Part 24: Spring Break Episode 2: Maybe you two? Maybe not. April 8-10, 2012

In spite of the train being an hour late to Plovidv, we arrived in Istanbul at 5:45 am.  That is 2 hours and 15 minutes ahead of schedule.  It is also a time when nothing is open and you can’t really check in to your accommodations.  So, we headed out, with J in tow, to the general area of our hostel:  across the Golden Horn, near Taksim square.  As we walked, it was getting lighter, and by the time we were crossing the bridge, we could see pretty well.  Well, most of us, anyway.

The fishermen were starting to cast and one had a line with several hooks laid across the sidewalk.  He and his partner picked it up high and Q, T, and I ducked under.  J had stopped to take a picture and was not really paying attention.  He ended up with a hook in his eyebrow.  Oops.  Luckily, he was fine, so we continued on.  We climbed a giant hill and turned down the road we were pretty sure our hostel was on.  We found #30, but there was no sign and no answer when we rung the bell.  So, we did what all self-sufficient, early rising Americans do:  we found a Starbucks.  I don’t think any of us are that dedicated to the coffee monster, but there was one on the corner and it was open, so we hung out there until we could drop our stuff at our hostel and J went to find a place to stay. 

Then began the oddest  check-in experience I have ever had.  As the owner is finding our reservation, he asks for our passports and looks at Q and T and says, “Ah, and you must be brother and sister.”  They said they were college friends and he says, “ooohhhh, friends.” Then he says that (in spite of the fact that we booked 3 people in a 4 person room) we would be in a double room and then one person would have to sleep upstairs in another room.  He looks at me and T.  “Maybe you two?.....  Maybe not.”  Um, yes, us two.  As it turns out, that was just the beginning of people trying to figure us out, but more on that later.

We left the hostel and met back up with J, who had met two people that go to his university in England.   We made a brief stop at the Galata Tower, and after deciding that 15 lira was way too much to make a trip up to the top worth it, started out towards the Hagia Sophia. 

There was a huge line to the Hagia Sophia, so D and C decided to do their own thing.  However, the line took less than 20 minutes and then we were inside this amazing building.  For the historical details, check out my other posts on Istanbul. 

We looked around, read our Rick Steves guide book and basked in the general splendor.  We also looked really, really, bad (having passed the 24 hour without a shower mark).  I did learn something new.  According to Rick Steves, the lettering above the Empress Zoe’s husband’s head is messy because she had so many husbands that the artists just started scraping the old name off and putting the new one on rather than changing the whole picture. 

After the Hagia Sophia, we grabbed some lunch at Doy Doy.  It has a rooftop terrace with a great view of the Blue Mosque.  Then, we went to the Basilica Cisterns.  Still very cool.  After all this, we were done.  We headed back to our hostel to shower and take a nap. 

After showering, I get a text message from J, saying he couldn’t find his hostel.  So, he came by, google-mapped it, and headed out again.  Then, he came back.  He was still lost (and J, if you’re reading this we don’t think you’re slow in the head, we just think you were sleep-deprived like the rest of us).  At that point, we had Q take him home.  It wasn’t all bad, since Q did get ice cream out of it.  Around 5, after J had been dropped off, we fell asleep for our naps and we woke up when Q came down around…. 10 pm.  Whoops.  So much for dinner and going out with J, D, and C.  I just put my pajamas on and went back to sleep.

The next morning it was cold and rainy.  I had my raincoat and T had her warm fleece, but Q had his sweatshirt, because (even though his dad had “told him so”), he was apparently I denial about actual weather conditions, so he had 1 sweatshirt and one pair of genes.  Needless to say, he got a little wet.  They eventually bought a high quality 5 lira umbrella, so they were a little drier. 

We were intending to go to the Grand Bazaar, but we got lost.  It worked out since we got lost at the Spice Bazaar, which I hadn’t been to before.  It smelled amazing in there and there were so many colors.  I bought some dried strawberries (which are delicious, if you’ve never had them) from a guy who asked Q “which one was his,” because “two is too many for one man.”  Right. 

Anyway, after drying out in the Spice Bazaar, we continued our quest for the Grand Bazaar.  We found it and headed in to the massive maze.  T and I both bought a scarf, which we were glad for later since it was cold!  While at the Bazaar we were solicited by shopkeepers in English, Hindi, and at least one other language, which is pretty amazing.  We left the Bazaar (Q stopped to pet another cat) and made our way toward Topkapi Palace, with a quick stop at McDonalds for food. 

We found J at Topkapi and looked around with him a little bit, before he headed off for the Bazaar.  We looked around the courtyards and read about them from Rick Steves.  Then, I stood in line for harem tickets while Q and T took in the armory.  We then went through the harem and the inner most courtyard.  The palace closed sort of early that day, so we had time to go through the Blue Mosque.  It is still big and impressive. 

Then we did some more shopping.  We went to Mahmet’s store and I got some pillow covers (and a free candle holder for being a repeat customer) and Q found a really nice painting.  Then we walked a lot.  We walked along the sea of Mamara.   A restaurant guy even tried to get us to eat “aqui.”  Apparently, in his attempt to explain our unusual group, he decided Spanish was his best bet.  Then we walked through town all the way to the Roman aqueduct. 

The Aqueduct of Valens was built in 368 AD and is 921 meters long.  It supplied water to Constantinople, including the Basilica Cisterns.  After the fall of Constantinople, several sultans kept the aqueduct functioning, as it supplied water to their palaces. 

Finally, we walked back across the Golden Horn and up the hill to our hostel.  After nearly dying trying to cross a road, we made it back to our hostel.  We took a brief rest and then we found a place to eat dinner and got some ice cream on our way back. 

The next morning, we got up and went for a walk along the Bosphorus.  I wanted to copy a picture I’d seen on a poster in our hostel of the mosque near Dolmabache Palace.  So, we walked down, I got my picture and we looked at the outside of the palace (the line was way too long to go in).  We went down to a side gate as well and got there just in time to see a bunch of women from a tour bus manhandling the attractive and armed guard to get him in their pictures.  It was a little weird. 

We then walked back up to get our bags, stopping for some last minute food and shopping before going to Taksim square to catch the airport shuttle.  And so ends Istanbul. 

Next time:  Athens!