And so much cooler than Egypt. The breeze off the Bosphorus was refreshing with the tang of salt air. And there were no protests in sight. Just lots of cats.
We stayed in Sultanamet, in the shadow of the blue mosque. Muezzin calls woke us up in the early morning, and serenaded us during dinner. These guys do not have the same talent as at the Grand Mosque. The singing could be a little grating, and in fact, Turks and tourists have complained about it. When you can hear shrill voices coming from minarets all over the city, and none of them sound good, well, it’s worse than being at a Slipknot concert.
However, our hotel was wonderful, and we were a short walk away from the stunning Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Castle, and the sea.
The Hagia Sophia is a gorgeous mishmash of religions and architecture, and duly famous for its glittering byzantine mosaics. We were also enamored of the marble veneer on the walls. So cool.
We had the best of fortune to be in Instanbul with Matt and Lee (from our Egypt adventure!). We met for dinner and talked about how very lucky we were to have been able to 1) meet each other 2) see Egypt. We will meet again!
For some reason, the crafts in Turkey were especially appealing, and we found ourselves coveting carpets,spices, and tiles. It was very difficult to resist- those carpet salesmen are very persuasive. But, man, it would have been hard to carry. So we settled on a few pillow covers. Yes, we’re suckers.
While at the Blue Mosque, I saw a woman trying to take a self portrait with her ipad, and so I offered to take it for her (one’s arms are only so long, and it’s awkward to take a selfie with an ipad) Perfect, because then she could take one of me! We started chatting, and it turns out she’s from one of our favorite places in the world- Cape Town! Karin had been traveling with her daughter, Daniella, and we dragged her along to the palace, and then we all went to dinner that evening. They were just finishing up their 6 months in Europe, getting ready to head back to South Africa. We will see them again, too!
Although it was not on our list of things to do in Istanbul, we decided to try a turkish bath. We went to to the Suleymayan hamam, a very old bath house.
After checking in and donning our hamam-issued swimwear, we headed in to the bath, a beautiful marble room, heated to around 100. We lounged on the marble platform until our attendants came in. They sat us down, doused us with water, and started scrubbing with loofahs. Did I mention they were 23 year old men? It was fun.
After the scrub, we laid on marble slabs, and they poured foamy, bubbly soap on us. A quick massage, more rinsing, and then they washed our hair for us.
A few more minutes on the heated platform, and we were as relaxed as could be.
Turkish food is fresh: grilled meat, simple salads, grilled fish sandwiches with pickle, cheese, honey, olives. Fantastic.
Our last meal in town was at a restaurant down the street from our hotel, and we had a blast- the chef was drinking raki, and so was the staff. We laughed with the other guests, feasted on garlic shrimp, and said goodbye to a sparkling, glowing, wonderful city.
accidental nomads 