What a Turkish Delight!

After a very long and tiring journey, I am finally in Turkey! Our plane landed in Istanbul last night after over 24 hours of traveling: two layovers that were 5-6 hours EACH, plus the fight time. Needless to say, after wandering the airport for as long as possible and sleeping on their carpeted floors using my backpack as a pillow, smelling fresh air as I stepped out of the building was beyond refreshing.

 



 



German Fountain

Once we got a good night’s sleep, it was off to explore this old city of Istanbul. Our first stop was the Hippodrome which used to be where chariot races took place! It was the social and sporting center of what used to be called Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Now it is square where you can visit, walk around, and see some really amazing statues and fountains that were put there many years ago, and by different nations.
 

 

The first structure that I saw when I walked to the Hippodrome was what is called the German Fountain. It was built in Germany, taken apart, and then rebuilt here in 1900 as a commemoration of the alliance between Germany and the Ottoman Empire.

 

After appreciating the beautiful mosaic pieces in the ceiling of the fountain, I turned to my left and saw a substantially sized column with distinct writing on it. The Egyptian Obelisk, which was built in Egypt in 1500 BC with hieroglyphics decorating its sides. Remarkably, it is only 1/3 of the entire structure! The rest of it was left in Egypt when this was brought to Istanbul about 3500 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

Next to the Egyptian Obelisk is the spiral Serpentine Column. This column today looks like three spirals put together and it is difficult to tell what it is at first. It dates back to 479 BC and back then, it was easier to see that it was really three snakes intertwined! It was brought to Istanbul from Delphi fully headed but the snakes' heads were broken off the column in the 18th century, unfortunately.

 

The other oblique structure behind it looks much older, but in reality it is not, and only dates back to a few hundred years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

My next stop was the Blue Mosque, one of the most well-known destinations in Istanbul. From the picture above, can you guess why it is called the “Blue” Mosque? I would be surprised if you could, since it does not have the blue roofs like you might have pictured in your head perhaps. The reason why it is called this is because of the 21,000+ beautiful blue tiles from Iznik that decorate the interior of the mosque.

The proper name for this magnificent place of prayer is The Sultan Ahmed Mosque. It was built between 1609 and 1617 by the order of the Sultan Ahmed (if you couldn’t have guessed). 

 

 

As can be seen with almost all mosques around the world, there are large and tall pointed column looking structures that accompany the dome. These are called minarets which surround staircases that lead to the balconies. Originally, 16 people would climb the steps 5 times a day to make the “adhan”, or call to prayer 5 times a day. Now, there is modern technology that allows them to make these announcements more efficiently and without using people, but it is still a traditional part of the architecture of a mosque.

Before each of the prayer sessions, those who wish to pray sit alongside the outside wall of the mosque and chose a spicket where they wash their hands, faces, arms, feet, or anything they feel needs to be cleaned before prayer. These are called ablution facilities and are on each side of the building. Muslims are required to be physically pure and clean before worship. Although the men do this right outside, the women are in a covered area for privacy.

 

 

 

Our next stop was the Topkapi Place. Much to my surprise, from the outside, it didn’t look much like a palace at all.  It was quite plain and not as dramatic as I had pictured it to be in my head.

However, the inside of the palace was much more beautiful.

 

There are 4 courtyards within the palace walls and the entire thing sits on the very tip of the peninsula overlooking the channel of water that splits Istanbul into the European side and the Asian side. So I was standing in Europe, looking over at Asia, how cool!!

 

 

 

Walking through the palace grounds was fun and there were lots of small, pretty details in the architecture that made it definitely seem like a palace.

 

This place was the heart of the Ottoman administration in its time and on a daily basis, held over 5,000 people within its walls. It is where politics took place as well as education, as it held the most prestigious schools in the nation.

 

 

 

As we made out stroll out of the palace gardens, we took a long walk to have a quick lunch before heading to a spice market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The local spice market was amazing, they sold all types of spices, teas and dried fruits.

 

 

 

You could find everything from pomegranate Turkish delight (which I had to purchase because it was so good) to jeweled silverware. The aroma of the hall was delicious and the colors brilliant. This along with traditional Turkish music playing outside of the market by a political rally made the experience even more real. Just imagine yourself shopping for spices with traditional music from that place playing in the background. It felt like we had our own soundtrack!

 

 

Loose leaf teas

Turkish Delight



Spices

 

With our senses tingling, we left the market to catch the boat that was headed out for a cruise on the Bosphorus Straight! The Bosphorus is what connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara and is the waterway between Europe and Asia.

 

 

This was a relaxing part of the day and I definitely recommend taking a cruise like it while here. It was really fun knowing that I was in the middle of two continents, accompanied by little fishing boats and happy dolphins.

The last stop of the day was…drum roll please…the Grand Bazaar!

Talk about a sensory overload here…there were more shops that I could count and the most eager shop owners I’ve ever seen. We had a really great time going from shop to shop and haggling prices down like champs. Three shop owners actually asked me if I was Turkish because I looked like it! How funny!

 

 

Highlight of the day: I was also proposed to by a guy who was selling scarves! I was haggling him down on the prices and unlike many others in the shops around us, he was actually a really nice person and we had a great time. By the end of me figuring out which I wanted, he and I had gone at it for a bit and he started laughing, got down on a knee and asked me to marry him before quickly saying “wait!”, running out of the shop, and coming back with a ring from his friend’s shop to make it even funnier! After he proposed to me, I told him I’d only marry him if he gave me the price I wanted for the scarves….guess who’s getting married!!! Haha!

Ali was such a fun person and he definitely got my business. I got great prices for scarves and a memory to last a lifetime.

 

Istanbul has proved to be a really incredible city already, and it is only my first day here! I can’t wait to see what other fun things will happen here in the upcoming days. Keep your eyes open for the next bit of exciting news I bring you from Istanbul!

 

 

 

 

 

Until next time!