Istanbul, Turkey

I will start off by saying that I really did not know what to expect from Turkey. I had heard there were some beautiful historical places, but that it would be a bit scary for girls, especially blonde blue-eyed girls like me, to walk around the city of Istanbul. I was actually pleasantly surprised by my experience in Turkey, and it is a place I would love to go again!

We spent our first day in Istanbul at the Spice Markets and the Grand Bazaar. The Spice Market is full of vendors selling all different spices, tea, and Turkish delight candy. It was really fun to just wander around looking at everything. The shop owners are constantly trying to get you to come in their stores and try their Turkish delight or their apple tea (which Turkey is famous for). It’s a little hectic but it’s a very fun experience to shop in the markets. After a few hours there, we headed to the Grand Bazaar to do some more shopping. The Grand Bazaar is a huge area that is full of all different types of vendors selling everything you could possibly imagine: leather, pottery, jewelry, purses, scarves, shoes, and so much more. As you walk around and start looking at things, you start figuring out what kind of prices you should be paying and there is lots of bartering involved when you buy something. For example, I wanted to buy two scarves and the vendor told me that they were 30 Lira each. That is way too much to pay for a scarf, so I told him I would pay 10 Lira for each scarf. He laughed and told me they were “good quality” so that was too little to pay, so I told him I didn’t want them anymore. Of course he wanted my business so he followed me as I walked away and told me I could have them for the price I wanted. (Each time I bartered I got better at it, and by the time we got to Morocco I was getting things for ridiculously low prices!) So the Grand Bazaar was really fun and just awesome to see. After shopping, we headed back to the ship to get ready for the night. I had a field trip for my history class to see a Sufi Dervish show (also called Whirling dervishes). It was so interesting to see…basically these dervishes spin in circles very elegantly for about 30 minutes while music is being played. It is a religious act and a way for Muslims to communicate with Allah. The show was like nothing I have seen before, and it was really cool to get an inside look to the Muslim culture. After the show, we found a Hookah bar that was along a big bridge that connected two sides of Istanbul and had drinks and Hookah with about 20 other Semester at Sea people.

The next day, we decided to take a ferry across the bay to the other side of Istanbul, which is considered to be in Asia. (We all thought it would be fun to say we went to Asia also!) It was really nothing very exciting but we did find a great place to have lunch. After our little trip to Asia, we went to the Turkish Baths. I had heard from many people that I absolutely had to go to the Turkish bath, so my friends and I decided to try it out. We found one that came highly recommended, but had no idea what to expect. After we paid for the bath, they instructed us to go upstairs, where we were given a locker to put our clothes in and a pair of new underwear to put on. At first we were all a little self-conscience walking around in our underwear, but there were at least 50 other women there doing the same thing so we just got used to it. Once we were undressed, they sent us into the “bath room” where Turkish women who worked there instructed us to lay down on our towels on this huge stone slab in the middle of the room. The room was steaming, much like a sauna. There were women lying all over the stone getting scrubbed by the women who worked there. When my turn came, the woman came up to me and dumped a huge bucket of water over my head. I had no idea what to expect, so I just relaxed and went with it. She then started scrubbing me from head to toe with soap and some sort of scrub brush. After that, she brought me into a side room where she dumped more water over my head and then washed my hair. Next, she sent me to the pools, where we could sit in the hot water or the cold water for as long as we pleased. I spent a good amount of time just relaxing there, and then went back inside to get a massage. The massage was amazing- definitely the highlight of my Turkish bath experience. Once we were all finished, we showered and got dressed. It was definitely like nothing I have ever done before, but I would love to go again! The Turkish baths were quite an experience! After the baths, we went back to the ship and then went to an area called Taxim Square that is known to have a fun nightlife.

Our third day, we spent hours and hours walking around two beautiful sights in Istanbul: the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The Hagia Sophia was absolutely beautiful. It was built in 537 and started out as a Byzantine Church. The church was later converted to a Mosque when the Muslims came to power, but amazingly enough, many features of the church are still there. They had beautiful mosaics of Christ and Mary in the upstairs area that has been there for hundreds of years. I loved seeing that! After the Hagia Sophia, we went to visit the Blue Mosque. It was really amazing to be able to actually step inside and see what it is like to be Muslim and to see how they worship. We had to take our shoes off, cover our arms and legs, and wear a scarf to cover our hair. Once we were inside, we just spent a lot of time watching the people pray. It was very intriguing because of how different a mosque works than a church.

On the fourth day, I went to the Topkapi Palace with two friends. The Topkapi palace was the home to the Sultans during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. It was absolutely beautiful. I really can’t describe it, so I will put pictures up when I get a chance. I think it was my favorite site in Istanbul though!

The last day in Istanbul, I went back to the Spice Markets to do some last minute shopping. I bought lots of apple tea and a type of tea called love tea. I also bought Turkish delight (lots to share too!) and a really neat tea set. I was sad to leave Istanbul after having such an amazing time. It was just so different than every other place I had seen on this trip. I will definitely go back again someday!

Also, I forgot to mention earlier that Ramadan began while we were in Turkey. Because Turkey is a primarily Muslim country, there would be broadcasts at certain times throughout the day that could be heard all over the city. These broadcasts were calls to prayer, and Muslims were to go to a mosque or even stay where they were sometimes, and pray. During Ramadan, Muslims fast all day and cannot eat until the sun sets at night. This goes on for an entire month. Being in a Muslim country during such an important religious holiday was a great experience that I really learned a lot from.