with fisherman, and cats, there were tons of cats. Weaving our way through the crowd we went to this bakery that had the best baklava I have ever had. It wasn't so sweet, but had just the right amount of honey so it was still crunchy. Walking out of the bakery I said "I could die right now, and be completely happy," and I still don't regret that. Since our next destination was at the top of a big hill, we decided to take the tram. This tram wasn't a street car, it was the 2nd oldest underground in the world, next to the one in London. We got off the tram at Taksim street, which was the night hub of Istanbul, and even during the day it was packed. Taksim is a street filled with small coffee shops, bars, stores, and lots of street art, so naturally I fell in love with it. We spent some time walking around the narrow back streets and stopped at this small diner for lunch where I tried Kokrech for the first time. Kokrech is sheep intestine, but it didn't taste too much like it.

We spent more time walking around Taksim street, and found our way to Taksim square. There we stopped for a snack that the Turks call "wet burgers" which taste remarkably similar to sloppy joes, but are much less sloppy. Can anyone guess who else ate here? Anthony Bourdain from No Reservations. I guess I'm just one step closer to getting my dream job. Night was beginning to fall, so we began to make our way back home. Now for those of you who haven't experienced rush hour in a city of 15 million, I don't suggest it. It's basically just the largest game of sardines in existence. To get home we had to push our way through a seething subway system, cram ourselves onto a cramped bus, and huddle onto the commuter train. Thankfully and nice warm dinner was awaiting us. It was a wonderful cap to an even more amazing day.

The next day we went to the Ancient European side. We took the same route to get there. This time on the ferry something cool happened. I was on the top deck looking out the Ancient part of Istanbul, when out of the corner of my eye, some dorsal fins pop out of the surf. At first I thought it was a small pod of whales. But when their faces surfaced, the sweet eyes of dolphins looked up at me. Needless to say I freaked out. I had seen dolphins before, even pet them. But I had never seen them in the wild, or even knew they lived in Istanbul! I scrambled for my camera and managed to get 1 picture before they disappeared. I ran down to family like an excited child on Christmas, right before I got to them, my sister turned to me and asked, "You saw the dolphins didn't you," in the most unimpressed tone ever. This popped a huge hole in my excitement. They went on to say how they were very common, and came around all the time. I was still very happy to have seen dolphins on my trip. A few minutes later we disembarked from the ferry.

The Ancient side of Istanbul is where all of the cool places are. We started out with the Gran Bazaar. It was such an amazing place. All of the shop owners were calling to potential customers, neon signs lit up the ceiling, colorful merchandise were presented from every window. I would have loved to explore it more. My family only stayed on the main avenue and left rather quickly since we had much more to see. Our next stop was the Blue Mosque. From the outside it was stunning, and the inside was just as breathtaking. It is still used for prayer, so all of the tourists are crammed into one section in order to allow people to pray somewhat peacefully. I've come to admire mosques much more than churches now. In Islam, idolization isn't part of their beliefs, so instead of having the face of Mohamed or other prophets painted on every wall, there are gorgeous tiles and geometric designs. Coming out of the Blue Mosque, you can see the Hagia Sophia from across the square. We didn't go into it, since I was going to be doing that next weekend and they wanted to leave some surprises.

We did find our way to the Basilica, which was only a short walk away. That's what's fun about the ancient side of Istanbul; everything is so close to everything. Walking down into the Basilica, a damp, warm breeze wafts towards you. Inside are rows and rows of dimly lit columns. It wasn't much, but there was a welcoming mystery to the man made cavern. Something about the warm musty air, and fish swimming lazily in the water contributed to an overall great atmosphere. When we emerged from the underground cave we walked along an ancient wall until we reached the harbor. There Alkin and I took a cab to the metro line, and headed to his uncle's house. His uncle lives up in the northern European side of Istanbul, almost to the Black Sea. There we had some Kokorech, which is sheep intestine, and then spent a quiet evening at his place. The next morning we walked along the Strait and had breakfast at this quaint little bakery. Afterwards we drove back to the other uncle's house in Asia, which meant we had to cross over the Bosporus bridge. It was like crossing any other bridge, but this one spanned 2 continents.

The rest of my days in Istanbul were spent at the house. We had a nice dinner, and another nice breakfast. Then we packed up and left. The car ride back was about as interesting as the ride there. The only difference was it was light out so I could see the surrounding area better. We got home to a very excited Shurup. After giving her some love, I went to unpack and unwind. I was very satisfied with my first trip to Istanbul, and couldn't wait for the next one in a week.