Turkish Delight

Delightful does not even come close in describing our recent travels to Istanbul, Turkey.  It was truly magnificent!  Each day we looked at each other with wide eyes as we took in the beautiful scenery that surrounded us.  Istanbul is where the charm of Europe meets the exotic atmosphere of the Middle East and Asia!  Awesome fact: Istanbul is a bi-continental city, which is divided into a European and Asian side by the Bosphorus Strait!  It's clean and cluttered, modern and old, organized and chaotic, and charming and magical.  I must say that we began this journey with skeptical expectations, but Istanbul now ranks high among our favorite cities of the world.  Long story short... if you can, go to Istanbul!

History (just a taste):
Neolithic artifacts from the last of the Stone Age (7th millennium BC) have been found in Istanbul!  The city of Byzantium was founded in 660 BC, which generally marks the beginning of history in Istanbul... that's already A LOT of history!   In 324, the emperor of the Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, shifted Roman power and Christianity eastward by capturing the city and renamed it Constantinople (insert silly song).  It wasn't until 1453 that Sultan Mehmed II captured the city and proclaimed the Islamic creed.  He summoned back all the Muslims, Jews and Christians who previously lived in the city and invited people from all over Europe to live in Istanbul.   A cosmopolitan city was quickly built and the Grand Bazaar and Topkopi Palace were added.  After the World War I occupation of Istanbul, the Republic of Turkey was recognized in 1923.

The Blue Mosque, which was built during the Ottoman Empire, is one of the few mosques open to the public (pictures above).  We were asked to remove our shoes (bag in Jamil's hand) and I covered my head with my scarf.  We found the Blue Mosque to be magnificent on the outside, while we preferred the interior of the Hagia Sophia Cathedral, which was built during the Byzantine Empire (pictured below).  This cathedral was later turned into a mosque and is now a museum.  Both religious sights are directly across from one another.

We carried the boys on our backs from morning to night for 5 days!!!  Each day we easily found parks to give everyone a break (see leaf-sword pic and the lovable enormous squirrel and lion above).  It's these simple things that get us all through the day.  We timed it to make sure the boys were on the back to fall asleep during their afternoon naps.  Regardless of a few tantrums (from the adults and children), it actually worked!  The boys are changing so quickly, and we have truly learned to be flexible while still trying to maintain some sort of consistency for them.

We stopped for a scoop of ice cream and were given quite the show!  This sticky cream was swirled all through the air on the stick above while teasing Gabriel, but it was obviously well worth it in the end (picture below).  I must add that our children were sincerely loved on by more strangers here than any other place we've visited.  They were adored and loved every bit of it!  I also think we were mistaken as a tourist sight with the boys in their backpacks.  We had more pictures taken of us than we probably took of the whole trip!  Let us know if you come across our paparazzi photos on the internet. ;)

The Basilica Cistern is one of the many cisterns that lies beneath the city streets.  Two of the columns reused stones carved with the visage of Medusa.  They are thought to be from the Roman period.

As we strolled the Grand Bazaar, we (I) found ourselves (myself) in the situation of the typical tourist lured into a back ally full of carpets.  I wanted to buy a small carpet (You can't go to Turkey without buying a carpet, right?).  Note, do not go into a bargaining atmosphere without having any idea of what you're willing to pay for an item.  I feel confident that our Moroccan bargaining skills helped us not get into too much trouble.  However, I was not prepared, and I'm sure the guy above who sold us our carpet still walked away a happy man.

I highly recommend a city boat tour on the Bosphorus Strait.  It's difficult to go wrong when viewing any city from the water, and the boys loved it!

The Spice Market is pictures above & below and is where Jamil bought his tava (backgammon) set.

We saw some areas that reminded us of Morocco, such as the Grand Bazar similar to a medina, but even the presentation of those places was far nicer.  I found myself hopeful as I thought about what Morocco could be in the future.  There was a smaller spice market that I preferred over the Grand Bazar.  It had, well...spices, beautiful embroidered pillows and blankets, lanterns, backgammon sets, jewelry, and amazing food (to name a few) down a handful of narrow streets.  Honestly, you name it, they probably had it!

Topkapi Palace was the official residence for the Ottoman Sultans.  It offers a beautiful view on a hilltop overlooking the Bosphorus, and the grounds are quite impressive.  The palace is a World Heritage Sight and definitely a must see in Istanbul. A side note: most of these sights are so close to one another, and the public transportation makes it super easy to get around the city.

Our lovely hosts took us to possibly the best restaurant in town for breakfast, Rumeli Kale Cafe.  It was a turkish feast, and we all cleaned our plates.  The view of the Bosphorus was amazing from our window, and we even strolled down the boardwalk in the light rain.

I find it so amazing that we touched foot in two continents while in Turkey!  Another boat ride took us to Karakoy, a city on the Asian side.  We strolled through their small market and sat down for some local seafood before hopping back on the boat to Europe.

On our last day, I set off by foot, bus, and metro to make it to the inner city for a turkish bath at Cemberlitas Hamami.  This turkish bath was built in 1584 and was located right in the middle of the city.  Unlike the private hammas I have gone to in Morocco, this was a public bath.  Yes, public.  There were both locals and tourist there, and I was definitely left to figure out the system on my own.  The men and women were separated, and once in the hammam, there was a large, raised marble slab where I laid down with everyone else to relax and allow my pours to open in the heat.  I felt like I was jumping into an old painting of half naked women lounging around eating grapes. The view (pictured above) definitely helped me relax in such an exposed environment.  One of the ladies who bathed me somehow kept track of who's turn it was and eventually sat me on the edge of the slab and dumped buckets of water over my head.  After managing to catch my breath, I lied down on the slab while she lathered me in bubbles and scrubbed all of the dead skin off of my body.  The oddly relaxing bath was concluded with a bucket of water in my face and a few more over my head.  Another woman then walked me into an area for a massage.  Afterwards, I changed in their modern locker facilities and hopped back on the metro feeling a little scandalous!  Honestly, I'm so glad that I gave it a try.  It was the perfect way to end a busy and physically exhausting vacation.  Oh yeah, did I mention that I then flew back to Morocco that afternoon on my own with the kids...

The boys were left to a more wholesome morning of Turkish ABCs, playgrounds and lollipops with their daddy.  It looks like they had a great time, and Jamil captured some adorable pictures!  He then enjoyed the city for two more days as he attended a leadership conference.  Another interesting fact: The Turkish language was written using Arabic script for thousands of years.  The adoption of the Latin script was publicly debated for many years and finally adopted in 1926.

We will be forever grateful to our hosts, Dennis and Emily Williams (Olmsted Scholar Family, Istanbul).  We were so comfortable at their amazing apartment, and they helped tremendously with their great suggestions and by mapping out areas using all the public transportation.  Emily was even 8+ months pregnant!  Congratulations on your beautiful new baby, Paul!