Istanbul Day 1 and 2

On our first day in Istanbul no legitimate tourist tasks were accomplished, which was glorious. We woke up still a little tired from the late plane ride and odd night’s sleep. We are staying in a lovely studio apartment near Galata Tower. The neighborhood is hip, full of bars and restaurants and designers. This is one of those neighborhoods that was once crummy, then arty/bohemian and cheap, and now arty and expensive, at least according to our tour book that was complaining about the high rents. It feels like the perfect place to us full of cool little shops, young people and not too many tourists.

We walked down the hill from the tower, through the music instrument store neighborhood and the satellite TV store neighborhood until we got to the Galata bridge. There we had lovely views of the city and got to watch men fishing off the bridge. They will bring up 4 or 5 fish with each cast on one line. Very impressive. From there we wandered though the palace gardens taking advantage of the serenity and views. Istanbul, despite being a bustling city of 12.8 million (note that’s almost 4 times the size of Norway. Norway has 4.7 million people) is full of serene public spaces. It is an excellent place to sit on the bench and watch the world go by, which is what we did.

We also discovered backgammon. Our first night after dinner we went to a bar where we got 2 beers and a backgammon set. The folks sitting next to us refreshed my memory about the rules, and gave us some strategy tips and we were off. I would like to point out at first I kicked Andrew’s butt. Alas, since this is a strategy game that has planning I am not sure my lead will last. (Note, I just kicked his butt again, so you know, maybe the lead will last a little longer)

Our second day we decided to get down to some tourist business and got ourselves to the Hagia Sophia and then the Basilica Cisterns (see Video from last post). The Hagia Sophia, not surprisingly, was amazing and worth the hefty entrance fee; we milked our visit for all that is was worth.

(Andrew typing)

The building is spectacularly large. From the outside it seems a disparate pile of flying buttresses, domes and towers. The inside is a remarkably large open space without obstructing supports. Remarkably it was built in the 6th century. In 6 years. Yes, 6 years. They can’t finish Sagrada Familia, but the Hagia Sophia was built in 6 years in the 6th century. If only Gaudi had 10,000 workers at his disposal. Throughout the audio guide and progression of little placards, we realized that the jumble that is the outside is due to the various remodels that have occurred over the last 1500 years whether for Mosquification or earthquake retrofitting (11th century retrofitting).

We listened in on a guided tour. The guides all hang out at the ticket office and offer their services, “English, English guide”, “Italiano, italiano”, etc, etc. This woman was complaining about the scaffolding that was in the Southwest corner. Apparently, the scaffolding, and the respective rework has been going on for the last 12 years. We luckily got to watch them construct a section of scaffolding. They are efficient and careful. Could you imagine dropping a piece of scaffolding on 1500 year old marble flooring? That must make the gods (all sorts of gods) quite angry.

In addition to workers, tourists and guides, there were 3 pigeons and 1 cat in the building. The cat got scared out of the Mihrab when we were nearby. It really is amazing how a cat (of which this city is full of millions) can attract everyone’s attention away from the wonder-of-the-world quality building and mosaics. I’ll admit we watched the cat streak down the center of the raised altar area as well. We like a cute cat as much as the next tourist.

Lunch was at a nearby kofte restaurant. Lonely Planet recommended this one out of the many next to the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. All I have to say is: mmmm, kofte.

The Cisterns were amazing. Absolutely amazing. Apparently they had been forgotten til the 17th century when a French archeologist tried to figure out why people were able to catch fish by cutting holes in their floors and lowering lines. You know, the kind of question that most people don’t ask.

A tram ride back to the base of the hill, a funicular (2nd oldest metro system in world) ride up the hill, and we were back in the studio to rest our weary heads.