Istanbul–Mike and Sarah’s Crazed Yogurt Sauce Spree

I write this blog on Day 6 in Turkey, having just finished my 12th meal featuring yogurt-sauce; basically, we order this with every possible lunch or dinner; if they ate waffles for breakfast here, I might spread this luscious blend of yogurt, dill, and garlic all over those too, but I digest–I mean digress–y’all probably want to know what else Istanbul has had to offer us, and we were highly impressed.

Friday, August 19, was our second day in Istanbul, and our main item for the day was the elaborate Topkapi Palace, a giant compound of a museum that was the home of numerous sultans.  The downside was that it was more expensive than it probably should have been because they charge extra to see the harem (insert your own off-color joke here–I can’t do everything); they used to include a guided tour with this, but we saw no such tour during our visit.  Regardless, the palace was very impressive, and we still enjoyed spending half a day here.

Topkapi Palace has four main courts; the first being a lovely garden outside the ticket gate; we spent time here every afternoon of our stay because you could lay out in the grass under shade trees in relative quiet; in this Istanbul has Rome beat ten times over and you do not have to live in constant fear of kamikaze pigeon air raids.

The second court houses the harem, which in spite of the extra cost and terse explanations (signs say things like “Sleeping Quarters:  members of the harem once slept here), had some very lavish, beautifully tiled rooms with neat stained-glass windows.  When I refer to something tiled in Istanbul, I am not talking HomeDepot linoleum; this stuff is amazingly detailed and colorful! Also, the quarters opened up into a couple of beautiful courtyards, once the bathing pools, that offered great views of the Bospherous River.

The third court was more detailed and enjoyable; this was the area where most of the government business occurred.  The former Treasury now houses four interesting rooms of jewels and relics (many were gifts to the sultan or spoils of wars), including the famous Topkapi Dagger, with its enormous emeralds, and the Spoonmaker’s Diamond, an 86-carat diamond that was purchased in a street market for the price of three spoons!  It had once been part of a ring, although I don’t know who could wear it!  Also of interest were the gigantic candlesticks that weighed 45 Kg each; I had images of the Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk using them as nightlights or something.  The downside of this exhibit was that people only observed the line in the first room before crowding and cutting in the remaining rooms, but despite the pushy tourists’ apparent panicky concerns, the relics actually did not magically disappear if you took your time and tried to observe the rules, so Sarah and I were able to enjoy all of the wonderful stuff.

The other neat part was the Sacred Safekeeping Room, which would have been off-limits to almost all of the people during the Sultans’ days.  Inside, objects reputed to be the rod of Moses, the beard and teeth of Muhammed, as well as door handles and rain gutters from the Kaaba were on display, and the explanations in the exhibit were excellent.  Much of the art we had seen yesterday in the Aya Sofia made more sense after reading about the history of Islam that was provided in this portion of the palace.  Muslims believe in much of the Old Testament, including the prophets up until Mohammed, whom they accept as being the final human to have had the voice of of God spoken directly through him.  His story was described in detail throughout the room.

The final court held some more pretty gardens and tiled rooms, including the circumcision room for boys who were about to be considered men–ironic to mark this passage with a ceremony that would make most boys scream like girls!  🙂

We spent half a day at the palace and felt like we had learned a lot and seen many fancy rooms, but now it was time for lunch.  Istanbul’s street vendors are well-known, so we decided to sample their fare.  We had roasted ears of corn (they were tasty but overcooked–we should have asked for fresher ones), and huge hunks of sweet, delicous watermelon for about a buck, as well as an O-shaped pretzel thing with sesame seeds, and a Coke.  The whole meal was like 12 Turkish Lira, about $6.00; street vendors do not sell yogurt sauce, so we had to do without.

One last notable experience for the day was spending time at a tea house–everyone in Turkey drinks tea, or cay (chai).  They drink it all day, from what I can tell, and they add sugar to each cup.  It is strong tea, and they serve it in clear, handleless, hourglass cups on saucers.  We both like the cay way better than chalky Turkish coffee.  At this tea house, we also sampled baklava and another type of pastry; the baklava was sweet and tasted wonderful.  While we indulged, we watched a father teach his son how to play backgammon at a nearby table, while the grandfather looked on, only moving once to deftly roll his own smoke in one hand while holding his cane in the other.

After we left the tea house, we strolled through the Hippodrome, which was once like the city’s forum, where a small market was set up, and we saw several  ancient obelisks and a monument gifted by Kaiser Wilhelm before World War I.  It was getting close to dinner time, so the square was absolutely packed with Muslims waiting to feast when the sun went down (the hippodrome is right next to the Blue Mosque).  I have the utmost respect for the dedication that it must take to fast each day for an entire month, and it was neat to see families coming together to celebrate their faith at the end of the day.

Saturday morning, we got an early start for a cruise up the Bospherous to the Black Sea.  The ferry ride would take 90 minutes each way with a few hours in a town called Anadolu Karagi, in Asia Minor–so I have now been to Asia!  On the ferry, we got a great view of Istanbul, which is one huge city!  Rows and rows of red roofs line layer upon layer of hillsides for mile after mile!  Several notable sites (Galata Tower and Galata Bridge in Istanbul Modern), several palaces, and the suspension Bospherous Bridge–the first to connect both sides of the Bospherous, built in the 1970’s–along with a giant fortress wall that was built in only four months in order to lay siege to an opposing city during some ancient conquest entertained us along the ride.  In addition, we were treated to a dolphin skipping waves in the distance and many jellyfish swimming below us.

The main attraction in Andolu Karagi is a Roman-period castle that you can hike up to in about a half-hour.  Several stray dogs became our unofficial tour guides, but they neglected to mention to us that the castle was closed for excavation work.  No matter, the thirty-some people who had followed the dogs up the hill were just as content as we were to take in the breathtaking views of the sea down below us.

That evening, we ventured over the bridge in the Beyoglu neighborhood, which was packed with people.  Roads in Istanbul are notoriously dangerous; there is no such thing as a pedestrian right-of-way, and crossing the street is a lot like being caught in a real life game of Frogger.  After finding some smaller pedestrian lanes, we hiked up to Galata Tower, which was actually not very imposing once you have climbed the hill and are standing next to it.  Then we toured an area that is a lot like a Western uptown district–think the Pearl in Portland–filled with huge brand name stores (Columbia had one!) and restaurants featuring all kinds of different cuisines.  Since it was so much like what we could find at home, we went right back to the touristy area of Sultanhamet–in order to find Turkish food!

This trip was important for us, though, as we crossed that bridge both literally and figuratively–Istanbul’s Sultanhamet area is set up well for tourists because it is the ancient city’s heart, but it feels very safe as well.  We needed to take a chance and explore in a city that is quite different than any other place we have visited, even though we ended up in an area that was ironically more Western.  It was good for us to take that step.

Our plan on Sunday was to attend the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market, but neither is open on Sunday.  Apparently, we need to read the guidebook a little better!  We debated on going to see the ruins of Troy, but it was late enough in the day that we wouldn’t really have time.  Instead, we hung out in the park, as did many locals, enjoying the shade and catching up on journals.  Then we spent some more time at the tea house and worked on the rest of our itenary for Turkey.  It turned out to be great, and the bazaar will be open when we return in two weeks.

That night, we spent some time in the brother’s tea lounge and sampled the hookah–a first for Sarah.  The place was packed, and both customer and brother–of which there are either three or six, it’s hard to tell–seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Tomorrow, we take the long bus ride to Selcuk, where we are planning to visit the ancient city of Ephesus.  Our introduction to Istanbul has been great–lots of friendly, jovial people willing to help, stray cats and dogs that people seem to care for, huge mosques, boisterous vendors, and all-male wait staffs who run around barking at one another (at times it feels like eating at Les Schwab’s) give this place a lively, fun atmospere.  It is common for men to place a gentle hand on my shoulder while talking with us, a symbol for how we feel about the Turkish people so far.  I hope that Selcuk will be the same, and I hope they have yogurt sauce as well!