We had a few very packed days and were away from the Internet as well so here is a list more for our memory purposes than any.
Sunday
Turkish breakfast at hotel included at all places.
Walked all the way to the otogar (bus station).
Bus to Saklikentgorge.
Road through beautiful countryside and then saw the amazing gorge.
Hiked with guide through stream 1km up to waterfall. Glad to have him show us the safe way plus he took lots of pictures! We don't have many of the two of us because we have to ask someone else to take it for us. The water was waist high in some spots and a strong current. The waterfall was powerful but FUN!
Upon returning to main area we went over to tree house area and rented some tubes and a guide to tube down the river with a kayak paddle! It was fun and not too long as the water was COLD. The guide wore one of those Turkish hats that makes me think they are trying to attract dumb tourists. Us!?
We then snacked right ON the river until the dolmus was ready to take us home. We exhausted but happy with our adventure filled day!
That night we went back to the hotel and had a picnic outside with bread, cheese, wine, chocolate, yogurt and baklava! This combo reminds me of my college cluster parties at Luther minus the yogurt and baklava.
Monday
Packed up and said goodbye to Villa Daffodil.
Took a boat cruise tour of the 12 islands (really would have been 5 until it rained and then it was 3!) The day started out great. We enjoyed both decks of the boat, some cherry juice (a new favorite of mine), swimming at the first site, taking the waterslide down and through the boat into the sea and eating a good lunch (I was starving as always). Then mid lunch it rained and got cold. A break in the rain let us begin to explore Flat Island until it started downpouring again... The boat decided to go home it was cold and no one was dressed properly for the change on weather. There were a lot of local young Turks on board- a little too touristy overall and commercial... A little Dells like... The sun did come out for about 20 minutes at the end and we used it to warm up and catch some rays. Some swam during our brief stop at "Rabbit Island" and others chased and fed huge rabbits. We just watched and laughed as we have rabbits of our own we'd be happy to donate to any curious locals! The captain and I talked politics... Sort of ;)
Since we returned early we were excited to hike up to the Lycian tombs carved into the great hills/mts of the area. (with luggage on back- tough missed training!) They were cool but we didn't get too close as lightning was back and we wanted to catch a bus to Oludeniz and then the amazing sounding Butterfly Valley. We got a little rained on but the dolmus came fairly soon and in no time we were hanging out on the beach in O. watching huge waves roll in and looking for a boat to take us to B.V. Then the first major glitch if the trip came. The boat boss said the boat would not return being that the sea was too tumultuous. We were stuck in O. for the night and knew that with our tight schedule and bad boat hours that this meant no B.V. for us at all. We were sad but quickly found a hotel that was willing to knock a third off its price. It is not quite full tourist season and we can benefit from this!
The room was decent and then we walked the stretch.. Holy old Brits out on the town, dressed to impress (beach style)... Totally not our scene and probably least favorite town for that reason! We found an internet cafe to make final trip arrangements and then had a late night snack of vegetable casserole (good). The music was a random mix of US oldies and the terrible karaoke across the street...puke. Still it was a nice evening spent laughing at others with my sweetie. :)
Tuesday
Swimming at beach in Oludeniz.
Got there early to get ahead of the crowds. Plus we only had two hours. Swimming..cold pebbles not sand..ouch! Frisbee.. Hurray! We met a nice couple from Georgia who helped us decide our next destination... Olympos!
It was a gooood choice. We caught a bus back to Fethiye very quickly and even quicker a bus from there to the top of Olympos 5 hours later. The drive along the coast was AMAZING!
A dolmus took us into the younger, laid back dead end town known as Olympos. It is a beautiful relaxed place. We settled into our bungalow, hiked down to some ruins along the sea, saw the then empty beach (it was 8ish), had a yummy veggie friendly dinner, and hiked up to see the eternal flames that randomly combust that evening. It was a packed and tiring day. Travel wears me out! When it finally ended around midnight we crashed like rocks.
Sorry about incomplete, run-on sentences and grammatical errors... Typing on an iPod makes it ten times harder and slower!! Ciao.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Fly Fast to Fethiye
Saturday... It sure doesn't feel like the weekend... We've been having a weekend all week! After an exhausting day we slept in and then had breakfast waiting for us up on the rooftop terrace at Homero's. I could get used to this AND eating outside for every meal in perfect weather!!
We saw a few of our friends that we had made the night before but have stopped our Canadian facade. Every other person we meet is Canadian and that makes our front very complicated.
We went to the weekly Saturday market where they sold everything! The heaps of fresh veggies and fruit had me drooling. In the end we left with some cherries (huge bag!) for about $2 and 4 juicy peaches for about $.70. What a deal. They will be our snacks on the 6 hour bus ride. I wish I could live here for the fresh year round produce.
We also went to the local Ephesus museum and saw artifacts excavated from the area and read more about the history.
Then we were off the bus station and squished onto a tiny local bus headed for Aydin. It is fun to watch the locals pay the driver while en route, he makes change for whatever their destination and passes it back. The drivers here are great at multi-tasking and we still feel safe. It's those Guatemalan drivers that are another story!
The bus we transferred to to take to Fithiye is sweet. There are tvs, lots of leg room, air conditioning and wifi! This way better than a US bus any day. We saw the sea for the first time about half way through and got so excited. Steve and I are super pumped for the second half of the week!
P.S. It's our one week anniversary! Awwww ;)
When we arrived in Fethiye we caught a cute taxi to the very west side of town- far from everything! Villa Daffodil had a room for us that overlooked Fethiye Bay and many sailboats. Steve decided to make peace with the sailboats after our last encounter and I concurred.
We had a romantic dinner over the bay at the villa's restaurant (pasta and fish) and went for a late night swim. It was too cold without the sun though. We just were so excited to swim after having not the entire trip to that point.
There are so many things to do now that we've reached the coast!
We saw a few of our friends that we had made the night before but have stopped our Canadian facade. Every other person we meet is Canadian and that makes our front very complicated.
We went to the weekly Saturday market where they sold everything! The heaps of fresh veggies and fruit had me drooling. In the end we left with some cherries (huge bag!) for about $2 and 4 juicy peaches for about $.70. What a deal. They will be our snacks on the 6 hour bus ride. I wish I could live here for the fresh year round produce.
We also went to the local Ephesus museum and saw artifacts excavated from the area and read more about the history.
Then we were off the bus station and squished onto a tiny local bus headed for Aydin. It is fun to watch the locals pay the driver while en route, he makes change for whatever their destination and passes it back. The drivers here are great at multi-tasking and we still feel safe. It's those Guatemalan drivers that are another story!
The bus we transferred to to take to Fithiye is sweet. There are tvs, lots of leg room, air conditioning and wifi! This way better than a US bus any day. We saw the sea for the first time about half way through and got so excited. Steve and I are super pumped for the second half of the week!
P.S. It's our one week anniversary! Awwww ;)
When we arrived in Fethiye we caught a cute taxi to the very west side of town- far from everything! Villa Daffodil had a room for us that overlooked Fethiye Bay and many sailboats. Steve decided to make peace with the sailboats after our last encounter and I concurred.
We had a romantic dinner over the bay at the villa's restaurant (pasta and fish) and went for a late night swim. It was too cold without the sun though. We just were so excited to swim after having not the entire trip to that point.
There are so many things to do now that we've reached the coast!
TGIF
Friday June 10.
2am, laying in bed staring at the ceiling, can't sleep. Don't wake Amber.
Amber moves around.
"are you awake."
"yes, I can't get to sleep. You?"
"can't sleep either."
So apparently Turkish delight has some caffeine in it. We think there may have been an espresso bean one in the mix. Whatever it was, it sucked. We didnt get to sleep until after 3. The 5am alarm came awful early.
Anyway, Friday was a half travel day. Shuttle trip to the airport, flight to Izmir, shuttle to bus station, bus to Selcuk. Around noon, we arrive in Selcuk and check into the hostel, Homero's Pension. We get an over decorated room with three single beds (grrr) a shower, bathroom, and ac.
At around 2 we head out to the ruins of Ephesus. It was a nice 35 minute walk (probably 45 minutes for people who don't have to keep up with Amber). We could have easily grabbed a shuttle but we thought the walk would help us wake up. I think it helped but we were still super groggy.
The ruins were pretty amazing. It started off a little slow but after seeing so many ruins and imaging the city at it's peak, I was impressed. We saw the ruins of a church dedicated to the Virgin May, who lived there after Jesus' death. We saw the stadium where the disciple John gave a speech against worshiping the roman gods. We saw the library, baths, marble streets, and all kinds of things I can't remember right now. After at least 2 hours we started to run low on fuel. The ruins are about 3Km long. We walked 3Km to get there and another 3Km to get home.
On the walk home we stopped at the site of the temple of Artemis. There wasn't much left of the temple. The marble had been "recycled" for use in other monuments. The most amazing part was the fact that one of the most impressive buildings in the world once stood there and now there is almost nothing. We also visited the ruins of the Basilica of St. John. At one point this would have been one of the largest churches in the world. I think it was an earthquake that brought it down.
That evening we washed up, took a little nap, and had dinner with the other pension guests. We met another Canadian, two brits, and a French guy. The dinner was a delicious home cooked Turkish meal- much better than the food in Istanbul. We were still feeling the effects of being up all night from the Turkish delight so we went to bed early.
2am, laying in bed staring at the ceiling, can't sleep. Don't wake Amber.
Amber moves around.
"are you awake."
"yes, I can't get to sleep. You?"
"can't sleep either."
So apparently Turkish delight has some caffeine in it. We think there may have been an espresso bean one in the mix. Whatever it was, it sucked. We didnt get to sleep until after 3. The 5am alarm came awful early.
Anyway, Friday was a half travel day. Shuttle trip to the airport, flight to Izmir, shuttle to bus station, bus to Selcuk. Around noon, we arrive in Selcuk and check into the hostel, Homero's Pension. We get an over decorated room with three single beds (grrr) a shower, bathroom, and ac.
At around 2 we head out to the ruins of Ephesus. It was a nice 35 minute walk (probably 45 minutes for people who don't have to keep up with Amber). We could have easily grabbed a shuttle but we thought the walk would help us wake up. I think it helped but we were still super groggy.
The ruins were pretty amazing. It started off a little slow but after seeing so many ruins and imaging the city at it's peak, I was impressed. We saw the ruins of a church dedicated to the Virgin May, who lived there after Jesus' death. We saw the stadium where the disciple John gave a speech against worshiping the roman gods. We saw the library, baths, marble streets, and all kinds of things I can't remember right now. After at least 2 hours we started to run low on fuel. The ruins are about 3Km long. We walked 3Km to get there and another 3Km to get home.
On the walk home we stopped at the site of the temple of Artemis. There wasn't much left of the temple. The marble had been "recycled" for use in other monuments. The most amazing part was the fact that one of the most impressive buildings in the world once stood there and now there is almost nothing. We also visited the ruins of the Basilica of St. John. At one point this would have been one of the largest churches in the world. I think it was an earthquake that brought it down.
That evening we washed up, took a little nap, and had dinner with the other pension guests. We met another Canadian, two brits, and a French guy. The dinner was a delicious home cooked Turkish meal- much better than the food in Istanbul. We were still feeling the effects of being up all night from the Turkish delight so we went to bed early.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Thursday we slept in! We almost missed breakfast but it was nice to sleep over 8 hours without interruption.
We decided to fly early Friday morning to spend more time on the coast and less in a city. We are looking and ready for adventure involving the outdoors! We cancelled our bus tickets and got a refund as the guy promised. That easy!
We reserved airplane tickets for 8:30 arriving at 9:30am to Izmir. Then we will have the day in Ephesus. We also found a mom and pop hotel there.
We then had a late lunch of pizza and Fanta at Rumist. It was nice to know we'd like the food! The younger guy was pretty entertaining in his schtick to corral customers. Of course it didn't really work but was fun people watching.
It was much later in the day at this point but nice to have a more leisurely paced day. We hiked over to the entrance of Topkapi Palace. There were 4 courts plus a harem so 2.5 hours was barely enough even rushing. The artwork of every room, wall, ceiling and so on was stunning! I really can't describe it because it truly takes your breath away time and time again. I hope to go back and post pictures on this blog once we are home so you readers might somewhat understand what we've seen. Spectacular architecture and artistry!!
From there an ice cold slushy and stroll down the cobblestones brought us to our next event; folk music. We shared a half carat of wine and listened to a 4 piece group having fun jamming. (violin, oud, cembalon, and a drum that looked like a handdrum or half a bongo.)
We were then moved in to the official show. We had veggie casserole and veggie curry before three new musicians came and took their place. (oud, special type of flute played like a recorder but a bit sideways, and another drum that looked like a bodhran but wasn't because we are in Turkey, not Ireland, and it had some big cymbals around it)
They performed for a bit and one guy sang a little too. They were very good! We were the closest table to the musicians so I tried to look for indiscrepancies and suspect the oud player was sitting in on the gig- still very good!
Out came the whirling dervishes. This is a religious ceremony but not as common as it used to be so I believe this is put on merely for tourists. Normally you shouldn't talk, take pictures or clap but people did all three making it far less authentic. It was still very interesting to watch. It went on for at least 45 minutes. We had the idea after about 10... Lots of walking, bowing and twirling. It was amazing they didn't get dizzy. The flowing skirts looked like fun and I wanted to join in. (I was a twirler on the kitchen floor growing up. I probably drove my mom nuts.)
Finally the guys that played earlier came to the stage for a few jams. A girl got called up to dance with the oud player and I was pulled up by the violin player. I should have tried to take his bow and help him play, though he probably would have been confused and then shocked. The group then went table to table playing for tips. It was a little awkward how they forced the tip giving but some musicians have no shame. We also watched a Japanese guy get yelled at who snuck into the show- amusing but an atmosphere kill.
Lastly, before returning to "home" to crash before our big transit day we stopped and purchased some Turkish Delight! We tried many flavors. The nut and pistachio topped delights were good but Steve and I liked the plain pink one the best! Mmmm sugar. And yet another childhood dream fulfilled. Check.
We decided to fly early Friday morning to spend more time on the coast and less in a city. We are looking and ready for adventure involving the outdoors! We cancelled our bus tickets and got a refund as the guy promised. That easy!
We reserved airplane tickets for 8:30 arriving at 9:30am to Izmir. Then we will have the day in Ephesus. We also found a mom and pop hotel there.
We then had a late lunch of pizza and Fanta at Rumist. It was nice to know we'd like the food! The younger guy was pretty entertaining in his schtick to corral customers. Of course it didn't really work but was fun people watching.
It was much later in the day at this point but nice to have a more leisurely paced day. We hiked over to the entrance of Topkapi Palace. There were 4 courts plus a harem so 2.5 hours was barely enough even rushing. The artwork of every room, wall, ceiling and so on was stunning! I really can't describe it because it truly takes your breath away time and time again. I hope to go back and post pictures on this blog once we are home so you readers might somewhat understand what we've seen. Spectacular architecture and artistry!!
From there an ice cold slushy and stroll down the cobblestones brought us to our next event; folk music. We shared a half carat of wine and listened to a 4 piece group having fun jamming. (violin, oud, cembalon, and a drum that looked like a handdrum or half a bongo.)
We were then moved in to the official show. We had veggie casserole and veggie curry before three new musicians came and took their place. (oud, special type of flute played like a recorder but a bit sideways, and another drum that looked like a bodhran but wasn't because we are in Turkey, not Ireland, and it had some big cymbals around it)
They performed for a bit and one guy sang a little too. They were very good! We were the closest table to the musicians so I tried to look for indiscrepancies and suspect the oud player was sitting in on the gig- still very good!
Out came the whirling dervishes. This is a religious ceremony but not as common as it used to be so I believe this is put on merely for tourists. Normally you shouldn't talk, take pictures or clap but people did all three making it far less authentic. It was still very interesting to watch. It went on for at least 45 minutes. We had the idea after about 10... Lots of walking, bowing and twirling. It was amazing they didn't get dizzy. The flowing skirts looked like fun and I wanted to join in. (I was a twirler on the kitchen floor growing up. I probably drove my mom nuts.)
Finally the guys that played earlier came to the stage for a few jams. A girl got called up to dance with the oud player and I was pulled up by the violin player. I should have tried to take his bow and help him play, though he probably would have been confused and then shocked. The group then went table to table playing for tips. It was a little awkward how they forced the tip giving but some musicians have no shame. We also watched a Japanese guy get yelled at who snuck into the show- amusing but an atmosphere kill.
Lastly, before returning to "home" to crash before our big transit day we stopped and purchased some Turkish Delight! We tried many flavors. The nut and pistachio topped delights were good but Steve and I liked the plain pink one the best! Mmmm sugar. And yet another childhood dream fulfilled. Check.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
This really all happened in one day!?
For as great as our first day was, our second was a bit less wonderful. I guess I shouldn't complain too much as most of the morning/early afternoon we saw and did a lot. It was the latter half that was less than ideal...
Yesterday we arose early (maybe getting a total of 6 hours of sleep) and went to our first breakfast at Hotel Uyan. It was interesting... breads, sweets, coffee, Turkish tea, and then hard cheeses, weird meats, olives and cucumbers. These things are standard and I'm not used to eating them for breakfast though Steve seems to be enjoying the olives!
Steve's bag arrived but mine still hadn't and they thought it would be 9pm or 10pm before it would... (not great) Our adventures that day then included finding underwear, socks and a t-shirt for me. (We had success!)
Our first adventure was getting Turkish Liras out of the ATM and going to Aya Sofya, a museum, formerly a church/museum. It was HUGE. We split a tour guide with another older couple from Canada. Steve was nervous about me saying we were from Canada because he realized they were too and then we had to try and fake that we knew more about it and make up more stuff than we anticipated. Whatever. It was kind of fun! They were from Toronto and we were from Alberta. Yeah, I know it's not a city.
The tour guide was good and we learned a lot about the history of the place and how it had bits from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Pagan traditions. At different points in history these traditions were literally plastered over to be discovered centuries down the road.
After that we had time to hike over to the Grand Bazaar. If you know Steve and me, you know we're not that in to shopping or crowds or people we don't know. That said, we experienced it and all the shops packed into a small area. They actually had store fronts but it was so enclosed and packed in, it felt like a cave. We fought crowds even though it was a Wednesday afternoon. I'd hate to be there on a weekend or holiday! We made a deal with a guy on some beautiful scarves though in hindsight after talking him down, he still made off with a great sale. We found my necessary garments so I didn't have to wear my same outfit for the second half of day 3. Yeah, the pictures are going to look like my first day was a LONG one.
We then were tired and ready for some food but not ready to eat Turkish and went to an Indian restaurant, Dubb, to play it safe. It was decent and we were at least full.
On our way back to the hotel we stopped and toured the Cistern Basilica which is an ENORMOUS underground pool that served as an aquaduct waaay back in the day and only discovered more recently. Can you imagine being the person who discovered this 350+ pillar filled cavern (complete with two Medusa heads)? Spooky. (They did play spooky music and underlight the pillars for added affect. :))
At that point we finished a whole lot more in the first part of the day than we anticipated and went back to the hotel. I fell asleep and took too long of a nap which only made me more groggy. I don't know why I get so tired around 2pm here because that's our normal 9am when I should be wide awake!
I then doned my new attire (complete with a scarf to cover my head and shoulders in the mosque) and we walked over to the impressive Blue Mosque that was out our window the first day. (I also need to comment on our new room. IT IS TINY. There is a bathroom, bed and night stand and that's it. There's enough room for one person to turn around. We are very lucky we were given that HUGE suite the first night for the same price. They don't compare at all!
The Blue Mosque was big but not as big as it appears from the outside. I guess there are many other add-ons that are not a part of the main room. We took our shoes off and I covered my head. They weren't in one of the official 5 prayers of the day (dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, dusk and evening) or we wouldn't have been able to go in. It was still interesting to see a few people worship. The women always have places to be, stand or worship in a back sectioned-off area. I find this a little annoying/degrading but I won't go there right now. It's a different culture and faith, definitely not reflecting my ideals.
From there we wandered through more open markets with less people and enjoyed window shopping. The merchants didn't bother us too much. I think they could see in our eyes that we really didn't want to be approached. It gets old FAST.
We did have our first experience Turkish rug shopping. We just wanted to get an idea how expensive the rugs really are (and they are!) but this young man took us into a room, gave us Turkish tea ("It's the culture" as he said) and showed us lots of BEAUTIFUL rugs. Some are wool on cotton, wool on wool, silk on wool and silk on silk (holy money on those!). We learned a lot about how to identify the different levels and qualities of what makes a rug finer than the next. It was cool to learn about! We left and are debating if we will go back and barter.
On another meander back to the hotel/in search of dinner we were stopped by the guy outside the restaurant Murama (something like that). He promised us vegetarian though it didn't say they had it on the menu. Steve seemed into it because of the view (and I agree it was good- though skeptical about this "amazing vegetarian plate"). I also was hoping to find traditional Turkish folk music while we ate. (We did find it in the end for Thursday night (tonight!)) The waiter didn't seem to have much to offer in the way of anything but eggplant and I'm back to zero with that vegetable after two nights ago. Steve was a good sport and we ordered 4 small plates to share (all vegetarian). Without going into detail of what they were, they weren't that good. I guess I'm too darn picky or just not into traditional Turkish food.
The bill came and there was a 20 TL plate. I asked the waiter what that was as all our plates were small. He said it was the special one. (The one I REALLY didn't like.) I said ok and we paid our bill. Not feeling good about this one on the way out I looked at a menu and told the street guy that it wasn't that great. I asked him why a plate listed at 7 TL would have cost us 20 TL!? He took me back inside and soon we had the owner and about 4 waitstaff surrounding us. Our waiter finally came by and I explained exactly what we ate and why that item wasn't what we ate. He seemed nervous but I was PISSED that he had indeed ripped us off. They ended up refunding us some money but I still don't think it was enough. I mostly wanted to let them know that sort of CRAP was not ok. From here on out, I've got my game face on and I will trust no one. I'm tall and white but will put up a good fight. :)
Steve and I then looked into having some help from a travel guide. I don't think the guy was ready for my attitude from the beginning but I'm REALLY sick of people pushing things on us and telling us it's a good deal. I will decide that myself when it actually IS a good deal. Jury is still out on whether we'll have this guy help us or find our own way to our next city.
Lastly before crashing around 1am (not going to sleep at 10pm probably helped us sleep through the night) we went up to a rooftop bar in the Seven Hills Hotel. It is right next door and reaches so high into the sky. The view was spectacular but of course we didn't bring a camera. Steve tried Raki (traditional drink) and it was a lot like intense black licorice. I just had a dark local beer. We enjoyed the night (not the smoke). Apparently I'm hypersensitive to smoke and gross smells after leaving lovely Madison. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. :)
Oh and the seagulls flying in the spotlights of the minarets of the Blue Mosque were spooky awesome. As Steve said, it reminded him of the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz and he was spot on. Dun da dun da dunnn da DAAAAAAAAA!!!
Yesterday we arose early (maybe getting a total of 6 hours of sleep) and went to our first breakfast at Hotel Uyan. It was interesting... breads, sweets, coffee, Turkish tea, and then hard cheeses, weird meats, olives and cucumbers. These things are standard and I'm not used to eating them for breakfast though Steve seems to be enjoying the olives!
Steve's bag arrived but mine still hadn't and they thought it would be 9pm or 10pm before it would... (not great) Our adventures that day then included finding underwear, socks and a t-shirt for me. (We had success!)
Our first adventure was getting Turkish Liras out of the ATM and going to Aya Sofya, a museum, formerly a church/museum. It was HUGE. We split a tour guide with another older couple from Canada. Steve was nervous about me saying we were from Canada because he realized they were too and then we had to try and fake that we knew more about it and make up more stuff than we anticipated. Whatever. It was kind of fun! They were from Toronto and we were from Alberta. Yeah, I know it's not a city.
The tour guide was good and we learned a lot about the history of the place and how it had bits from Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Pagan traditions. At different points in history these traditions were literally plastered over to be discovered centuries down the road.
After that we had time to hike over to the Grand Bazaar. If you know Steve and me, you know we're not that in to shopping or crowds or people we don't know. That said, we experienced it and all the shops packed into a small area. They actually had store fronts but it was so enclosed and packed in, it felt like a cave. We fought crowds even though it was a Wednesday afternoon. I'd hate to be there on a weekend or holiday! We made a deal with a guy on some beautiful scarves though in hindsight after talking him down, he still made off with a great sale. We found my necessary garments so I didn't have to wear my same outfit for the second half of day 3. Yeah, the pictures are going to look like my first day was a LONG one.
We then were tired and ready for some food but not ready to eat Turkish and went to an Indian restaurant, Dubb, to play it safe. It was decent and we were at least full.
On our way back to the hotel we stopped and toured the Cistern Basilica which is an ENORMOUS underground pool that served as an aquaduct waaay back in the day and only discovered more recently. Can you imagine being the person who discovered this 350+ pillar filled cavern (complete with two Medusa heads)? Spooky. (They did play spooky music and underlight the pillars for added affect. :))
At that point we finished a whole lot more in the first part of the day than we anticipated and went back to the hotel. I fell asleep and took too long of a nap which only made me more groggy. I don't know why I get so tired around 2pm here because that's our normal 9am when I should be wide awake!
I then doned my new attire (complete with a scarf to cover my head and shoulders in the mosque) and we walked over to the impressive Blue Mosque that was out our window the first day. (I also need to comment on our new room. IT IS TINY. There is a bathroom, bed and night stand and that's it. There's enough room for one person to turn around. We are very lucky we were given that HUGE suite the first night for the same price. They don't compare at all!
The Blue Mosque was big but not as big as it appears from the outside. I guess there are many other add-ons that are not a part of the main room. We took our shoes off and I covered my head. They weren't in one of the official 5 prayers of the day (dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, dusk and evening) or we wouldn't have been able to go in. It was still interesting to see a few people worship. The women always have places to be, stand or worship in a back sectioned-off area. I find this a little annoying/degrading but I won't go there right now. It's a different culture and faith, definitely not reflecting my ideals.
From there we wandered through more open markets with less people and enjoyed window shopping. The merchants didn't bother us too much. I think they could see in our eyes that we really didn't want to be approached. It gets old FAST.
We did have our first experience Turkish rug shopping. We just wanted to get an idea how expensive the rugs really are (and they are!) but this young man took us into a room, gave us Turkish tea ("It's the culture" as he said) and showed us lots of BEAUTIFUL rugs. Some are wool on cotton, wool on wool, silk on wool and silk on silk (holy money on those!). We learned a lot about how to identify the different levels and qualities of what makes a rug finer than the next. It was cool to learn about! We left and are debating if we will go back and barter.
On another meander back to the hotel/in search of dinner we were stopped by the guy outside the restaurant Murama (something like that). He promised us vegetarian though it didn't say they had it on the menu. Steve seemed into it because of the view (and I agree it was good- though skeptical about this "amazing vegetarian plate"). I also was hoping to find traditional Turkish folk music while we ate. (We did find it in the end for Thursday night (tonight!)) The waiter didn't seem to have much to offer in the way of anything but eggplant and I'm back to zero with that vegetable after two nights ago. Steve was a good sport and we ordered 4 small plates to share (all vegetarian). Without going into detail of what they were, they weren't that good. I guess I'm too darn picky or just not into traditional Turkish food.
The bill came and there was a 20 TL plate. I asked the waiter what that was as all our plates were small. He said it was the special one. (The one I REALLY didn't like.) I said ok and we paid our bill. Not feeling good about this one on the way out I looked at a menu and told the street guy that it wasn't that great. I asked him why a plate listed at 7 TL would have cost us 20 TL!? He took me back inside and soon we had the owner and about 4 waitstaff surrounding us. Our waiter finally came by and I explained exactly what we ate and why that item wasn't what we ate. He seemed nervous but I was PISSED that he had indeed ripped us off. They ended up refunding us some money but I still don't think it was enough. I mostly wanted to let them know that sort of CRAP was not ok. From here on out, I've got my game face on and I will trust no one. I'm tall and white but will put up a good fight. :)
Steve and I then looked into having some help from a travel guide. I don't think the guy was ready for my attitude from the beginning but I'm REALLY sick of people pushing things on us and telling us it's a good deal. I will decide that myself when it actually IS a good deal. Jury is still out on whether we'll have this guy help us or find our own way to our next city.
Lastly before crashing around 1am (not going to sleep at 10pm probably helped us sleep through the night) we went up to a rooftop bar in the Seven Hills Hotel. It is right next door and reaches so high into the sky. The view was spectacular but of course we didn't bring a camera. Steve tried Raki (traditional drink) and it was a lot like intense black licorice. I just had a dark local beer. We enjoyed the night (not the smoke). Apparently I'm hypersensitive to smoke and gross smells after leaving lovely Madison. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. :)
Oh and the seagulls flying in the spotlights of the minarets of the Blue Mosque were spooky awesome. As Steve said, it reminded him of the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz and he was spot on. Dun da dun da dunnn da DAAAAAAAAA!!!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
I think it is almost 3am here...
And I'm wide awake...
Yesterday (as in two days ago) we got packed, rode the bus to Chicago with Claire (headed to Mexico at the same time!), barely made it onto the plane (busy airport and Steve didn't technically have a seat!), flew 8 hours to Munich, flew 3 hours to Istanbul, had luggage not arrive, shuttled to our hotel, rested, went exploring on foot, found a cafe for dinner, could barely keep our eyes open, and crashed into bed by 9:59pm!! We were trying to hold out until 10 pm. Four hours later I'm wide awake despite my previous exhaustion and thinking I'd get more than 4-6 hours for the first time since the week before the wedding! Meh. I was wrong!
My first impressions are these: the city is beautiful. It is crowded as any city is but its tiny winding streets aren't filled with hoards of tourists, just a handful of local merchants and couples of foreigners. There are rose bushes everywhere and flowers. Driving on the main highways there was so much color in the medians and fancy patterns loaded with annuals. The city besides the parks are very clean. I can't really understand just how old some of the buildings and streets are compared to anything I've seen in the US but try to absorb the incredibleness of it as best I can. The mosques are grandiose and the presence of the big ones a bit surreal. The food (as in our dinner- I definitely enjoyed the Rittersport and Haribo picked up in Munich) has been not that impressive. I got a veggie kabob (pretty bland and too smoked out) and Steve got a meat thing that was too chewy and fatty. The poofy bread (technical term:)) that comes with yogurt dill sauce was great though!
For such a busy city you hear individual interactions of the streets but not cars driving on the cobblestone streets too often. I definitely never thought Istanbul would be a peaceful stay but it's fairly quiet and dead silent now in the middle of the night. I think it's time for me to try to sleep a bit more.
I should also mention our room has a great view of the big blue mosque, sea and streets. We even have an adorable balcony to sit on and take it all in. (one of those you see in European movies!) Our extravagant lifestyle will take a step back tomorrow when we head back to the room we actually booked. They upgraded us to their best suite upon arrival; a nice change of luck considering we are still wondering when our bags will arrive.
LOVE this city! (no ya can't go back to Constantinople!)
Goodnight part two.
Hotel: Hotel Uvay
Restaurant for dinner: Cafe Kosh
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