As always with traveling, our day started in Istanbul at a very early 4:00am. Luckily, I had had the good sense to pack the night before, but because I am a huge procrastinator (as most of you know) that good sense didn’t kick in until about midnight. So I awoke getting a grand total of about two hours of sleep. By 4:30 I was out the door and we had called a taxi to come pick us up to the airport. We met Emily and Sonya at the Superdorm and waited 10 minutes for Sonya (who had just gotten up when we called to tell her the taxi cab was ready). The most hysterical realization (the girls thought it was more funny than I did) by everyone was that despite the fact I was traveling with three girls, I was carrying the most stuff. I argued that it was because I did not have a smaller duffle bag, but the girls just laughed about it.
After a relatively cheap taxi ride (50 TL for all of us) we made it to the airport. At 5am, its pretty incredible just how few people there are on the road. Would you believe that we made it from Hisarüstü to the airport in 20 minutes! For Istanbul, that is incredible! The airport is about twice as far as Taksim and in normal traffic it takes about 45 minutes to get to Taksim square! That is how incredible it was! After a bit of trouble with Emily and Sonya’s tickets, we were all checked in and ready to go for our 6:50am flight to Malatya.
The flight across the Marmara Sea and Central Anatolia took about 1 and a half hours. Elif was surprisingly awake (we sat near each other) and decided that 7am was a good time for a Turkish lesson. She was making me practice by only speaking in Turkish and only letting me respond in Turkish. Let me point out that at this time, my Turkish was downright awful. I could barely string two sentences together…so as you can imagine it was a slow and tedious process. It was impressive to me that Elif had the patience for it at 7AM. It was good for me to practice so I thank her for that.
As the plane descended on Malatya, we could immediately tell that we were in a different world. Kilometers of concrete in Istanbul were replaced with high fields. The mountains towards the end of our flight were all snow-covered (which as you can imagine excited me very much) and the fields were a sort of brownish color. We were descending right into the middle of the Central Anatolian plains.
Because I was the one with the biggest bag, I was also the only one of the four of us who checked their bag. The girls went to the bathroom and waited outside while I retrieved my things. As I was waiting for my bag, a Turkish man and I started conversing. His family was from Malatya (he had flown home to celebrate the holiday with them) but he worked in Istanbul. I told him that I was a student and told him about the plans for our trip. He was very enthusiastic and wanted to show us around Malatya. Unfortunately, we did not have much time in Malatya (only 1 day) and I had to respectfully decline his offer. He gave me his number anyway and told me that it would make him very happy if I called him. I never did.
We excited the airport and took the bus to the city center, not knowing exactly what we would do. We arrived at the main square and found a very large statue of Ismet Inönü, the second President of Turkey and a close friend of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Being the political science nerd that I am, I got very excited and took a picture in front of the statue. Unfortunately, an annoying kid would not stop asking for money and wouldn’t even get out of my picture, so he ended up being in it as well.
After taking the pictures, we found our way to the tourist office and were greeted by a man who looked like he had come straight out of San Francisco in the 1960’s. He had long grayish hair down to his shoulders and a mustache. He introduced himself as “Kemal from Malatya” and told us that he was the person who worked in the tourism office in Malatya. Surprisingly, he spoke decent English. He explained that it was because he had spent a number of years working with tourists in Sultanahmet. He was very friendly (maybe even a bit too friendly towards Spnya – telling her that she should live with him for a month or two for free and teach him English). We explained to him that the main reason we had come to Malatya was that we wanted to see Mt. Nemrut. He said that he would be able to help us with that and explained that because of the length of the drive and the cold weather that it would be best if we did not start our journey to Nemrut until at least 12 or 1pm. In the meantime, he suggested that we leave our luggage with him and walk around Malatya (he even suggested where we should go).
We took his suggestions and first made our way to the metal markets. Whole there was nothing too special or touristic about it, it was neat to get a small glimpse into Turkish village life. The metal making was done with traditional tools (not the use of machines) and they made everything from hot water heaters to pots to cauldrons. Anything that could be made of medal was being made by these guys. Also interesting was the fact that there were very few young people in these shops. They were mostly men of forty or older. This indicated to me that it might be a dying art here in Turkey and that it wouldn’t be around much longer. Its really a shame if that is the case because it was neat to see these guys in action. There is no way you could ever see anything like this in the United States.
After a walk around the metal market as it was called, we walked to the bazaar of Malatya. In this place they were mostly selling the commodity for which Malatya is most known. Malatya is very famous for kayısı (apricots). In the first store, the owner let us try apricot lokum (Turkish delight) and it was absolutely delicious. I enjoyed it so much that I bought some for a snack on our trip. We then walked up through the market and found a poster of Barack Obama in front of apricots. Being Americans, we were both surprised and amused! The reason for the poster was because when Obama visited Turkey, he talked about Turkey solving their debt deficit through exporting fruits such as apricots. Because Malatya is the apricot capital of Turkey, they interpreted the speech as indirectly referencing them. This of course led to the Obama poster that we all found so comical. The store owner behind the Obama poster beckoned us to come into his shop and try the many different apricot products he possessed. In this shop there was everything from apricot soap to chocolate covered apricots to different kinds of apricot candies to apricot döner. Anything you can imagine that could be made out of apricots, this guy had. The best part was that he let us try it all for free. We were so full after eating in the store that we didn’t even need lunch! It was fantastic! Of course the girls bought some apricot products for themselves.
Other than the apricot and metal bazaars there really isn’t all that much to do in Malatya so we headed back to the tourist office and met Kemal. He had a driver waiting to take us to Mt. Nemrut for 50 TL per person (which is actually fairly cheap to rent your own driver for the kind of trip we were doing). So we get into the car and we are off on our way to Nemrut Dağı. The three girls sat in the back together and I sat up front. In Turkey, especially if you don’t know the driver, it is always customary for the man to sit in the front because it is possible to get a man who will harass a lady in the front seat by grabbing her leg or something. I have never seen it happen, but I would rather follow the norm just in case. It was also cool for me because I got a bird’s eye view of our surroundings and our ride through the countryside.
The road began in the relatively flat high plains. We soon made our way into the tall mountains south of Malatya. When we were planning our trip to the East, we had briefly flirted with the idea of renting a car to see more places and drive to places like Nemrut for much cheaper. As soon as we began our ascent to Nemrut, which totaled about 3 hours one way, it became clear that renting a car would have been a very bad idea. The road to Nemrut was quite confusing and not very well marked. There were several points where we made turns that only someone who had travelled this route many times would have known to make. Even with a map it would have been difficult. Secondly, the road conditions were very poor. Many times we were driving around very steep cliffs on dirt roads. It was definitely not a road for the novice driver.
We stopped in a small place about an hour into the drive to have some lunch. It was a bit expensive, but it was delicious. I guess the expense is the premium we pay for the convenience of a good meal in the middle of nowhere. The scenery was also really neat including small waterfall close by and mountains all around. Elif sent me to our drive to ask in Turkish if he would like to join us. He respectfully declined, but it made him smile. We continued and stopped at a small convenience store for a bathroom break. The bathrooms were Eastern style toilets (my first of many experiences with them) and it was not very clean.
The driver was very interesting as well. Living in Istanbul I was of course mildly aware of the Kurdish issue in Turkey. However, I had never seen a Kurd before. Our driver was Kurdish and I had many questions. Unfortunately, he spoke very little English. Elif had a lengthy conversation with him. I am not sure about the contents of it. She said she learned some really interesting stuff and would tell us later. Unfortunately, she forgot a lot of what he said (which is totally understandable in a conversation over the course of three hours).
As we approached the summit of Mt. Nemrut, we began to see snow. At first it was in small patches, but as we got closer, it was very high around us. The road contained many sharp turns as we progressed up the last bit of road before the end. Finally our three hour journey came to an end at the Güneş Hotel. At the hotel, cars cannot go any further. From this point we had to walk 3km to the stop with the last little bit in deep snow (the first two-thirds had been bulldozed).
Finally, after what seemed like a full day of travelling we reached the summit of Nemrut. I was very glad we made this trip. For those of you who don’t know about it, Nemrut is like the Turkish version of our Mt. Rushmore. Large stone heads were carved out of rock. Due to earthquakes they had fallen and are dismembered from their heads. King Antiochus, a megalomaniac of an independent kingdom that signed a non-aggression pact with Rome had these statues built. He was the king of an independent kingdom. He believed himself immortal and god-like and therefore built his own statue with those of the Gods. Also on the top of Nemrut Dağı is a large burial mound that is believed to be the final resting place of King Antiochus. The entire area was really neat and definitely worth the three hour trip. The heads and bodies looked like they were carved out of pure stone. The way in which the stones were assembled was pretty fascinating to me. I was definitely happy we made the trip to the mountain.
Because it was mid spring, the mountain summit was still very cold. It was much colder than I had anticipated. We were lucky even to get to go to Nemrut because some years during the time we went the mountain is still closed due to winter weather.
Since we had made the trek all the way up to the top, I really wanted to stay for sunset. However, the weather got very cold very fast. I was freezing in my jeans and long-sleeved shirt. I had not brought a jacket, thinking it wouldn’t be that cold. Elif and Em decided they had had enough of the cold after exploring the summit and began their decent. I told them I wanted to watch the sunset but because it was so cold, they told me that they would wait at the car for me. Sonya decided to stay with me.
A tour group came and ruined the peaceful scenery with loud talking. It was so cold that we saw one man wearing what seemed to be a makeshift pink headscarf! It was very funny! I can’t make fun of him too much though because they spoke to us and did offer us a glass of wine while we were waiting for the sun to set. We also met a group of students from Ankara, but because we didn’t write down each other’s names, we never heard from them again.
The sunset was a bit disappointing because it was cloudy. I was stubborn and wanted to see it any way. On a clear day I think it would have been REALLY awesome. Oh well.
Sonya and I hiked down to the car and we began our journey back to Malatya. We were all exhausted after waking up so early in the morning to fly to Malatya. The road leading down was dark and dangerous. Apparently, our driver told Elif that he was driving slow because if he drives too fast, it makes him more tired. As a result, Elif tried to keep conversation up and ask questions for 3 hours while everyone else slept. It sucked for her because I know she was really tired too. She did not get to sleep in the car like everyone else.
Three hours late, we arrived at our hotel (recommended and set up for us by Kemal while we were on our day trip, which was really nice of him. We ended up with a 4 bed room and a not so nice bathroom. Kemal was there waiting for us to make arrangements. He really seemed to like us and as Turkish culture dictates, h e wanted to have a çay with us (it is a Turkish tradition to have çay with guests and its rude for a guest to refuse). However, when he saw how exhausted we were, he decided not to push it. We went upstairs and I fell asleep almost immediately. A great start to a great trip.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Ilkbahar Tatil (Spring Break) in Eastern Turkey
I have been itching to write this series of blog entries ever since my trip ended in early May. However, due to the constraints of finals and more traveling, it was not until now that I could start writing this series of blogs. Before telling you about my trip, I want to make a few general observations and reflections before the trip.
My desire to take a trip to the east came from flipping through other people’s guidebooks and seeing cool pictures. I thought to myself that it would be really neat to see these places. I was completely unaware of many realities about the east. As I prepared for my trip, I asked Turkish friends and people I respect here about their thoughts of this trip. The reaction I received by almost everyone was that I was crazy and that I should not go to the east. According to them, it would be much better and safer to see the beautiful places in the Mediterranean and Aegean Region. In fact, I had several friends who chose this option instead.
Many of you may be unaware of this, but there are huge regional disparities and differences in Turkey. In general the east is populated by Kurdish people and tends to be more conservative. During the conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK, dolmuşes were stopped and everyone inside was executed by the terrorists. This had not happened for a number of years, but certainly there was something to be concerned about. The east is also considered in general to be more conservative, clinging to the traditional Islamic norms that are reminiscent of the Middle East more than Turkey.
After consulting a friend, he told me I should ask one of my professors about what traveling to the east was like and if it was safe so that I could get a good gauge of things. I took his advice and consulted my Political Economy professor, the department head of the political science department. I respected her and felt that perhaps she could give me the best guidance. I explained to her that I was going on this trip with three girls (2 Americans and 1 Turkish girl) and asked if it would be okay or what potential dangers I could face. She proceeded to tell me that it might be difficult for us to stay in the same hotel room. In Eastern Turkey, due to their conservative nature, she thought they would even go far as to ask us for a marriage license when we were booking our rooms. She strongly felt that I should bring another guy so that we could share a room and keep the girls from being embarrassed by how the hotel staff might treat them in the East. I discussed this option with the girls and told them what I found out, but because we already had four people, we thought it might be too much to bring another person. Furthermore, despite the fact that I had a Turkish girl with me, she said that I might need to bring a Turkish guy to make arrangements. She said that because Elif is a girl, they might not listen to her due to the belief the prevailing sexist beliefs in that part of the country. She also explained that most people go to the East on a tour from Cappadocia or something and that it might be easier and safer to do it that way.
On another side note, while discussing these different issues with her and others, I found at that there is a prevailing belief in the Western part of Turkey that the East is rugged, undeveloped, and unsafe. Furthermore, it seemed to me that they considered the people in the Eastern part of Turkey to be very conservative (so much so that it might cause problems for us on our trip). Interestingly, all of the people that I spoke to that gave me these warnings and felt so strongly about us not going to the East had NEVER been. These were the main things I knew about Eastern Turkey beforehand and you should consider these ideas and how they changed as you read my Spring Break account.
My desire to take a trip to the east came from flipping through other people’s guidebooks and seeing cool pictures. I thought to myself that it would be really neat to see these places. I was completely unaware of many realities about the east. As I prepared for my trip, I asked Turkish friends and people I respect here about their thoughts of this trip. The reaction I received by almost everyone was that I was crazy and that I should not go to the east. According to them, it would be much better and safer to see the beautiful places in the Mediterranean and Aegean Region. In fact, I had several friends who chose this option instead.
Many of you may be unaware of this, but there are huge regional disparities and differences in Turkey. In general the east is populated by Kurdish people and tends to be more conservative. During the conflict between the Turkish government and the PKK, dolmuşes were stopped and everyone inside was executed by the terrorists. This had not happened for a number of years, but certainly there was something to be concerned about. The east is also considered in general to be more conservative, clinging to the traditional Islamic norms that are reminiscent of the Middle East more than Turkey.
After consulting a friend, he told me I should ask one of my professors about what traveling to the east was like and if it was safe so that I could get a good gauge of things. I took his advice and consulted my Political Economy professor, the department head of the political science department. I respected her and felt that perhaps she could give me the best guidance. I explained to her that I was going on this trip with three girls (2 Americans and 1 Turkish girl) and asked if it would be okay or what potential dangers I could face. She proceeded to tell me that it might be difficult for us to stay in the same hotel room. In Eastern Turkey, due to their conservative nature, she thought they would even go far as to ask us for a marriage license when we were booking our rooms. She strongly felt that I should bring another guy so that we could share a room and keep the girls from being embarrassed by how the hotel staff might treat them in the East. I discussed this option with the girls and told them what I found out, but because we already had four people, we thought it might be too much to bring another person. Furthermore, despite the fact that I had a Turkish girl with me, she said that I might need to bring a Turkish guy to make arrangements. She said that because Elif is a girl, they might not listen to her due to the belief the prevailing sexist beliefs in that part of the country. She also explained that most people go to the East on a tour from Cappadocia or something and that it might be easier and safer to do it that way.
On another side note, while discussing these different issues with her and others, I found at that there is a prevailing belief in the Western part of Turkey that the East is rugged, undeveloped, and unsafe. Furthermore, it seemed to me that they considered the people in the Eastern part of Turkey to be very conservative (so much so that it might cause problems for us on our trip). Interestingly, all of the people that I spoke to that gave me these warnings and felt so strongly about us not going to the East had NEVER been. These were the main things I knew about Eastern Turkey beforehand and you should consider these ideas and how they changed as you read my Spring Break account.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Sunday, April 19th
Sadly, on Sunday I had to say goodbye to Germany. When we woke up, Brenton’s parents had gone to church. Upon returning, they had 4 chocolate Milka candy bars! One of the many things Germany is famous for is of course its chocolate. It was awesome that his parents bought some to give to me. They also had another of my favorites for breakfast on Sunday…lox! Oh my goodness you cannot imagine how happy I was to have them! Then, when I told them I couldn’t find them easily in Turkey (there are some specialty expensive places that have them) they gave me more. When I told them it was too much, they said, “No, no. We can have these any time but you can’t so you should eat them now.” It was very sweet of them.
Afterwards, we made our way to the airport and I said my goodbyes and thanked them for a lovely weekend in Germany. Upon boarding the plane, I ended up sitting next to this Turkish woman who was about 9 years older than me who spoke only German and Turkish. Armed with my dictionary, we slowly made conversation in Turkish. At the end she gave me her email address and occasionally we still talk. She was in Germany because her boyfriend is living there and she works at a hotel in Istanbul as a receptionist. For me it was particularly exciting because it was the first time (albeit slowly and painfully) that I had a conversation in Turkish that involved more than just “Merhaba” (Hello) and “Nasilsin?” (How are you?).
One thing I did not get to do that I desperately wanted to while I was in Germany was go to a beer garden. Brenton was kind enough to inform me that on the way home from the airport in Germany, he and his parents stopped off at a beer garden for the afternoon. Oh well…maybe next time. All in all it was a lovely trip and I was very glad I ventured out of Turkey for the weekend (and I was able to renew my visa…score!)
Afterwards, we made our way to the airport and I said my goodbyes and thanked them for a lovely weekend in Germany. Upon boarding the plane, I ended up sitting next to this Turkish woman who was about 9 years older than me who spoke only German and Turkish. Armed with my dictionary, we slowly made conversation in Turkish. At the end she gave me her email address and occasionally we still talk. She was in Germany because her boyfriend is living there and she works at a hotel in Istanbul as a receptionist. For me it was particularly exciting because it was the first time (albeit slowly and painfully) that I had a conversation in Turkish that involved more than just “Merhaba” (Hello) and “Nasilsin?” (How are you?).
One thing I did not get to do that I desperately wanted to while I was in Germany was go to a beer garden. Brenton was kind enough to inform me that on the way home from the airport in Germany, he and his parents stopped off at a beer garden for the afternoon. Oh well…maybe next time. All in all it was a lovely trip and I was very glad I ventured out of Turkey for the weekend (and I was able to renew my visa…score!)
Saturday, April 18
One really neat thing about Brenton’s family is that his dad’s company pays for all of their gas. So basically, they can drive anywhere they want for free. On Saturday, his dad did not have work, so he asked Brenton and me where we wanted to go. We could choose between Frankfurt, Saarbrucken, eastern France, or Luxembourg (or pretty much anywhere else within reasonable driving distance, which by the way is basically half of Europe). We decided to go to Luxembourg (which is the name of both its capital city and the country). First, Brenton needed to get a haircut, so he got up early and headed to the barber. When I woke up, Brenton’s mom was awake but his dad was not. She decided to take me to the local pastry shop to get an assortment of German pastries to try for breakfast (awesome!). Ironically, Brenton had the same idea when he came home from his haircut. As a result, we had a ridiculous plateful of pastries! It was pretty incredible! (See picture)
Following breakfast, Brenton’s dad got up and we started our trip towards Luxembourg. Unfortunately, the weather was not good. It was raining and not too warm. It also prevented Brenton’s dad from displaying the true awesomeness of the autobon (not exactly a good idea to go as fast as the car will allow when it’s raining).
After a 2 hour drive we cross the border and arrive in Luxembourg. The lax borders in the EU are very interesting. The only way I even knew that we had crossed into Luxembourg was that the exit signs on the autobon changed from “Ausgang” to “Sortie.” Besides that and a road sign, there was virtually no other indicator to inform us that we had entered a new country.
We drove into the city and found a place to park. We then started walking. We did not have a tourist map or anything, but decided we would feel our way around and have fun exploring in the process. While this can be a fun way to explore a city because it lets you get off the beaten path a bit, it is less fun when it is raining outside (as we soon found out). We first were looking for the famous caves of Luxembourg, a UNESCO world heritage site. Instead we found a park in a sort of small ravine with a river at the bottom. We knew the caves were supposed to be near that place, but could not find them. The park was very green and pretty. On a sunny day it would be the perfect place to relax for a few hours.
Then we found the Notre Dame Cathedral (not the famous one in Paris). We entered inside and walked around the church. It was very large and beautiful. There many stain glass windows, just like any large church in Europe. As Brenton and I were walking around, we noticed a confession booth displayed along the wall and had a glorious idea! Wouldn’t it be fun to get a picture of me confessing to Brenton? (The booth was open so you could see both the confessor and person confessing). We needed a third person to take the picture. Unfortunately, Brenton’s dad refused to take the picture on principle. He said something about it being disrespectful to the church or something. Well, then I thought about asking someone else, but didn’t have the guts to do it. I tried to get my camera to take the picture automatically, but since it was a relatively new camera, I was not sure how it worked. It didn’t work the first time. Just as we were about to try again, this angry Luxembourgish church worker walks up to me and starts saying something to me in German. I then say, I am sorry sir I don’t understand German. He then says in English, “this is a church, NOT a playground.” Hmm…oops. Of course Brenton and I were giggling about it like little schoolchildren when we left and as we were walking around.
While still walking in the rain, we looked across the river and noticed some 19th Century French style buildings. We decided that there must be something interesting in that direction and decided to start walking. As we were walking, we began to get hungry and started to look for a place to eat. All around Europe, there are many Turkish restaurants opened by Turks who immigrate to Europe. Ironically, these places charge twice the price for the same food you find in Istanbul. However, these places are also the cheapest game in town. Because I was coming from Turkey (and it was my first time leaving the country since I came), my one dietary requirement was no Turkish food! Now, don’t get me wrong, I like Turkish food very much. The problem is that its always the same. I need variety. Once I explained this to a Turkish person and they said, “what are you talking about! We have tons of variety! We have the Adana Kebab and the Urfa Kebab and the şiş kebab!” Sorry Charlie but to me a kebab is still a kebab.
Anyway, we discovered very quickly that Luxembourg was a very expensive city. We were having difficulty finding anything for less than 8 euros (except for the Turkish food of course). As we were searching for the food, of course it began to rain harder. Furthermore, after about 1:30 or 2:00, Luxembourg, like many other places in Europe closes for a “siesta.” Thus, finding an open restaurant became increasingly more difficult.
Finally, we found a bar that was serving sandwiches for a modest 5 Euro. We were so starved and wet by this time that I don’t think it would have mattered. They were also serving Die Kirchburg, the Luxembourgish local beer (which we of course partook in). The sandwich was some kind of delicious meat and cheese melt. I enjoyed it, although I don’t think it was traditional Luxembourgish food (if there even is such a thing). Interestingly, the menu at this place was in German. In some places, the menu is in German, in others French. Luxembourgish (the Language)is actually a mixture of French and German. Usually, the people in this area know both languages according to our waitress. As a strange coincidence of circumstances, our waitress did not know French or German, but instead knew English! (By the way, Brenton is fluent in German so having him around helped us considerably).
Also, the direction of the “cool looking buildings” that we thought would lead us in the direction of all the sites to see turned out to be in completely the OPPOSITE direction of where everything was. Our waitress sent us in the right direction and we were a 20 minute walk away from all of the historical sites/touristy things to see. Well…at least it was a fun walk?
We found our way back and easily found the center square. We saw another beautiful church. Following the church, we saw the Palace of the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and the old city. Both places were neat to see. At the old city, we finally found the caves for which we had been looking. Unfortunately, the claves had closed thirty minutes before we got there. Damn. After getting a bit hungry, we walked back to McDonalds and got some French fries. The menu was in French, but luckily for me all of the employees spoke English. After McDonalds we walked around the square a bit more and then headed back to the car. By the way, the car was parked right in front of the Luxembourg synagogue, which looked beautiful. Unfortunately, because it was Saturday, we could only look from the outside and not go inside. Oh well. All in all it was a lovely trip to Luxembourg and it was neat for me to see a new place in Europe.
After the two hour car ride back home, I wanted to thank Brenton for his hospitality by taking him out to dinner. He asked whether I wanted to go to the German place or the American place (because Ramstein is located in Landstuhl, there are lots of Americans living there). Of course I chose the German place. I can see Americans any time I want when I go back to the States. So we sat down and I had a delicious weinerschnitzel (I needed a last hurrah before going back to Turkey). This one happened to have mushrooms over it with cheese melted on top. There was also some type of special pasta under it (Brenton knows the name of it, but I do not). I also had another type of German beer.
Following dinner, Brenton and I decided to check out the local bar of Landstuhl. He tells me that he often comes on Friday and Saturday nights, not to get drunk, but because he always comes away with a good story. The bar is full of military personnel who are off-duty for the evening. It was mostly men because there are mostly men in the military, but a few women frequented the place as well. Brenton explained to me that many of the men are horny and desperate and so it is particularly funny to watch their behavior with the girls. He was of course right, making it an entertaining evening.
We were approached by two guys that had American dollars in their wallet and knew very little English (but could speak German). They were supposedly Russian. Brenton told me to keep an eye on my wallet because it was strange that they were carrying American dollars. Then they wanted us to buy them a drink out of “friendship.” We of course declined. They were sketchy. Later in the evening one of the military girls was dancing on chairs and there were other sorts of stuff like that going on. We hung out there, mostly observing until around 3am, at which time we came home and went to sleep.
Following breakfast, Brenton’s dad got up and we started our trip towards Luxembourg. Unfortunately, the weather was not good. It was raining and not too warm. It also prevented Brenton’s dad from displaying the true awesomeness of the autobon (not exactly a good idea to go as fast as the car will allow when it’s raining).
After a 2 hour drive we cross the border and arrive in Luxembourg. The lax borders in the EU are very interesting. The only way I even knew that we had crossed into Luxembourg was that the exit signs on the autobon changed from “Ausgang” to “Sortie.” Besides that and a road sign, there was virtually no other indicator to inform us that we had entered a new country.
We drove into the city and found a place to park. We then started walking. We did not have a tourist map or anything, but decided we would feel our way around and have fun exploring in the process. While this can be a fun way to explore a city because it lets you get off the beaten path a bit, it is less fun when it is raining outside (as we soon found out). We first were looking for the famous caves of Luxembourg, a UNESCO world heritage site. Instead we found a park in a sort of small ravine with a river at the bottom. We knew the caves were supposed to be near that place, but could not find them. The park was very green and pretty. On a sunny day it would be the perfect place to relax for a few hours.
Then we found the Notre Dame Cathedral (not the famous one in Paris). We entered inside and walked around the church. It was very large and beautiful. There many stain glass windows, just like any large church in Europe. As Brenton and I were walking around, we noticed a confession booth displayed along the wall and had a glorious idea! Wouldn’t it be fun to get a picture of me confessing to Brenton? (The booth was open so you could see both the confessor and person confessing). We needed a third person to take the picture. Unfortunately, Brenton’s dad refused to take the picture on principle. He said something about it being disrespectful to the church or something. Well, then I thought about asking someone else, but didn’t have the guts to do it. I tried to get my camera to take the picture automatically, but since it was a relatively new camera, I was not sure how it worked. It didn’t work the first time. Just as we were about to try again, this angry Luxembourgish church worker walks up to me and starts saying something to me in German. I then say, I am sorry sir I don’t understand German. He then says in English, “this is a church, NOT a playground.” Hmm…oops. Of course Brenton and I were giggling about it like little schoolchildren when we left and as we were walking around.
While still walking in the rain, we looked across the river and noticed some 19th Century French style buildings. We decided that there must be something interesting in that direction and decided to start walking. As we were walking, we began to get hungry and started to look for a place to eat. All around Europe, there are many Turkish restaurants opened by Turks who immigrate to Europe. Ironically, these places charge twice the price for the same food you find in Istanbul. However, these places are also the cheapest game in town. Because I was coming from Turkey (and it was my first time leaving the country since I came), my one dietary requirement was no Turkish food! Now, don’t get me wrong, I like Turkish food very much. The problem is that its always the same. I need variety. Once I explained this to a Turkish person and they said, “what are you talking about! We have tons of variety! We have the Adana Kebab and the Urfa Kebab and the şiş kebab!” Sorry Charlie but to me a kebab is still a kebab.
Anyway, we discovered very quickly that Luxembourg was a very expensive city. We were having difficulty finding anything for less than 8 euros (except for the Turkish food of course). As we were searching for the food, of course it began to rain harder. Furthermore, after about 1:30 or 2:00, Luxembourg, like many other places in Europe closes for a “siesta.” Thus, finding an open restaurant became increasingly more difficult.
Finally, we found a bar that was serving sandwiches for a modest 5 Euro. We were so starved and wet by this time that I don’t think it would have mattered. They were also serving Die Kirchburg, the Luxembourgish local beer (which we of course partook in). The sandwich was some kind of delicious meat and cheese melt. I enjoyed it, although I don’t think it was traditional Luxembourgish food (if there even is such a thing). Interestingly, the menu at this place was in German. In some places, the menu is in German, in others French. Luxembourgish (the Language)is actually a mixture of French and German. Usually, the people in this area know both languages according to our waitress. As a strange coincidence of circumstances, our waitress did not know French or German, but instead knew English! (By the way, Brenton is fluent in German so having him around helped us considerably).
Also, the direction of the “cool looking buildings” that we thought would lead us in the direction of all the sites to see turned out to be in completely the OPPOSITE direction of where everything was. Our waitress sent us in the right direction and we were a 20 minute walk away from all of the historical sites/touristy things to see. Well…at least it was a fun walk?
We found our way back and easily found the center square. We saw another beautiful church. Following the church, we saw the Palace of the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and the old city. Both places were neat to see. At the old city, we finally found the caves for which we had been looking. Unfortunately, the claves had closed thirty minutes before we got there. Damn. After getting a bit hungry, we walked back to McDonalds and got some French fries. The menu was in French, but luckily for me all of the employees spoke English. After McDonalds we walked around the square a bit more and then headed back to the car. By the way, the car was parked right in front of the Luxembourg synagogue, which looked beautiful. Unfortunately, because it was Saturday, we could only look from the outside and not go inside. Oh well. All in all it was a lovely trip to Luxembourg and it was neat for me to see a new place in Europe.
After the two hour car ride back home, I wanted to thank Brenton for his hospitality by taking him out to dinner. He asked whether I wanted to go to the German place or the American place (because Ramstein is located in Landstuhl, there are lots of Americans living there). Of course I chose the German place. I can see Americans any time I want when I go back to the States. So we sat down and I had a delicious weinerschnitzel (I needed a last hurrah before going back to Turkey). This one happened to have mushrooms over it with cheese melted on top. There was also some type of special pasta under it (Brenton knows the name of it, but I do not). I also had another type of German beer.
Following dinner, Brenton and I decided to check out the local bar of Landstuhl. He tells me that he often comes on Friday and Saturday nights, not to get drunk, but because he always comes away with a good story. The bar is full of military personnel who are off-duty for the evening. It was mostly men because there are mostly men in the military, but a few women frequented the place as well. Brenton explained to me that many of the men are horny and desperate and so it is particularly funny to watch their behavior with the girls. He was of course right, making it an entertaining evening.
We were approached by two guys that had American dollars in their wallet and knew very little English (but could speak German). They were supposedly Russian. Brenton told me to keep an eye on my wallet because it was strange that they were carrying American dollars. Then they wanted us to buy them a drink out of “friendship.” We of course declined. They were sketchy. Later in the evening one of the military girls was dancing on chairs and there were other sorts of stuff like that going on. We hung out there, mostly observing until around 3am, at which time we came home and went to sleep.
Friday, April 17th
On Friday, I decided not to ride in the car with Brenton and his father and instead decided to sleep in. The original plan was that I would take a train to Zweibrucken and meet Brenton there when we got off of work. The train was a bit expensive and I did not really want to do it. When I woke up, I caught his mom just before she was about to go out and run some errands. She invited me to come along and said that after we finished them, she would take me to Zweibrucken to meet Brenton! Score! We went to the bank and did a couple of things around town. Then she visited her friend AnneMarie, who is a German woman that was born during the Holocaust. She didn’t remember anything about Nazi Germany, but it was still interesting nonetheless.
After errands, we both decided that we were hungry and she took me to an authentic German restaurant. Of course I had to get another type of weinerschnitzel. I also ended up getting a different beer. I don’t remember the name of it. Following lunch, we made our way towards Zweibrucken. Along the way, Brenton’s mom (Cindy) asked me if I wanted to see a real German castle. Of COURSE the answer was yes. What else do you do in Germany? See castles and drink beer. I can’t think of much else! So I toured around this medieval castle and it was really cool (see pictures). After going to the castle, we had smoothies before continuing our journey to Zweibrucken.
Once in Zweibrucken, we picked up Brenton and walked around the town. Aside from a few statues, there was not all that much to see. The old church in the center of town was closed unfortunately. We walked around for about 30 or 40 minutes and then found Brenton’s mom again. The three of us then went to the caves of Homburg (different from the city of Hamburg in the north of Germany). The caves were really neat. They were made of sandstone and hallowed out thousands of years ago. During WWII part of it was used as a bomb shelter. Interestingly, this part of Germany had changed hands between France and Germany many times and had a referendum in the 1950s. At that time they decided to be German and they remained a part of Germany. Also in the same complex as the caves, there was another castle, which was built above the caves (the entire cave and castle area was a large hill towering over the surrounding area).
After the cave, we got in the car, drove back to Brenton’s house, had dinner, and fell asleep.
After errands, we both decided that we were hungry and she took me to an authentic German restaurant. Of course I had to get another type of weinerschnitzel. I also ended up getting a different beer. I don’t remember the name of it. Following lunch, we made our way towards Zweibrucken. Along the way, Brenton’s mom (Cindy) asked me if I wanted to see a real German castle. Of COURSE the answer was yes. What else do you do in Germany? See castles and drink beer. I can’t think of much else! So I toured around this medieval castle and it was really cool (see pictures). After going to the castle, we had smoothies before continuing our journey to Zweibrucken.
Once in Zweibrucken, we picked up Brenton and walked around the town. Aside from a few statues, there was not all that much to see. The old church in the center of town was closed unfortunately. We walked around for about 30 or 40 minutes and then found Brenton’s mom again. The three of us then went to the caves of Homburg (different from the city of Hamburg in the north of Germany). The caves were really neat. They were made of sandstone and hallowed out thousands of years ago. During WWII part of it was used as a bomb shelter. Interestingly, this part of Germany had changed hands between France and Germany many times and had a referendum in the 1950s. At that time they decided to be German and they remained a part of Germany. Also in the same complex as the caves, there was another castle, which was built above the caves (the entire cave and castle area was a large hill towering over the surrounding area).
After the cave, we got in the car, drove back to Brenton’s house, had dinner, and fell asleep.
Thursday, April 16
At about 7am I got up and made my way to Sabiha Gökçen Airport (the smaller of the two airports in Istanbul on the Asian side). I love the irony of Istanbul. I live in Europe, but I have to go to Asia if I want to fly back into Europe. How silly. For a city of Istanbul’s size, Sabiha Gökçen (code SAW) is very small. To check in and go through security took me no more than 20 or 30 minutes, which meant I way overestimated how early I needed to come to the airport.
The coding of Sabiha Gökçen as SAW was interesting to me for two reasons. Firstly, the letter “W” is not in the Turkish language. More importantly, however, the letter “w” has been used as a symbol of the Kurdish separatist movement. For example, this year the Turkish government allowed the Kurds to celebrate Newruz (Nevruz in Turkish), which is the celebration of spring and rebirth. However, when Kurds tried to celebrate this holiday, the Turkish government forcefully put tape over the letter “W.” They did not want it to be displayed in public because of its political significance as distinctly Kurdish. These types of images were on the TV. So for this reason, it seems odd that Turkey would let this airport be coded SAW. Then again, Turkey does a lot of odd things.
I boarded my airplane around 11:30 and was once again reminded why foreign carriers are superior to American ones. Not only was I given an aisle seat upon my request, but I even managed to get an exit row seat. Yay for extra leg room. The flight itself featured a free drink and a small lunch meal, which included a sandwich, a pastry, a salad, and ice cream. I could never imagine any American carrier doing that for a three hour flight. When I took a flight from Dallas to California (3.5 hours), I only got 1 small drink.
I landed in Frankfurt and made my way to the main terminal. Unfortunately, the only way to check my email and get Brenton’s instructions was to buy a wireless internet card for almost 10 euros. I suppose this is the price I pay for not planning ahead of time. I then went to the money exchange place and learned why you should never ever exchange money if you can ever help it. The Euro was about 2.2 to the Lira at the time. However, after commission 100 Lira (about 55 US Dollars at the time) only got me 33 Euro (this at a time when the dollar was trading 0.79 to the Euro). Needless to say, I hate those exchange places and avoid them at all costs.
I found out when I checked my email that Brenton’s place was actually not that close to Frankfurt afterall. His parents were living in a small German town about an hour drive from the French border. It required me to take the Frankfurt metro to the train station. The metro was the most expensive one I have ever seen. It is done by distance travelled. One ride from the airport to the train station cost me 5 euros. I couldn’t believe it. The saddest part was that it was only 3 or 4 subway stops away. The machine to buy the tickets was also incredibly confusing. It was only in German, which was a bit surprising for an international city. Luckily, I found some Germans who were willing to help. The great thing about Germany is that just about everyone speaks English. There is virtually no language barrier. Their accents were very German, which was a bit humorous to me. However, I was grateful that Germans speak English and are generally willing to help. I boarded the subway and got to the train station. I paid for the train, got my ticket, and after a short call to Brenton’s cell phone, I was on my way to Landstuhl, Germany.
This ride was only my second encounter with the train system of Europe. I decided that I really liked it and I think it’s stupid that the US does not have something comparable. We need to build our infrastructure and have easy public transit like this (I had several train options for this town that was quite far in the middle of nowhere Germany). The only bad thing was that the trains were a bit expensive. Twenty six euro for a ticket is not my idea of cheap.
I arrived in Landstuhl in the late evening around 6:30. I was immediately greeted on the platform by both Brenton and his dad. His dad took my stuff and delivered it to their house. Meanwhile Brenton decided to take me out to dinner at this decent restaurant in Landstuhl. We walked inside and it was nice. Brenton told me I could order anything I wanted to eat and drink. Of course, since I was in Germany, it only made since for me to order a beer. I drank this drink called a Cola Weiser, which was a mixture of coke and beer. It turned out to be a bit sweet and quite good. Brenton drank a Radler, which is a mixture of sprite and beer. For my main course, I decided to get another authentically German food – Weinerschnitzel! After dinner, Brenton and I walked around the town a bit and then up the long hill back to his house. Once inside, I gave his parents a gift to thank them for letting me stay there. I bought them a thing of apple tea and a thing of lokum (Turkish delight). Both of these things are very Turkish and I thought they would enjoy them. Additionally, I bought Brenton a gift. I got him a nazarlik (Turkish all-seeing eye that is good luck). However, in the center of the larger pendant, instead of an eye, an Arabic word was written. I am not sure what it said, but I figured it was probably religious. I knew Brenton would like it for the sole purpose that it was written in Arabic.
The coding of Sabiha Gökçen as SAW was interesting to me for two reasons. Firstly, the letter “W” is not in the Turkish language. More importantly, however, the letter “w” has been used as a symbol of the Kurdish separatist movement. For example, this year the Turkish government allowed the Kurds to celebrate Newruz (Nevruz in Turkish), which is the celebration of spring and rebirth. However, when Kurds tried to celebrate this holiday, the Turkish government forcefully put tape over the letter “W.” They did not want it to be displayed in public because of its political significance as distinctly Kurdish. These types of images were on the TV. So for this reason, it seems odd that Turkey would let this airport be coded SAW. Then again, Turkey does a lot of odd things.
I boarded my airplane around 11:30 and was once again reminded why foreign carriers are superior to American ones. Not only was I given an aisle seat upon my request, but I even managed to get an exit row seat. Yay for extra leg room. The flight itself featured a free drink and a small lunch meal, which included a sandwich, a pastry, a salad, and ice cream. I could never imagine any American carrier doing that for a three hour flight. When I took a flight from Dallas to California (3.5 hours), I only got 1 small drink.
I landed in Frankfurt and made my way to the main terminal. Unfortunately, the only way to check my email and get Brenton’s instructions was to buy a wireless internet card for almost 10 euros. I suppose this is the price I pay for not planning ahead of time. I then went to the money exchange place and learned why you should never ever exchange money if you can ever help it. The Euro was about 2.2 to the Lira at the time. However, after commission 100 Lira (about 55 US Dollars at the time) only got me 33 Euro (this at a time when the dollar was trading 0.79 to the Euro). Needless to say, I hate those exchange places and avoid them at all costs.
I found out when I checked my email that Brenton’s place was actually not that close to Frankfurt afterall. His parents were living in a small German town about an hour drive from the French border. It required me to take the Frankfurt metro to the train station. The metro was the most expensive one I have ever seen. It is done by distance travelled. One ride from the airport to the train station cost me 5 euros. I couldn’t believe it. The saddest part was that it was only 3 or 4 subway stops away. The machine to buy the tickets was also incredibly confusing. It was only in German, which was a bit surprising for an international city. Luckily, I found some Germans who were willing to help. The great thing about Germany is that just about everyone speaks English. There is virtually no language barrier. Their accents were very German, which was a bit humorous to me. However, I was grateful that Germans speak English and are generally willing to help. I boarded the subway and got to the train station. I paid for the train, got my ticket, and after a short call to Brenton’s cell phone, I was on my way to Landstuhl, Germany.
This ride was only my second encounter with the train system of Europe. I decided that I really liked it and I think it’s stupid that the US does not have something comparable. We need to build our infrastructure and have easy public transit like this (I had several train options for this town that was quite far in the middle of nowhere Germany). The only bad thing was that the trains were a bit expensive. Twenty six euro for a ticket is not my idea of cheap.
I arrived in Landstuhl in the late evening around 6:30. I was immediately greeted on the platform by both Brenton and his dad. His dad took my stuff and delivered it to their house. Meanwhile Brenton decided to take me out to dinner at this decent restaurant in Landstuhl. We walked inside and it was nice. Brenton told me I could order anything I wanted to eat and drink. Of course, since I was in Germany, it only made since for me to order a beer. I drank this drink called a Cola Weiser, which was a mixture of coke and beer. It turned out to be a bit sweet and quite good. Brenton drank a Radler, which is a mixture of sprite and beer. For my main course, I decided to get another authentically German food – Weinerschnitzel! After dinner, Brenton and I walked around the town a bit and then up the long hill back to his house. Once inside, I gave his parents a gift to thank them for letting me stay there. I bought them a thing of apple tea and a thing of lokum (Turkish delight). Both of these things are very Turkish and I thought they would enjoy them. Additionally, I bought Brenton a gift. I got him a nazarlik (Turkish all-seeing eye that is good luck). However, in the center of the larger pendant, instead of an eye, an Arabic word was written. I am not sure what it said, but I figured it was probably religious. I knew Brenton would like it for the sole purpose that it was written in Arabic.
A weekend in Germany
When I came to Turkey, I decided that instead of going through the hassle of getting an education visa and residence permit (a process that was both costly and difficult), I would just get a tourist visa when I flew in. It was one of the best decisions I ever made for a number of different reasons. However, one of the consequences was that I would be required to leave the country every 90 days and re-enter Turkey. A couple of weeks before Spring Break our plans changed, requiring me to take a spontaneous trip outside of Turkey before my visa expired.
Brenton, a friend from Emory, had invited me to come visit him in Germany several times. His parents are ex-patriots, moving there because his father’s work required him to do so. I was unsure if I would actually go, but of course I wanted to. On Wednesday (April 15), I began looking for flights. At around midnight I found a cheap flight to Frankfurt for about 200 dollars round trip for the following morning! I ended up booking this flight less than 12 hours in advance of my flight! In fact, Brenton had already gone to bed and did not know I was coming until he woke up the next morning (which was fine with him because he said I could come any time). Of course the scary part about this was that once I got to Frankfurt I had no directions or idea of what I should do. I sent him an email, hoping he would get it and send me instructions by the time my flight landed in Frankfurt.
Brenton, a friend from Emory, had invited me to come visit him in Germany several times. His parents are ex-patriots, moving there because his father’s work required him to do so. I was unsure if I would actually go, but of course I wanted to. On Wednesday (April 15), I began looking for flights. At around midnight I found a cheap flight to Frankfurt for about 200 dollars round trip for the following morning! I ended up booking this flight less than 12 hours in advance of my flight! In fact, Brenton had already gone to bed and did not know I was coming until he woke up the next morning (which was fine with him because he said I could come any time). Of course the scary part about this was that once I got to Frankfurt I had no directions or idea of what I should do. I sent him an email, hoping he would get it and send me instructions by the time my flight landed in Frankfurt.
Fener, Balat, and Fatih
I happened to have less work this weekend which allowed me to take a second Istanbul excursion for sightseeing. I decided to go with Verena and Anna. Verena is from Germany and Anna is from the Ukraine. We all met in Taksim Square by the Burger King (a big meeting point for everyone in Istanbul). Then we began to walk on a side street of Taksim (the one to the left of Istiklal Caddesi) to see some of the less traveled neighborhoods. We saw a couple of famous breakfast places and the German hospital , but not anything too spectacular. It was just a neat neighborhood to walk around in and kind of get a feel for Istanbul and stuff.
In this quarter of Istanbul, many countries have their own hospital. I guess for whatever reason the Europeans don’t trust Turkish healthcare. It is a strange concept because in America we do not have private hospitals owned by other countries.
We continued our walk down the hill and made it to Kabataş. After Kabataş we got on the bus and headed for Eminönü. There, we changed buses and rode all the way to Fener. We were hoping to find the Jewish quarter of the city (Verena asked me to come along as their official Jewish expert). Much to our dismay, the Jewish quarter was harder to find than we thought. Instead we found a Bulgarian church made of cast steel. We went inside and it was really pretty, but quite a bit different. Anna could read the Bulgarian and translated it (she didn’t know she could read Bulgarian but apparently it is very close to Russian). We then had lunch and continued walking around visiting a couple more churches.
One site in the area that I really wanted to see was the Mosque of Sultan Selim II. It was a mosque on a large hill overlooking the Golden Horn allowing a wonderful view of the historic district of Istanbul (similar but not exactly the same as the view from Eyup). Upon reaching the top after a 30 minute climb, we were incredibly disappointed to discover that the mosque was closed and under construction.
Remember before when I said for whatever reason I am very lucky and Turkish people generally like me (for what reason I don’t know)? Well this is another story of such luck. The construction guy at the mosque informed us that it was closed, but upon seeing our sad faces, offered to show us around anyway. He lead us inside the complex to the grave of the Sultan, his wife, and his child. Then he took us to the manzara (Turkish for area with a nice view) where we could see the great view of Istanbul. At the view another Turkish person came over to him and started asking questions. Although I could not understand what they were saying, the guy that approached did not seem happy with our presence. Our “tour guide” waved him off and we continued walking around the complex. He showed us the courtyard and then a smaller room. There was construction equipment all over the place (like the current inside of the Aya Sofia) and so we could not enter too far but were able to see before and after areas of reconstruction. Then we walked into the main courtyard of the mosque and into the main room of it. We did not have to remove our shoes because there was no carpet on the ground. I felt like somewhat of a rebel by being inside a mosque with my shoes on. Although construction equipment was again everywhere, one could still admire the beautiful stain glass windows of the mosque and the mosaics on the wall. We spent a few minutes inside admiring it. Our tour guide told us he wanted us to come back and visit and then we left.
We then saw the Greek Patriarchiate. There was a service going on at the time so we were able to see inside even though it was supposed to have already closed. After checking it out we went to Taksim and had a tea. Verena and I played some backgammon (I seem like a real Turk with the tea and backgammon don’t I?) Then we returned back home, having successfully seen a new part of Istanbul.
In this quarter of Istanbul, many countries have their own hospital. I guess for whatever reason the Europeans don’t trust Turkish healthcare. It is a strange concept because in America we do not have private hospitals owned by other countries.
We continued our walk down the hill and made it to Kabataş. After Kabataş we got on the bus and headed for Eminönü. There, we changed buses and rode all the way to Fener. We were hoping to find the Jewish quarter of the city (Verena asked me to come along as their official Jewish expert). Much to our dismay, the Jewish quarter was harder to find than we thought. Instead we found a Bulgarian church made of cast steel. We went inside and it was really pretty, but quite a bit different. Anna could read the Bulgarian and translated it (she didn’t know she could read Bulgarian but apparently it is very close to Russian). We then had lunch and continued walking around visiting a couple more churches.
One site in the area that I really wanted to see was the Mosque of Sultan Selim II. It was a mosque on a large hill overlooking the Golden Horn allowing a wonderful view of the historic district of Istanbul (similar but not exactly the same as the view from Eyup). Upon reaching the top after a 30 minute climb, we were incredibly disappointed to discover that the mosque was closed and under construction.
Remember before when I said for whatever reason I am very lucky and Turkish people generally like me (for what reason I don’t know)? Well this is another story of such luck. The construction guy at the mosque informed us that it was closed, but upon seeing our sad faces, offered to show us around anyway. He lead us inside the complex to the grave of the Sultan, his wife, and his child. Then he took us to the manzara (Turkish for area with a nice view) where we could see the great view of Istanbul. At the view another Turkish person came over to him and started asking questions. Although I could not understand what they were saying, the guy that approached did not seem happy with our presence. Our “tour guide” waved him off and we continued walking around the complex. He showed us the courtyard and then a smaller room. There was construction equipment all over the place (like the current inside of the Aya Sofia) and so we could not enter too far but were able to see before and after areas of reconstruction. Then we walked into the main courtyard of the mosque and into the main room of it. We did not have to remove our shoes because there was no carpet on the ground. I felt like somewhat of a rebel by being inside a mosque with my shoes on. Although construction equipment was again everywhere, one could still admire the beautiful stain glass windows of the mosque and the mosaics on the wall. We spent a few minutes inside admiring it. Our tour guide told us he wanted us to come back and visit and then we left.
We then saw the Greek Patriarchiate. There was a service going on at the time so we were able to see inside even though it was supposed to have already closed. After checking it out we went to Taksim and had a tea. Verena and I played some backgammon (I seem like a real Turk with the tea and backgammon don’t I?) Then we returned back home, having successfully seen a new part of Istanbul.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Sightseeing with Seçkin and Sonya (April 11)
In the next installment of my Istanbul explorations, I ended up going with Seçkin and Sonya. We made our way through public transit to Sultanahmet.
Once there, we were able to find the entrance to the Basilica Cistern. This site is actually really neat because it is completely underground. You take a set of stairs down and it opens up into this very large underground cavern. The cistern, as implied by the name, was the place where all of Istanbul’s water was kept. The water was taken from the Belgrade Forest through the Valens aqueduct and deposited here. During the Byzantine Empire, it provided the water for all of Constantinople. When the Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453, they actually did not know about the cistern. It was discovered when a woman was lowering her bucket in what she thought was a well and in addition to water, a fish was inside her well.
A board walk is built above the actual ground for tourists to walk on because water is still in the bottom of the opening. Fish also still swim in this water, which is rather neat to see. The room itself is rather dark, lit by artificial lighting for the tourists. The room is held up by rows upon rows of columns. If you look closely at the top of these columns each of them have different designs. It makes me wonder if it was done like this on purpose or if these were left over columns taken from other ruined structures (it makes sense because there is no reason for it to look pretty since it was underground anyway. There are also some columns that have had to be replaced/ restored to make sure the place is preserved. When you walk all the way to the back, there is a famous column known as medusa’s column which has a carving of her on it (see picture).
After the cistern, we purchased Maraş dondurma (literally meaning Maraş ice cream). This province in Turkey is known for making a special type of ice cream that is a sticky ice cream. Instead of licking it, you have to sort of chew it. I had not known about it actually until Smitha asked me about it in February after I arrived in Turkey. She had seen some sort of documentary on it and was asking me if I had tried it. Well unfortunately, because of the cold weather, it was not really available around Turkey during February or March, so this was my first chance to try it. It was indeed chewy, but very good. Anytime I can when walking along the streets, I try to find it now (they sell it in a cart in touristy areas like Taksim and Sultanahment).
As we were chewing our ice cream, we made our way to Gülhane Park (Gülhane literally means place of roses). This park is one of the many that are in Istanbul. This park is particularly special because it is adjacent to Topkapi Palace. It connects the area near Sultanahmet all the way to the Golden Horn, making it a nice alternative to the tram to walk to Eminönü. The park was especially wonderful to visit in the springtime. Istanbul is known for its tulips, which were in full bloom by the time we visited Gülhane Park. In fact, many flowers littered the landscape. It was the most colorful spring time weather I had ever seen! It was absolutely incredible. I took several pictures of the colors. In the park, they were selling flowers if I wanted to take them home. Sadly, the US Department of Agriculture would not like that very much, so I could not. I had a nice time with Sonya and Seçkin, as they are both really nice people.
After the park, we decided to go see the famous Süleyman Camıı. Unfortunately, due to repairs that were supposed to finish two months ago, only a small portion of this massive complex was open to the public. It was a bit disappointing because we only got to see that one room. Hopefully they will finish with this construction before I return back to the states. After the mosque, we got back on the tramway and made our way back home.
Once there, we were able to find the entrance to the Basilica Cistern. This site is actually really neat because it is completely underground. You take a set of stairs down and it opens up into this very large underground cavern. The cistern, as implied by the name, was the place where all of Istanbul’s water was kept. The water was taken from the Belgrade Forest through the Valens aqueduct and deposited here. During the Byzantine Empire, it provided the water for all of Constantinople. When the Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453, they actually did not know about the cistern. It was discovered when a woman was lowering her bucket in what she thought was a well and in addition to water, a fish was inside her well.
A board walk is built above the actual ground for tourists to walk on because water is still in the bottom of the opening. Fish also still swim in this water, which is rather neat to see. The room itself is rather dark, lit by artificial lighting for the tourists. The room is held up by rows upon rows of columns. If you look closely at the top of these columns each of them have different designs. It makes me wonder if it was done like this on purpose or if these were left over columns taken from other ruined structures (it makes sense because there is no reason for it to look pretty since it was underground anyway. There are also some columns that have had to be replaced/ restored to make sure the place is preserved. When you walk all the way to the back, there is a famous column known as medusa’s column which has a carving of her on it (see picture).
After the cistern, we purchased Maraş dondurma (literally meaning Maraş ice cream). This province in Turkey is known for making a special type of ice cream that is a sticky ice cream. Instead of licking it, you have to sort of chew it. I had not known about it actually until Smitha asked me about it in February after I arrived in Turkey. She had seen some sort of documentary on it and was asking me if I had tried it. Well unfortunately, because of the cold weather, it was not really available around Turkey during February or March, so this was my first chance to try it. It was indeed chewy, but very good. Anytime I can when walking along the streets, I try to find it now (they sell it in a cart in touristy areas like Taksim and Sultanahment).
As we were chewing our ice cream, we made our way to Gülhane Park (Gülhane literally means place of roses). This park is one of the many that are in Istanbul. This park is particularly special because it is adjacent to Topkapi Palace. It connects the area near Sultanahmet all the way to the Golden Horn, making it a nice alternative to the tram to walk to Eminönü. The park was especially wonderful to visit in the springtime. Istanbul is known for its tulips, which were in full bloom by the time we visited Gülhane Park. In fact, many flowers littered the landscape. It was the most colorful spring time weather I had ever seen! It was absolutely incredible. I took several pictures of the colors. In the park, they were selling flowers if I wanted to take them home. Sadly, the US Department of Agriculture would not like that very much, so I could not. I had a nice time with Sonya and Seçkin, as they are both really nice people.
After the park, we decided to go see the famous Süleyman Camıı. Unfortunately, due to repairs that were supposed to finish two months ago, only a small portion of this massive complex was open to the public. It was a bit disappointing because we only got to see that one room. Hopefully they will finish with this construction before I return back to the states. After the mosque, we got back on the tramway and made our way back home.
Touring Around Istanbul (April 4)
Well kids. Now that finals are over I am back to writing blog entries and as you may have noticed, I am several entries behind. I wanted to write a general entry about the touring around Istanbul.
After the misery of my first reading quiz for POLS 309 (Contemporary Political Economy), in which I spent three days doing nothing but reading, I decided that continuous academic study should not be the only thing my abroad experience was about. Therefore, I decided that every weekend, I would do at least one new thing in Istanbul (armed with my guidebook thanks to Eric and Stanton) if I did not leave to travel somewhere else. This way, I could get a lot of sightseeing in Istanbul finished in a gradual fashion and not feel like going abroad was pointless.
Istanbul has a myriad of sights to see from mosques to city walls to old fortresses to many other major sites. The picture album on the left titled “Along the City Walls” is the first installment of such adventures. Sometimes I would just go by myself in order to wander and kind of do my own thing. In this album, I decided to explore the area around the city walls of Istanbul, which is a two page entry in my guidebook. I first took the subway to Merter, a subway stop in Istanbul that puts you right at the city walls. The walls themselves in this area extend from the Marmara Sea all the way to the Golden Horn, totaling about 2 miles in length. I had already seen a small section near the Golden Horn with Jess, so I decided it would be best to turn left towards the Marmara Sea. This way I could also see the Yediküle Fortress and Peges Zoodochus before they closed.
While walking along the city walls, it is really neat in my opinion to notice how Istanbul is a mixture of old and new. There are holes in the walls where cute one way roads are built. Also, in the area owned by the state, Turkish agriculturalists have used the land that was once the moat around the wall for a field to grow various crops. These crops are then sold along the very row of the wall which they are grown. I guess the old moat makes for good fertilizer.
After a small detour, which proved both my inability to read and my wonderful sense of direction in Istanbul, I finally reached the church. This church, in the style of an old Greek Orthodox, was especially interesting because it was built around a natural spring. What’s more, the spring had fish swimming inside it. My guidebook describes the legend that explains why there are fish there. It says that before Istanbul was invaded by the Turks, a monk remarked that Constantinople was as likely to be conquered as it was for the dead fish on his frying pan to jump up and swim in the spring alive. After he said it, that is precisely what happened. Not long after the incident, Constantinople was conquered by the Turks and the name was changed to Istanbul. I am not sure if it was true, but it was an interesting story and gave the place a certain meaning to me. The church itself was also magnificently decorated with all kinds of Christian paraphernalia (see pictures). The church itself was a bit off the beaten path and not one of the main Istanbul tourist attractions, but I was really glad I had the opportunity to see it.
Following my church excursion, I continued to walk along the city walls down the hill until they ended into the Yediküle fortress. For anyone who likes fortresses or pretty views, I highly recommend this place. All that is left of it is the walls, the remnants of a minaret inside, and the Theodosian Gate used by Theodosius himself to enter the city of Istanbul. Under Ottoman times, the fortress also kept prisoners. One of the sultans was actually hanged there! The real treat though is when you climb the walls. From all of the sides, you get a unique picture of the city and of the Sea of Marmara. It was absolutely beautiful! At the top of the fortress I also met a couple who had been living in Istanbul for 30 years and was still seeing different sites. They told me that after 30 years it was still impossible to see everything! After seeing the fortress, the walls, and the church, I was very tired and ended up returning home. I only spent a few hours sightseeing, but it really helped me see the value of getting more out of Istanbul than just the academic stuff from Boğaziçi University.
After the misery of my first reading quiz for POLS 309 (Contemporary Political Economy), in which I spent three days doing nothing but reading, I decided that continuous academic study should not be the only thing my abroad experience was about. Therefore, I decided that every weekend, I would do at least one new thing in Istanbul (armed with my guidebook thanks to Eric and Stanton) if I did not leave to travel somewhere else. This way, I could get a lot of sightseeing in Istanbul finished in a gradual fashion and not feel like going abroad was pointless.
Istanbul has a myriad of sights to see from mosques to city walls to old fortresses to many other major sites. The picture album on the left titled “Along the City Walls” is the first installment of such adventures. Sometimes I would just go by myself in order to wander and kind of do my own thing. In this album, I decided to explore the area around the city walls of Istanbul, which is a two page entry in my guidebook. I first took the subway to Merter, a subway stop in Istanbul that puts you right at the city walls. The walls themselves in this area extend from the Marmara Sea all the way to the Golden Horn, totaling about 2 miles in length. I had already seen a small section near the Golden Horn with Jess, so I decided it would be best to turn left towards the Marmara Sea. This way I could also see the Yediküle Fortress and Peges Zoodochus before they closed.
While walking along the city walls, it is really neat in my opinion to notice how Istanbul is a mixture of old and new. There are holes in the walls where cute one way roads are built. Also, in the area owned by the state, Turkish agriculturalists have used the land that was once the moat around the wall for a field to grow various crops. These crops are then sold along the very row of the wall which they are grown. I guess the old moat makes for good fertilizer.
After a small detour, which proved both my inability to read and my wonderful sense of direction in Istanbul, I finally reached the church. This church, in the style of an old Greek Orthodox, was especially interesting because it was built around a natural spring. What’s more, the spring had fish swimming inside it. My guidebook describes the legend that explains why there are fish there. It says that before Istanbul was invaded by the Turks, a monk remarked that Constantinople was as likely to be conquered as it was for the dead fish on his frying pan to jump up and swim in the spring alive. After he said it, that is precisely what happened. Not long after the incident, Constantinople was conquered by the Turks and the name was changed to Istanbul. I am not sure if it was true, but it was an interesting story and gave the place a certain meaning to me. The church itself was also magnificently decorated with all kinds of Christian paraphernalia (see pictures). The church itself was a bit off the beaten path and not one of the main Istanbul tourist attractions, but I was really glad I had the opportunity to see it.
Following my church excursion, I continued to walk along the city walls down the hill until they ended into the Yediküle fortress. For anyone who likes fortresses or pretty views, I highly recommend this place. All that is left of it is the walls, the remnants of a minaret inside, and the Theodosian Gate used by Theodosius himself to enter the city of Istanbul. Under Ottoman times, the fortress also kept prisoners. One of the sultans was actually hanged there! The real treat though is when you climb the walls. From all of the sides, you get a unique picture of the city and of the Sea of Marmara. It was absolutely beautiful! At the top of the fortress I also met a couple who had been living in Istanbul for 30 years and was still seeing different sites. They told me that after 30 years it was still impossible to see everything! After seeing the fortress, the walls, and the church, I was very tired and ended up returning home. I only spent a few hours sightseeing, but it really helped me see the value of getting more out of Istanbul than just the academic stuff from Boğaziçi University.
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