We arrived at port in Istanbul early and were greeted with a majestic view of the city from our rooms. Mosques, minarets, apartments, industrial buildings and skyscrapers painted the landscape. We were all excited to disembark and take our shore excursion, which we booked this time through Celebrity.
For a little background, Istanbul was founded in the 7th century BCE by Greek colonists under King Byzas, hence took its original name as Byzantine. Byzas, however, did not pick this location by chance for his eponymous colony. Instead, he consulted the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, who told him to settle across from the “land of the blind ones.” Unaware of any land occupied by blind people, Byzas deciphered out the riddle.
The king found a site by a natural harbor on the Bosporus (a strait that partly separates Europe from Asia), across the Sea of Marmara from Chalcedon, an ancient maritime town. He concluded that the Chalcedonians must have been blind not to have chosen this more beautiful and ideal location. Hence began Byzantine.
In 330 CE, Roman emperor Constantine rebuilt Byzantine to be the new capital of his far-flung empire. First known as New Rome, it later was renamed to Constantinople. This great eastern European city would reign for 16 centuries as the imperial capital for many empires, up to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 CE, which renamed it Istanbul. The Ottoman Empire survived until 1923, when it was succeeded by the modern-day Republic of Turkey.
A metropolis of over 13 million people today, Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey. It is said to be the only city in the world that spans two continents: Europe and Asia, separated by the Bosporus.
We ate a quick breakfast, got our coffee and boarded our bus. Our guide was Ibraham (he preferred “Manny”), who was excellent. We were lucky that our tour group wasn’t too large, although we had the bad luck to have Grumpy Guy with us.
Our first stop was Hagia Sophia. Formerly a Christian cathedral, it was converted to an Imperial Mosque after Sultan Mehmed II laid siege to Constantinople in 1453 CE. Today, Hagia Sophia, sometimes called St. Sophia, is a museum rather than a place of worship. Originally built in the 6th century CE, it has a spectacular dome 180 feet high that’s adorned with both Christian and Islamic art, an unusual juxtaposition: Islamic calligraphy, Christ, geometric patterns, angels and more.
We explored this vast and unusual structure, including the upper levels. Birds flew freely throughout and also dropped an occasional “white bomb.” A young lady in our group had one land squarely on her head, and it was loaded; the tour guide announced to the crowd that an ostrich must have just flown overhead. It was time to go move on.
We walked to the magnificent Sultanahmet Mosque, popularly called the Blue Mosque, but not for its color outside, but inside. It faces Hagia Sophia. This was not a museum, but a holy place of worship. Women wore scarves, and knees and shoulders had to be covered and shoes removed. It was our first time inside a mosque, and it was exciting.
Completed in 1616 CE, the Blue Mosque was built on the site of the Great Palace of Constantinople and the Hippodrome, the sporting and social center of Constantinople where exciting chariot races took place.
The mosque is made up of a series of cascading domes and six minarets, both unusual. Most mosques have only four or less minarets. Seeing the mosque from afar gave us an amazing perspective.
We put our shoes in bags provided by the tourist bus, and the ladies put on their scarves. We learned that non-Muslim women are not required to wear scarves, but are encouraged to as a sign of respect. Terry insisted on his harem donning them.
Inside, the mosque was a bit of a surprise. It was not as ornate as Hagia Sophia, and had larger unobstructed space. But it was beautiful. Non-Muslims were required to stand behind wooden gates, but photography was allowed (as long as a public prayer session was not going on). Terry remarked that he could feel the sacredness and spiritually of this place, similar to what he had felt when at the top of the Acropolis in Athens.
The Islamic art and blue ceramics were gorgeous. We observed a curious scene, which was a man walking around with a vacuum cleaner in the prayer area that was off limits to us. We supposed that we expected that cleaning would be done in a different fashion, ritualistic, perhaps, but this just showed how little we knew about this religion and culture.
After much picture taking, it was time to rejoin our group. On the way out Terry observed a tourist putting his shoes back on inside the mosque (you’re supposed to wait until you’re outside and off the carpet), when a man appeared and sharply rebuked him, “You’re in my country, so please show respect.” Duly chastised, the tourist took his shoes off and scurried away.
Next we were off to the Basilica Cistern. Built in the 6th century CE, it provided a water storage and filtration system capable of storing 100,000 gallons of water (although it’s mostly empty today). We walked down 55 stone steps to reach it, where we beheld hundreds of supporting marble columns: 336 to be exact, arranged in 12 rows of 28, each column 30 feet high each. Some were of Corinthian style, others Doric. It was eerie with the muted red lighting and dark, mysterious shadows, but that was nothing until we saw her: Medusa.
Two Medusa heads were used as column bases, but installed upside down. Was this to avert her gaze, so that we wouldn’t be turned into stone? Or was it for more practical matters, such as providing a stronger base? You decide.
Now it was time to go to the Grand Bazaar. We were all looking forward to this, but it wasn’t quite what we anticipated. Don’t get us wrong—it’s huge, but it’s all covered and filled with shops, not tables with messy heaps of garments, goods and produce piled on them. Ah, once again, our lack of exposure. Yet, it was fun and not at all like an American shopping mall. We all found things to buy, with Wande twice visiting a shop after the shopkeeper told her she was finer than Naomi Campbell.
We then had some time to find a café and sit down for a snack and some Turkish coffee and other refreshments. It was fascinating watching all of the people walking by, and very exotic. And then the call to prayers began. There was a mosque very close and we could hear the call clearly (but not understand it, of course). Calls to prayer, broadcast from the minarets, are not like, “It's prayer time, people!” No, instead, the calls are a summary of basic Islamic beliefs, intended to inculcate into the minds and hearts of believers and nonbelievers alike the substance of the faith. At times it sounds like singing, but always with male voices.
Finally, it was lunchtime. We were taken to a very nice hotel for a traditional Turkish lunch in their large dining room. We were each served plates of local delights: Kisri, hummus, fava, dolmus, and much more. Since we had already snacked at that café, we were stuffed and most of us couldn’t eat it all.
And then we learned that was just the appetizer.
Out came the other plates: The hot appetizer (borek pastry); the mixed salad; the main course (döner kebap); and then dessert! We were completely stuffed and groaned when we stood up.
The day wasn’t over! We still had to two other stops. The first was a boat ride on the Bosporus, where we would see close up the European and Asian parts of Istanbul. The day was so beautiful and being on the water with the wonderful sights was peaceful. The boat guide pointed out expensive and expansive mansions, some worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
We passed under the two suspension bridges that connect the two continents, then turned around. Coming back into the main harbor we could see panoramic views of the city, including the grand structures we had already visited.
Our final stop for the day was the spice market. Now this was more of what we had expected for a market! There were long winding streets, snaking off in different directions with vendors selling their wares, mostly spices, but more utilitarian things, such as pots and pans.
Manny, our guide, told us to follow him to a particular booth, to get us started. He walked at a brisk pace because we had a limited time spend there and he wanted us to have some time on our own. It was difficult following him, because of the narrow streets and the crush of people. A few of us got separated and fell behind. Terry was one who fell behind (because, he admits, of taking photos), and who else fell behind with him? Grumpy Guy and his wife. Such luck.
Grumpy Guy did nothing but curse and gripe about how “outrageous” and “ridiculous” it was that Manny was going at such a fast pace. His wife tried to console him and assure him that we would catch up, but this only served tp work him up even more. When we temporarily lost sight of Manny and the group, he fell into sputtering mode. Terry could barely understand him, but it didn’t sound good. This guy was clearly not having a good time.
We finally caught up with Manny at the spice shop, and it was delightful, full of known and unknown spices. The smells were wondrous, conflicting, exotic and foreign. Julie and Sheila bought fresh saffron in little bottles (for small fortunes). Terry bought a strange spice that was recommended as a chicken rub, as well as an herbal tea made up of, well, many things.
We all wandered around and stocked up on fresh and unusual spices and other things. The people in the marketplace, mostly locals, were as interesting as the shops, with their dress and their language and the hustle and bustle.
It was time to head back to the bus. The five of us reunited and got on the bus with our treasured wares. It was a long and full day, but one full of excitement and even more treasured memories.
We all relaxed back in our rooms, and then took to our balconies. We watched the sun set slowly over the horizon, which accentuated the darkening minarets. It had been a warm day, and with dusk we were refreshed with a slight coolness in the breeze. The calls for prayer began again (which is done at least five times a day). The calls echoed throughout the city, close and far, almost harmonizing but never in sync. It was beautiful to hear.
Then dinnertime came. All of us were there, including the Tones, who were sitting by the window, their table still marked as Table 434 and ours at the end. Early in the dinner the subject of the “Captain’s Club” came up, which Terry and Julie belong to by virtue of having cruised with Celebrity two years ago. Wande inquired as to what benefits one got from such elite status, and Terry – who could take it no more – said, “Oh, we get things like being seated next to the window, but somehow our table numbers got switched.”
Silence. Then, Terry received a sharp kick from to his shin from Julie. (“Ouch,” he silently cried.) Wande looked at Terry askance, Sheila raised her menu to conceal her face and deliver a secret grin of approval and Carol just concentrated on her menu. Somebody finally broke the awkward moment of silence (“So how was your day, Tones?”), and the dinner chatter picked up. Terry knew that he would hear more about this later (he did), but meanwhile he enjoyed the satisfaction exposing up the caper.
Where would table 435 be the next evening?
No comments:
Post a Comment