The night I lost my internet for the first time I decided to give Turkish TV a closer look. To this point I either did not have a television or had mostly been watching dubbed American movies and Turkish news programs. As I surfed through the channels I was dumbfounded when I stumbled upon a live NFL game. I had no idea the NFL had any significance outside of North America. On top of that it was a Falcons game. I have a battle every week trying to watch the Broncos game and I always end up settling with the Falcons when it becomes clear no one in Georgia cares about my interests. I just can't escape them. What are the odds? The Falcons being the team that they are quickly escorted me to a lengthy slumber. I woke up semi early the next morning because I had a lot on my plate. My first stop was Basilica Cistern.
The cistern was built in the 6th century for the emperor Justinian the first. In the past it was functional and contain things like gardens and such but now it is dark and filled with water. I wont try to bullshit you any further, I really don't know a lot about it other than it looked awesome. Google image search brought me here. The entrance is in this small nondescript building right in the middle of Sultanahmet. I must have walked by it 10 times the day before without knowing it. The cisterns are not terribly big but you end up spending a lot of time looking through the forest of pillars that catch you in a trance.
Once you reach the deepest part of the cistern there are two columns with Medusa heads at the base. They were not facing upright so I am not sure if they were made to face this way or they had fallen at some point. Either way it gave you the explorer feel that I enjoy so much. This cistern had been forgotten for a number of years and I can only imagine how cool it would have been to discover it again and reach the end to find these creepy 'chick is crazy shell turn you to stone' heads.
After the cistern my next stop was the Blue Mosque. I am staying a block away from this particular mosque so I had passed it many times but never ventured in. It is a massive building and really makes you want to see how the managed to construct it all those years ago.
Like most mosques the inside is wide open from floor to ceiling. They only let visitors venture into a small portion of the building so this was pretty much what there was to see. None the less it was very impressive. All of the mosques in the area are.
As I was leaving I saw this guy hanging out by a palm like tree in the courtyard.
I had seem him on the street the day before but failed to get a proper photo (the hip shot failed me). No idea who he is or if he has any affiliation with the church but he looked like a tropical Santa Clause. He was even jolly and posed for pictures. After my unexpected photo opt the next stop on my Sultanahmet tour was Topkapi Palace. This was the primary residence of the sultans for about 2/3 of the Ottoman empires reign.
I walked towards the palace but saw no signs pointing to the entrance. I could see the palace but was blocked by walls at every turn. Being as I could not find a way thought it I decided to follow the wall in the hopes of finding an entrance. This game plan landed me in a nice quiet park alongside the palace. This park was apparently the place to get to first base with your lady. There were Turks straight macking on every visible bench. I felt super weird walking by them but I suppose its a European thing.
I eventually reached the coast and realized that I was nowhere near the entrance to the palace. I decided that I might as well just make the loop and see the sights.
After a while the sidewalk decided to slim down and I found myself dodging speeding cars.
I eventually reached the rear gate but it was under construction so there was no entry for commoners. I did get a chance to see the wall that used to protect the city however. It was a recommended sight when I did my 15 minutes of research for the days activities the night before but when I looked at the suggestion I remember thinking how dumb it looked. Well, I was here now, so might as well make the best of it.
I noticed a few openings in the wall and decided to take a look inside. It was much thicker than it appeared from first glance and must have once housed a number of tunnels and structures at some point in time.
It was pretty neat but also kind of terrifying walking down each corridor. There were a lot of homeless men in the area and I can only assume they use this area as some kind of super homeless city where they capture American tourist and harvest their organs for fuel and nutrition. I was a bit more hesitant when exploring these areas and did not go as far as in them as I would have liked. My kidneys thanked me.
I ended up completing the loop and eventually found the entrance. It was literally a block away from my apartment. The walk was nice but I probably would have preferred to just go right to the entrance. That was until I actually saw the palace. It started out cool enough with extravagant exteriors...
But then proceeded to get lamer and lamer. I'm not sure if my earlier trip to Dolmabahce palace had spoiled me but I was thoroughly unimpressed. Most of the cool artifacts were in rooms you could not take photos in and the rest was meh. I paid the extra money to see the sultans private apartments but that was also a letdown. Every room looked pretty much the same. They were also bare of any artifacts, furniture, light, or any objects whatsoever. It probably wasn’t as horrible as I am making it out to be but it wasn’t that interesting and got repetitive real quick.
I was able to get an overpriced kabab with a nice view however at the palace cafe.
After my late lunch my next stop was the Grand Bazaar. I really had no idea what to expect. I was envisioning a huge outdoor market but it was more a gigantic indoor mall with all sorts of hidden hallways, shops, and food stalls.
A lot of the shops were selling similar items but if you dug deep enough you would reach pockets with some weird and interesting items. Take for instance this super appropriate costume for your young daughter, niece, or granddaughter. Look how happy she looks!
I bought a few items for the people who could not make the trip and headed home. On the way back to my rented bed I noticed an overturned sign on the side of the road. Upon close inspection I realized it was the sign pointing to Topkapi Palace. The sign I was unable to locate. At least they got a clean cut.
I rested a bit at home base before setting out on my last stop of the day which was Taksim Square. I had spent time on the other European side of Istanbul but it was mostly to see Dolmabahce palace and attend the soccer game. Taksim Square was reference by a number of internet resources as being the more modern section of Istanbul. Being that I am based in the super tourist area I wanted to get a feel for what Istanbul was moving towards. At around 7pm I left my place and hopped on the light rail. It was about a 1km walk from the closest station and a 2km walk to the square (1km if you don't take the Family Circus style super lost rout I managed to take).
Right in the middle of the main intersection they had this really cool monument which seemed to memorialize those who had fought for Turkey.
After a short photo shoot I made my way to the main street and looked for somewhere to eat.
I ended up choosing a random restaurant and attempted to go inside. A guy leaving who clearly saw I was trying to enter closed the door. He then stood outside. As I was thinking what an asshole this guy was I opened the door and approached the waiter who was in the dining room. He proceeded to point to the guy who had so kindly shut the door in my face. I turned and attempted to get his attention and after a large dose of douchebaggary he finally sat me and took my order. I was upset but remained in the restaurant out of spite. I was pretty sure they would pee on anything I ordered. After a quick scan of the menu I couldn’t pass up the 'Turkish Style' ravioli. I ordered and after a timely wait it finally arrived and looked, well, interesting.
It was pretty much Asian style dumplings filled with lamb and covered in a light yogurt sauce. It turned out to be pretty tasty. The yogurt sauce was a little bland but the spicing of the lamb and the tenderness of the freshly made pasta made up for it. They gave me a sampling of spices to add to the sauce but even a hardy application did not seem to effect the flavor much. Fueled up I hit the streets and window shopped like no ones business.
The streets were vibrant and the people looked genuinely happy. They had a number of western establishments as well as some local outfits. They even had interesting ad campaigns.
I even managed to locate the Turkish Communist Part headquarters!
As the night carried on I made my way back to the train station and headed home. It was a pretty exhausting day and I needed to recharge for my final day in Istanbul.
