In terms of seeing the city and checking things off my to-see list, I am definitely getting things done! We went to the Topkapi Palace, the main palace for the Ottoman sultans who ruled the city from 1465 to 1853. It is a gorgeous complex that sits on top of a hill that overlooks the entire city. The palace was impressive, but the most interesting part of our visit was the Harem. This building was the place where the sultan's wives lived, and had more than 100 rooms. Luckily we didn't have to go through all of them, but the few that we did go through were decorated with beautiful tiles. The colors and designs were absolutely stunning. Here are a few examples:
Even the outside of the building was pretty:
Last Sunday (the 19th) we decided to go to Eyup Mosque, which is known as the holiest mosque in Istanbul. It was quite the adventure as it was probably the most conservative area I have visited on the trip, and a really good look at everyday life outside the touristy areas. The area around the mosque was really crowded with women in headscarves and wedding parties visiting the mosque for blessings. I didn't get many pictures because my camera died, but I'm going to steal some from Kim, one of the people that I went with so I should have some soon! Actually, the reason my camera died was because I took so many pictures before we got to the mosque. Near Eyup Mosque is a tea house named Pierre Loti that is named for a French writer who liked to sit there and write about Istanbul. We didn't exactly know where it was, but figured that we could get there easily enough following the street signs we saw, so we decided not to take the Metro. We were fine for the first 10 minutes of walking, but started to get worried when the signs disappeared and the road we were on turned into a massive hill. Friendly locals assured us that we were on the right road, though in retrospect, I probably should have realized what we were in for when they pointed to the sky when they told us to keep going. So, 30 minutes and a hike that made the most strenuous crew workout look like a cakewalk later, we reached Pierreloti and the views were worth it. You can't really tell how big the mountain is from the image below, but imagine the ocean at the very bottom of the picture (I took this picture from the ferry dock before we started the trek). Yeah. The concrete box-like area to the bottom right of the Turkish flag was the metro stop, a like a ski-lift type thing to carry people to the top of the hill. The red roof in the right top corner is the tea house. Oh, and the entire hill is a cemetary. All the white in between the trees are graves cut into the hill...it was pretty amazing. As tired as I was at the time, it was a nice afternoon and provided us with good stories for the three of us that went with good stories to tell the rest of the group.
My fellow explorers Jeff and Kim, with one of the signs. It was pretty exciting to finally spot one. (note the slant of the car parked behind them, that street was KILLER!)On Monday, we went to the Galata Tower, a massive tower that overlooks the entire Old District of the city. It was a great photo opportunity, though genius me forgot to change the batteries in my camera. I did manage to coax my camera into taking a few pictures before it completely died.
This picture gives a good idea of how densely populated the city is; these are all apartment buildings. I always think its funny to see how many satellite dishes there are--they're everywhere!
This is the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque across the Golden Horn.
Oh man, I have a ton more to write and more pictures to upload, but it is definitely time for bed. More updates soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment