Final Days in Istanbul

The Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya) has an interesting history. It is the third church to be built on the site, having been used as a church originally and later as a mosque. It is currently a museum and at the time of my visit (Jan 2015) was undergoing restorations inside. From 537 to 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral however was also also a Roman Catholic cathedral between 1204 to 1261. The building was converted into a mosque from 1453 to 1931 after Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. It was opened as a museum in 1935. Consequently, there have been continual efforts to remove the plaster to reveal the original interior.






Slow removal of the plaster that was placed after it was converted to a mosque.





Very close to the Hagia Sofia, the Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarayı) is one of the largest cisterns that lie under Istanbul. It was built in the 6th century; it is incredible to think that it is that old! The cistern is 143m long and 65m wide with 336 marble columns, spaced at 4m intervals.







There are two Medusa heads and it is a mystery as to why they are there. There is a rumor that they were moved from a building of the late Roman period. The cistern wasn't as cool as I thought it would be and was both a little underwhelming and a little creepy. But still worth a visit.

There are so many mosques in Istanbul and so many more than I had expected. I visited my second mosque - Rustem Pasha Mosque- (which was a little difficult to find) and unlike the Blue Mosque, it was blue-r and almost deserted.

Not Turkish food but one of the best burgers I've had in my life was at Virginia Angus near the Grand Bazaar.

Testi kebabs are a combination of meat and vegetables cooked in a claypot. It originated from the Cappadocia region and is an experience as it is sealed after filling it with the ingredients and breaking it is the only way it can be opened to be consumed. As it is an Anatolian specialty, naturally it was on every menu when I was in Göreme. However I didn't try it when I was there (rookie error) and searched high and low in Istanbul on my last night. As mentioned before, food in the old area was quite expensive and the testi kebab I had at the restaurant was significantly more expensive than what I would have paid for in Göreme. But nonetheless it was super tasty and interesting to watch how the claypot was cracked open. Plus I also got a free shot of amaretto from the bartender!


Overall Thoughts
What was interesting was to compare and contrast the different areas in Istanbul. The old town, Sultanahmet, was so different to Beyoğlu and Beşiktaş which were a lot more modern and reminded me a little of the suburbs in the US. Actually, in the old town, it reminded me of Hong Kong with the sheer volume of people and the tight alleys. I also visited one of the largest shopping centres in the world (Şişli Kültür ve Ticaret Merkezi) which was insane.

Turkey was an incredible country with amazing people and food. Although I didn't enjoy Istanbul as much as I would have liked, I loved all the other cities/towns that I visited. Turkey was so different to every other place that I have visited and I really loved the country despite all the mishaps. I definitely want to return one day to explore more of the beautiful country, notably the south west region. 

Istanbul

Istanbul was one of my most anticipated cities. It is a city that is separated by the Bosphorus and it means that it is on the European and Asian continent. It is the most populous city in Turkey and is one of the largest cities in the world with a staggering 14.16 million. To put things into perspective, Australia's total population is 23.13 million.







I stayed in a small hotel in the old district, Sultanhamet, which was very close to the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) and the Hagia Sophia. This meant that every time I went out to explore, I needed to walk through the park which was a little uncomfortable. Safety is usually not something that is at the forefront of my mind but cutting across a park at night does heighten my sense of awareness. It was quite jarring to see the stray dogs in such a busy city like Istanbul and interestingly enough, the citizens do care about the animals. There were bowls of water and kibble left out and it seems that the locals do like the strays.

The first stop in Istanbul was the Blue Mosque. I had never been inside a mosque before and really didn't have any expectations. From people's comments, I knew that the Blue Mosque wasn't very blue. But it was still incredible to see the tiles inside.









The Grand Bazaar is an indoors market selling a variety of goods such as: fake designer bags, trinkets, turkish towels, Turkish delight, tea and spices. It was definitely an experience. Even in Sydney, I have a problem with my sense of direction at Paddy's Market since the same store repeats on every corner. The Grand Bazaar is massive and the same few stalls repeated which made it very confusing. Haggling is not in my nature and it is definitely needed when shopping there since everything is overpriced. Even some stalls "final" prices were still overpriced. For example, there was a magnet being sold there for 3 lira (after haggling) and the exact item was sold in a shop nearby for 1 lira, no haggling required. The only purchase I made was for Turkish towels and in hindsight, I should have made a lower counter offer. The man's first price was 45 Lira, followed by 35 Lira when I ummed and ah-ed over the price. I made a counter offer at 25 Lira and he quickly accepted. In hindsight, I should have said 15 Lira. D'oh. I say that because I bought other better quality Turkish towels from a homeware store for 23 lira. Novice at haggling.




'Hamal' or porter who carries all sorts of stock on their back with that presumably uncomfortable and dangerous posture. Every one of them that I saw were at least over 50 which made me a little sad about the long term impact of their profession on their body. An article here.

I absolutely loved the food in Turkey however Istanbul was a little disappointing (in the central area that I had stayed in). Like a lot of big cities, I found the food quite expensive (relatively of course) for the quantity and quality.