Tour of Istanbul

Yesterday I got a private tour of some of the bigger attractions in Istanbul from Ayten and Ece, two of my students in Speaking Club. I met up with them close to the office at 2. They were very eager to show me Istanbul and to practice their English.

 

 

 

We started off at a church close to where I work. I think the Church was called San Antonio, but I am not sure. I have actually walked by this church many times, but I have never noticed it. Ayten told me that she goes there sometimes just to sit and think even though she is Muslim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After visiting the church we took a train to another part of Istanbul to see the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is a huge covered market. Ayten told me that it was the oldest market in Istanbul. I think it is also one of the oldest in the world. We walked through part of the market, but didn't buy anything. I paid close attention as to how we got to the market so that I could go back and buy gifts before I leave.

 

Our next stop was Sultanahmet or the Blue Mosque as it is known in English. This mosque was built in the 1600's and is very famous in Turkey. The outside is covered with blue tiles which is why it has come to be known as the Blue Mosque. In order to enter the mosque you have to be in the proper attire which means you must remove your shoes, and if you are a female, you must cover your head. Sheets to cover your head are provided upon entering the mosque. I also had to have a sheet to wrap around my legs because my dress was not knee length.

 

 

The inside of the mosque is gorgeous. There were quite a lot of people inside the mosque and there was an interesting juxtaposition between the tourists taking pictures and the Muslims who had gone there to pray. Ayten, Ece, and I decided to sit down in for a little bit to rest our legs. I asked them a lot of questions about the mosque and about their religion in general. There are aspects of Islam that I find really intriguing and others that I find disturbing. For example, I don't like that men and women have to pray separately. In Blue Mosque, and possibly all mosques, the men pray in the front and the women have to go into a separate room in the back of the mosque to pray. The women's praying area in Blue Mosque was not nearly as nice as the men's area. One thing I have really come to like though is the call to worship. The call to worship happens five times a day. In Taksim there is one man who sings the call to worship, but I forget his name. At first I was a little annoyed by the first call to worship because it happens at 6 am and it would wake me up. Now I really enjoy it and when I hear it at work I take a few minutes to stop and think about people in my life who could use some good vibes. I also think about what I am thankful for, which right now, is a lot!

 





After the Blue Mosque we walked over to Hagia Sofia. This started out as a church, but was later turned into a mosque. It is now a museum that unfortunately is closed on Monday's. I took a picture of the outside of the church and will go back next week.

 

 

Our final stop was Topkapi Palace, the home of the Ottoman Sultans for 400 years. The Palace is huge and I think if I lived there I would get lost. We had to buy a ticket in order to enter which took longer than expected. The tickets cost $20 for tourists, but Ayten and Ece told me I could buy a Museum Card which would allow me to enter multiple museums twice. They thought the card was only 15$, but realized that was the price for Turkish citizens. For tourists the card is $40. They decided this was much too expensive for me and decided to try to get me a Turkish student card which is like $7. Ece went and bought the card so it had her picture on it. They made me rehearse her name a few times and told me when I entered to not say anything unless someone spoke to me. Luckily the women didn't really even look at the card and getting in was no problem. We walked around inside the palace and saw the sultan's clothes and artifacts. Everyone was so detailed. The chairs the sultans sat on and the mirrors they used were covered in gold, jade, emeralds, and rubies. Ayten kept pointing at the artifacts and saying "ottomans very rich."

 

We didn't see the entire palace because we were all very hungry. I was okay with this because there are only so many artifacts I can look at without becoming bored. We decided to head back to Taksim and grab a bite to eat. They wanted Burger King so that is where we went. After good old BK we went to "Friend's Street" and found a place to get a drink. "Friends Street" is a small road that has a ton of restaurants and bars. We sat outside and drank a beer and listened to music. The girls tried to teach me some Turkish, but I have already forgotten the slang words they taught me.  After we finished our beer we headed back to the center of Taksim. Ayten had homework and Ece and I were exhausted.