Archive for September 5th, 2011

We were incredibly lucky because some good friends of ours happened to be in Istanbul at the same time as us.  We only heard about this shortly before we arrived, but were able to meet up.  They took us out for a really nice dinner and then we enjoyed walking around the area of Ramadan festivities and having some delicious baklava for dessert.  It is always so nice to see a familiar face when we’re traveling and this was a really beautiful evening.

Wendy and David and Me near the Blue Mosque after sundown

The culture in Istanbul is a very interesting mix resulting from a blend of two cultures: Ottoman and Roman. It was the capital of each empire for a time, and absorbed a lot from both cultures. While we were visiting, we got to experience a side of Istanbul that is unusual for us as we came from predominantly Christian areas of the US: Ramadan.

Blue Mosque

Spice Bazaar

One of the greatest things to do in Istanbul is to go shopping. The city that bridges Asia and Europe has a reputation for bazaars all around the city where you can purchase anything you can imagine for incredibly little money – provided that you can bargain successfully with professionals.
The first place we went shopping in Istanbul was the famous Spice Bazaar. Here since at least 1597 people have bought and sold their spices from around the world. There are your normal spices: saffron, curry, chili…

Spices For Sale

(more…)

Outside the Blue Mosque

Our first stop in Istanbul after a nice breakfast was the famous Blue Mosque. It is called the Blue Mosque because of the incredible mosaics which cover the interior. This building is enormous and absolutely stunning. I had not been inside a mosque before, and was not to sure what to expect. However, they are very used to tourists and it even provided nice cloths to cover up with in order to be appropriately dressed. This was lucky for me since my outfit that day didn’t cover my shoulders! Sorry I look so tired in this picture!

In front of one of the giant pillars in the mosque

(more…)

We weren’t able to get a seat on the overnight train from Sofia to Istanbul, so we decided to try the overnight bus. We had read on the internet that many people prefer the bus anyway, and the bus we went for (Metro) was supposed to be pretty nice. Turns out we had been completely spoiled as far as buses go by the deluxe buses in South America. The timing of the trip also turned out to be pretty awful.

We left Sofia at something like 11:45 pm, and tried to get some sleep. Around 1:30 am we pulled into the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. About two hours later we finished all the border business and were able to get back on the bus. We fought to get back to sleep, but had a pretty restless trip and arrived in Istanbul shortly after sunrise at 6:30 am. Of course, this was way too early to check into our hostel and we were exhausted from a very disturbed night and had a pretty daunting task ahead of us in navigating a new, huge, chaotic city to navigate.

We were saved by a very kind local who had been on the bus with us. He saw that we were looking a bit lost and not only explained how to get where we were going, but walked us to the correct tram, and insisted on buying our ticket so that we didn’t have to use the bus station ATM. This immediately put us in a state of mind to love Istanbul, and we were not at all disappointed. We made it to our hostel after a fairly long, but very scenic tram ride and a short walk, dropped off our bags and headed back out into the city for a few hours until it was late enough to check in.

Don’t get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the bus (except that the entertainment system they advertised didn’t work), but it was nothing like the overnight buses we got used to in South America. Those have big, comfortable seats, movies, snacks, and a fairly quiet, undisturbed night. In fact, those you can count as a night saved on accommodation. This experience was much more like staying up all night traveling, but missing all of the scenery.

All I can say is that the bacon I had at our pricey breakfast near the Blue Mosque while we were hanging out waiting to check in to the hostel was one of the best things I have ever tasted.

Istanbul in the early morning

Not so much to note about this one.  In our walking around Sofia we passed by a fabric shop.  There were very few bits of fabric that were suitable for quilting, but we managed to buy one we liked from a very nice lady who spoke no English whatsoever.  Thank goodness for sign language!

It's one piece of fabric, but has several different designs