Before I start my stories of travels today, let me explain something. I have to admit I didn’t know what to expect here. I mean, I received a grant for Middle East Studies that is given by the Saudi Arabian government (thank you again). I thought….I don’t know…that the Turkish people would be more akin to either Greece or Saudi Arabia. If I were to pick from iconic literature for a metaphor, I feel like I’m amongst characters in “Dracula” instead of “Arabian Nights”. Look at a map. Now look north of here. That’s what I mean. It makes sense because Romania (Transylvania) is closer to ISTANBUL than Saudi Arabia.
Overall, people are so nice. I ventured outside of the tourist zone today and I quickly ran out of people who spoke English. The polite attitude and the willingness to help if needed were consistent with the service industry crowd back at the hotel.
Overall, people are so nice. I ventured outside of the tourist zone today and I quickly ran out of people who spoke English. The polite attitude and the willingness to help if needed were consistent with the service industry crowd back at the hotel.
And overall similarities of everyday life in a big city - it’s all the same. I mean, I tried to answer my phone a couple of times because of familiar ring tones. And yes….I finally spotted a Starbucks today. They ARE everywhere.
So this is another day on my own over here. Slept in. Had the usual Turkish coffee and chocolate-filled croissant. Scribbled plans and lists on paper, grabbed a light jacket, and was ready to go! First, I checked with the front desk regarding my plans. They informed me that the tram stop at Sultanahmet (closest) would be closed because of the pope’s visit. The tram would go through it, but it would not stop. But they also explained it’s not that far of a walk to the next stop, so I would be fine. I checked my route to be sure a woman walking alone would be fine and they all nodded (female and male) with no hesitancy. I was given a mobile wifi just in case (never used) AND the woman gave me her business card with her cell number just in case. She only did this after she saw that I seemed hesitant, though I really wasn’t. I was just making sure I wasn’t too overconfident. :) They also gave me an Istanbulkart and explained how to charge money to it at the stations instead of a bunch of tokens.
So this is another day on my own over here. Slept in. Had the usual Turkish coffee and chocolate-filled croissant. Scribbled plans and lists on paper, grabbed a light jacket, and was ready to go! First, I checked with the front desk regarding my plans. They informed me that the tram stop at Sultanahmet (closest) would be closed because of the pope’s visit. The tram would go through it, but it would not stop. But they also explained it’s not that far of a walk to the next stop, so I would be fine. I checked my route to be sure a woman walking alone would be fine and they all nodded (female and male) with no hesitancy. I was given a mobile wifi just in case (never used) AND the woman gave me her business card with her cell number just in case. She only did this after she saw that I seemed hesitant, though I really wasn’t. I was just making sure I wasn’t too overconfident. :) They also gave me an Istanbulkart and explained how to charge money to it at the stations instead of a bunch of tokens.
I made my way to the tram line, planning to follow it past Sultanahment and possibly find the Calligraphy Museum. This led my past the Hippodrome, which is next to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. A crowd was gathering and the police were calmly all around the gates they were putting up yesterday. Helicopters were overhead and camera crews were there. The pope was on his way. Part of me wanted to wait just to experience it and part of me felt I should probably leave because if anything were to happen as a protest, it would happen RIGHT HERE. I finally left just because I was impatient and nobody really knew when the papal appearance would occur.
So I just started walking. I had plans-ish. I wanted to find the Callligraphy Museum and I realized it really wasn’t that far. So I just kept walking. The Call to Prayer happened some time in here. It’s just part of the soundtrack of this city. It doesn’t even phase people, aside from tourists like me who grab their cell phones and start recording it.
Somewhere around Istanbul University, I gave up on the Calligraphy Museum. I walked around the area, but I couldn’t find it. I asked someone and pointed at the map. I realized at this time that English was not to be had so easily out here. The map also didn’t have an illustrated icon like most of the larger attractions. It just had the words in English. However, the gentleman I asked (a city worker of some sort with a uniform) was still so kind and wanted to help. I played charades and acted like I was writing. He nodded and pointed to the university. Hmmm. Charades gone wrong. The museum was near here, but it wasn’t on the campus.
Somewhere around Istanbul University, I gave up on the Calligraphy Museum. I walked around the area, but I couldn’t find it. I asked someone and pointed at the map. I realized at this time that English was not to be had so easily out here. The map also didn’t have an illustrated icon like most of the larger attractions. It just had the words in English. However, the gentleman I asked (a city worker of some sort with a uniform) was still so kind and wanted to help. I played charades and acted like I was writing. He nodded and pointed to the university. Hmmm. Charades gone wrong. The museum was near here, but it wasn’t on the campus.
So my next step was to go further out from Sultanahmet than I had ever ventured. The Grand Bazaar seemed soooo far just a couple of days ago. And though I realize that I still have only seen a fraction of a fraction of Istanbul, I’m pretty excited I got as far to the west as I did today. As I was following the stops and thinking, “I’m the next one”, I passed THE WALL. Highways and tram lines and a skyscraper or two in the distance, and there it is. The huge wall of Constantinople that was breached by the Ottoman army in 1453. This wall could be seen in pieces along the shore line within blocks of the hotel, but THIS part of the wall is still there. It’s also not quite as old as the wall remains along the shore, though still pretty darn old.
When I arrived at the 1453 Panorama Museum, I soon realized that I would need the headphones for the recorded English tour. Everything was in Turkish and something else I didn’t recognize. I was reminded of much that I had researched about the history of Istanbul, though the details of the battles and heroic deeds to celebrate the history were a bit more than I had known.
One of my favorite bits was the very beginning, explaining that Istanbul was the center of the world, the city of all cities, and the capital of 3 empires. At first, I was confused about who the third was. So I researched. I was reminded that one of the times that Constantinople (a Christian empire) was burned was during the Crusades (a violent spreading of Christianity, among other things) in 1204. The Byzantine empire was also known as the Eastern Roman Empire. After the Crusades from up north took the city, it became the Latin Empire for a bit, though many history books I’ve read have glossed that all over as the Byzantine.
OR it could mean that before Constantine made “Constantinople” the new capital of the Roman Empire (in 330 AD), it was the ancient greek city of “Byzantium” which was never a capital of an empire. And the Romans came over in the first century AD and started kicking people out a couple hundred years before Constantine. But it has technically been called Byzantium, Constantinople (but the Byzantine Empire), and Istanbul.
Confused? That’s ok. :) I think I am still too.
And I also understand why I’ve heard a couple different versions of this history from tour guides and others glossing over the history lesson. It seems to many it’s just when it was Constantinople, it was because Constantine was in control. He didn't live THAT long (= hundreds of years). There were indeed other Constantine’s in the line with numbers after their name. But for example, Constantine did NOT make the Hagia Sophia, though somebody at the hotel tried to claim that the other day. (That’s ok - I still think they’re amazing!) That was Justinian 1 when he had it built between 523-537 after rioters within the city walls destroyed the previous much smaller church that had resided there. My point is that history can start to get really confusing, especially when people keep having the same names.
There were many names to the city - or at least many versions in different languages - after that with the Ottomans, many resembling something that sounds like "Istanbul". But according to my research, “after the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the various alternative names besides Istanbul became obsolete in Turkish. In an edict of 1930-03-28, the Turkish authorities officially requested foreigners to cease referring to the city with their traditional non-Turkish names (such as Constantinople) and to adopt Istanbul as the sole name also in the foreign languages."
SO! After that history lesson, here are pictures. The museum had a panorama ceiling and there were a bunch of high school kids there acting like high school kids do back in the States. The wall is outside and right next to a highway.
When I arrived at the 1453 Panorama Museum, I soon realized that I would need the headphones for the recorded English tour. Everything was in Turkish and something else I didn’t recognize. I was reminded of much that I had researched about the history of Istanbul, though the details of the battles and heroic deeds to celebrate the history were a bit more than I had known.
One of my favorite bits was the very beginning, explaining that Istanbul was the center of the world, the city of all cities, and the capital of 3 empires. At first, I was confused about who the third was. So I researched. I was reminded that one of the times that Constantinople (a Christian empire) was burned was during the Crusades (a violent spreading of Christianity, among other things) in 1204. The Byzantine empire was also known as the Eastern Roman Empire. After the Crusades from up north took the city, it became the Latin Empire for a bit, though many history books I’ve read have glossed that all over as the Byzantine.
OR it could mean that before Constantine made “Constantinople” the new capital of the Roman Empire (in 330 AD), it was the ancient greek city of “Byzantium” which was never a capital of an empire. And the Romans came over in the first century AD and started kicking people out a couple hundred years before Constantine. But it has technically been called Byzantium, Constantinople (but the Byzantine Empire), and Istanbul.
Confused? That’s ok. :) I think I am still too.
And I also understand why I’ve heard a couple different versions of this history from tour guides and others glossing over the history lesson. It seems to many it’s just when it was Constantinople, it was because Constantine was in control. He didn't live THAT long (= hundreds of years). There were indeed other Constantine’s in the line with numbers after their name. But for example, Constantine did NOT make the Hagia Sophia, though somebody at the hotel tried to claim that the other day. (That’s ok - I still think they’re amazing!) That was Justinian 1 when he had it built between 523-537 after rioters within the city walls destroyed the previous much smaller church that had resided there. My point is that history can start to get really confusing, especially when people keep having the same names.
There were many names to the city - or at least many versions in different languages - after that with the Ottomans, many resembling something that sounds like "Istanbul". But according to my research, “after the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the various alternative names besides Istanbul became obsolete in Turkish. In an edict of 1930-03-28, the Turkish authorities officially requested foreigners to cease referring to the city with their traditional non-Turkish names (such as Constantinople) and to adopt Istanbul as the sole name also in the foreign languages."
SO! After that history lesson, here are pictures. The museum had a panorama ceiling and there were a bunch of high school kids there acting like high school kids do back in the States. The wall is outside and right next to a highway.
So back on the tram. SO BUSY. I mean it was so busy that it made my few trips in Tokyo seem spacious. Sultanahmet was open, so I guess the pope was gone. However, I kept going all the way back up north to where the Spice Bazaar is that I visited yesterday. The “eeny-meeny-minie-mo” stop. To go across the bridge and further north, we had to switch trams. I was just going to the other side of the bridge, so I got out and walked by all the fishermen again.
TOTALLY knew where I was. Such an accomplishment. Turned left on the Bank Street and easily found the SALT center. The library was very crowded today. So crowded that I had to find a spot on the floor in the back corner. But again, people are SO nice. A fellow visitor came over and started speaking to me in another language. I smiled and said, “I only speak English, I’m sorry.” She paused and then did her best at broken English talking about the chair. I smiled and laughed, doing the charades of “I’m actually really happy sitting like this, but thank you”.
I found some great books, though still the best research was along the tram lines today looking at logos in the city and also at the Graphic Design exhibition from the other night.
TOTALLY knew where I was. Such an accomplishment. Turned left on the Bank Street and easily found the SALT center. The library was very crowded today. So crowded that I had to find a spot on the floor in the back corner. But again, people are SO nice. A fellow visitor came over and started speaking to me in another language. I smiled and said, “I only speak English, I’m sorry.” She paused and then did her best at broken English talking about the chair. I smiled and laughed, doing the charades of “I’m actually really happy sitting like this, but thank you”.
I found some great books, though still the best research was along the tram lines today looking at logos in the city and also at the Graphic Design exhibition from the other night.
So by this time, I realized the passing waves of nausea might have something to do with the fact that I hadn’t consumed anything since my chocolate-filled croissant at 9am and it was about 3:30pm. When Skyping my boyfriend back home yesterday, he had helped me find some restaurants with rave reviews in the area outside of tourist land. I had written it on my hand so I could be a ninja (the other word is reminding me of which way to take the tram home). The receptionist at the hotel had told me of another place close by just in case I couldn't get into the other one. They were both just across the way from the SALT center near the water…but I couldn’t find either. Or the hunger just made me give up.
Back across the bridge and got to be part of a glorious conversation. A local couple speaking Turkish had their little baby all bundled up and cute. Really - I don’t go soft just because it’s a baby. This kid was adorable. About the time I was smiling, two girls speaking a dialect of Chinese (pretty sure) also stopped in their tracks by how crazy cute this kid is. None of us speak each others’ language. The girls held up their cameras, like “can we take a picture of your crazy adorable child?” The couple smiles and nods heads, click of camera, pause…the guy says, “Facebook!” and we all crack up. (I did not get a picture.) :(
Back across the bridge and got to be part of a glorious conversation. A local couple speaking Turkish had their little baby all bundled up and cute. Really - I don’t go soft just because it’s a baby. This kid was adorable. About the time I was smiling, two girls speaking a dialect of Chinese (pretty sure) also stopped in their tracks by how crazy cute this kid is. None of us speak each others’ language. The girls held up their cameras, like “can we take a picture of your crazy adorable child?” The couple smiles and nods heads, click of camera, pause…the guy says, “Facebook!” and we all crack up. (I did not get a picture.) :(
I hopped back on the tram and went back to “home” where they serve crappy food but almost always speak some English. The food I ate was crappy-ish Chicken Curry and was told again by wait staff that I look Turkish. On the way back, there was a large gang of cats, feasting on some bones thrown out by a restaurant. Either that or they all killed something that had walked by....with a lot of leg bones....
Wandered happily back to the hotel…..really, it’s HOME. :) And now just catching up on the blog.
Tomorrow is another day of wandering. I’m going to do my best to find one of those yummy restaurants. We leave Tuesday. Stay with me! :)
Tomorrow is another day of wandering. I’m going to do my best to find one of those yummy restaurants. We leave Tuesday. Stay with me! :)