Istanbul is…
Alive – when our train rolled into the central Sirecki Station around 9:30am on Monday 
morning, the city was bustling with energy. There were trams, tour buses, pedestrians, and cars all crowding the narrow historic streets as we walked with our new American friends into the heart of the Sultanahmet tourist district.
Friendly – as we pondered at the map trying to navigate the best route, an older man approached and asked if he could be of assistance. He then pointed to our location on the map and gave us very helpful directions. This was just our first encounter with the friendly Turks who more often than not, just wanted to make sure our needs were being met. Soon enough we found our way to the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque which sat at opposite ends of a beautiful square. This is the Aya Sofia, housing one of the largest rooms in the world.
Beyond this as we strolled through the lanes amid the hostels we spotted a familiar sign. We love Oregon too (and scrap art, and wine)!!!
Then we made our way to the Blue Mosque the size of which is impossible to represent through photographs.
It was in the middle of prayer time so we didn’t go in just yet but a morning wash was nice.
Warm – The temperature was about 22 degrees Celsius which is just lovely although too much time in the sun could be draining. We decided to escape the rays with a venture into the Grand Bazaar.
Intense – This was one of the more subdued corridors but there are hundreds of these indoor lanes and they get quite crowded and noisy with plenty of sales pitches at every turn. We stopped for a much needed coffee as the lack of sleep was hampering our ability to cope with this hyper-environment.
The stall next door:
And fabrics galore:
We meandered out the other side of the Grand Bazaar and down the narrow bustling streets filled with shops of all kinds, cars and their horns, and various vendors until we found the Spice Market. Again, with feverish sales pitches coming from every direction (usually directed at the “madam”) and throngs of people milling about or pushing their way through, the cacophonous sea of senses was sometimes overwhelming.
Confections too!!
Transit-Friendly – Outside the Spice Market, near the Golden Horn (a river-like inlet into the European side) we marveled at another large mosque and the open square that provided much needed breathing room.
We walked back to the station to retrieve our bags. It was time to go meet our couchsurf host. These lockers were multi-lingual and the price was very reasonable with storage for up to 36 hours (we only needed 4.5).
We hopped aboard the tram which took us across the Horn to an underground funicular (basically a giant diagonal elevator) which brought us to Taksim square, a large plaza and bus terminal. We munched on grilled corn while waiting for our bus. Again the people were very friendly about making sure we got to our stop, which was about 30 minutes away. During the bus ride we found ourselves standing next to another American who was studying internal migration on a Fullbright scholarship. In the brief but information-dense conversation, she mentioned a lodging option at the nearby American Research Institute (ARIT, which happened to be in the same neighborhood as our couchsurf). We thanked her for the tip, exchanged contact info and parted ways. Upon departing the bus, we had a nice walk along the Bosphorus to our rendezvous.
An International Crossroads – The city is divided by the Bosphorus Strait which also separates the continents of Asia and Europe. There are two large bridges that connect vehicle traffic and we were headed towards the one farther out. From our boardwalk and our destination at Rumeli Tower, we watched giant ocean freighters pass us by along with ferries and other boats.
A City of Chance – After an hour of waiting with no sign of our host, we began to think about our other options. The best one seemed to be the aforementioned ARIT, which was relatively close by and potentially cheaper than a hostel. After a short bus to save our legs, Christine took the initiative to ask the ferry station attendant who directed us to ask at the posh restaurant, the manager of which took Jonathan out to the street to find his friend who gave us some approximate (although really close) directions. We stumbled around the dark streets for a while until Jonathan spotted a small brass plaque by the door of an ordinary-looking apartment building. We rang the buzzer and were received hesitantly by a post-doctoral student named Nikolas (Turkish) who wasn’t sure about providing lodging as Christine explained our story to him, and then to another fellow (American), who also began suggesting hostels as the best option as it was after hours and the office was closed. We weren’t very keen on traveling backwards for two hours at night into the heart of the city to try and find a hostel with all of our stuff when we knew they had available rooms. Ultimately Christine persevered with aplomb and persuasion and, using Nicholas’ mobile phone, spoke with the director of the center, who finally gave us tentative permission just for the first night. Phew! We were so grateful to all of these people for their help and for the nice accommodations. In the end (once we’d been cleared) they chipped in to provide: dinner, guidebooks, english newspapers, and travel tips. We slept really well that night. In the morning, Jonathan enjoyed the luxury of all luxuries – a hot shower and newspaper!
After trying unsuccessfully to recontact our intended couchsurf host, Christine made a connection with a couchsurf host named Soner who she’d found on the “Emergency Couchsurf Istanbul” posting room within couchsurf. He’s on the Asian side and we were excited that we got to experience a different part of Istanbul. We made plans to catch a ferry that evening. As for the day, we went out to enjoy the less touristic northern end of Istanbul. We wandered down lanes…
…and found a shoreline mosque recommended by Jim the friendly American at ARIT (that’s a fig tree growing on the top left corner and the man on the bench is just napping).
We sat quietly and listened to the call to prayer that fills up the city five times a day and were moved by the ancient sacred sounds. We followed this beautiful spot by strolling through a hilly forested park where we happen upon a nice cafe for lunch.
Yes, Jonathan is having a cheeseburger and fries, while Christine samples the local thingy (which turns out to be a better deal). The food is great and we’re grateful for the ambiance too!
After this great lunch, we returned to ARIT, gathered our things and went to the ferry port for a beautiful sunset ferry ride over to the town of Kadikoy to meet a real couchsurf host, a man who would turn out to be one of the best things about Istanbul for us.
seeingspain