Two for one! Aren't you excited? My pictures from Cyprus are still uploading, so I am going to continue with a short summary of my first day in Istanbul! As I mentioned before, my flight was delayed, so I got into Istanbul later than expected and had to cut some things from my planned itinerary. As you'll see, however, it worked out for the best.
I arrived in Taksim Square on the bus from the airport around two, and was feeling a bit... masochistic? That's how it feels in hindsight. At the time I'd say I wanted a challenge, or I was just being cheap. At any rate, I decided to walk to my hostel, even though it was an hour away and I had my fifty pound suitcase that I'm still waiting to dump on Lisa in London. But hey, I'm young and spry, right? Well, I may be, but the people staring at me like I was crazy as I drug said suitcase down Istiklal Caddesi, one of the main streets in Istanbul, were not. Also, there were a lot of stairs. But hey, it was a great work out! And I did make it to the hostel eventually, if significantly sweatier and more exhausted than I had been. At least it gave me a good introduction to the city, even if I couldn't enjoy it in the leisurely manner I might have liked.
The hostel is nice. Just the kind I've been craving. They have beds for something like 150 travelers. I'm in a dorm for 30, and met an Iraqi painter within my first five minutes. I didn't want to spend too much time in the hostel on my first day though, so I locked up my bags in a locker and struck out exploring. First stop was the Basilica Cistern, a giant underground reservoir built by the Roman Emperor Justinian. It was gorgeous and ethereal but far too packed with people for my liking, which seems par for the course in Istanbul so far. I think Cyprus spoiled me. Anyway, there are pictures, but they aren't good enough to wait for with as slow as the uploading is going.
After that I'd intended to see the Blue Mosque and the Mosaic Museum. The Mosaic Museum was closed, because it's Monday. Apparently Istanbul also hates Mondays. The mosque... well, I hadn't thought ahead as well as I should have. I was wearing tights and a dress, which I realized too late is not appropriate mosque clothing, so it will have to wait for another day as well. I did make it down to the Little Hagia Sophia, named because it looks much like a miniature version of the real one. What I didn't realize was that it is also a mosque, so I poked around the courtyard and moved on again. I spent some time in the Grand Bazaar, which was a bit too much like Egypt for my liking. In fact, much of touristic Istanbul reminds me of Egypt, mostly because every shop and restaurant you pass has people trying to draw you inside. Anyway, I didn't stay at the Bazaar long. I wasn't looking to buy anything anyway. I'd just wanted to see it. And I was hungry. So I started looking for dinner.
The problem with finding dinner was much like the problem with the Bazaar. Every time I stopped to glance at a menu I was accosted by eager employees trying to woo me in with cheesy pick up lines, which is about the fastest way to drive me off. I'd almost made it back to the hostel, however, when one guy's tactics actually worked. Not by any merit of his own though.
I'd stopped to glance at the menu, and actually saw some reasonably priced items I liked. I was about to sit down when he came up with some line about having the best food in Istanbul and his mother making every morsel and while that wasn't terrible it just turned me off, so I thanked him and went to move on when he called on a woman sitting at one of the tables, asking her if it wasn't the best food in Istanbul. She insisted it was, and seemed so enthusiastic I thought "hey, why not?" So I agreed, and he showed me to a little table, which was when the woman noticed I was alone and invited me to join her. That was when I realized why she'd been so enthusiastic.
Jodie and her partner Josh, from Australia, weren't there for dinner. They'd been drinking for the better part of the day. But two friendlier people you couldn't meet, so I settled in for a lovely dinner of good food and better conversation. She's a banker, he's a restaurateur, and they're only in Istanbul for a couple days waiting to take a Black Sea cruise. They were wonderful people though, drunk or not, and lots of fun. Also, they insisted on picking up the bill. I fought! I promise! But... we'd had such a wonderful meal I couldn't really stop them. And now I feel a lot less guilty about the tab I'm running up at this cafe. It was the perfect evening to follow what had been turning into a mildly stressful day, and I have Josh's card should I ever find myself in Australia.
And now it's late, and I really need a shower, so I shall leave you here and hope that a good night's sleep will make Istanbul a little easier to handle in the morning. I should mention it's gorgeous here. I've never seen a city so green, and the Bosphorus glistens like every literary epithet you can imagine. Now to find the time and energy to give it all the look it deserves!
I arrived in Taksim Square on the bus from the airport around two, and was feeling a bit... masochistic? That's how it feels in hindsight. At the time I'd say I wanted a challenge, or I was just being cheap. At any rate, I decided to walk to my hostel, even though it was an hour away and I had my fifty pound suitcase that I'm still waiting to dump on Lisa in London. But hey, I'm young and spry, right? Well, I may be, but the people staring at me like I was crazy as I drug said suitcase down Istiklal Caddesi, one of the main streets in Istanbul, were not. Also, there were a lot of stairs. But hey, it was a great work out! And I did make it to the hostel eventually, if significantly sweatier and more exhausted than I had been. At least it gave me a good introduction to the city, even if I couldn't enjoy it in the leisurely manner I might have liked.
The hostel is nice. Just the kind I've been craving. They have beds for something like 150 travelers. I'm in a dorm for 30, and met an Iraqi painter within my first five minutes. I didn't want to spend too much time in the hostel on my first day though, so I locked up my bags in a locker and struck out exploring. First stop was the Basilica Cistern, a giant underground reservoir built by the Roman Emperor Justinian. It was gorgeous and ethereal but far too packed with people for my liking, which seems par for the course in Istanbul so far. I think Cyprus spoiled me. Anyway, there are pictures, but they aren't good enough to wait for with as slow as the uploading is going.
After that I'd intended to see the Blue Mosque and the Mosaic Museum. The Mosaic Museum was closed, because it's Monday. Apparently Istanbul also hates Mondays. The mosque... well, I hadn't thought ahead as well as I should have. I was wearing tights and a dress, which I realized too late is not appropriate mosque clothing, so it will have to wait for another day as well. I did make it down to the Little Hagia Sophia, named because it looks much like a miniature version of the real one. What I didn't realize was that it is also a mosque, so I poked around the courtyard and moved on again. I spent some time in the Grand Bazaar, which was a bit too much like Egypt for my liking. In fact, much of touristic Istanbul reminds me of Egypt, mostly because every shop and restaurant you pass has people trying to draw you inside. Anyway, I didn't stay at the Bazaar long. I wasn't looking to buy anything anyway. I'd just wanted to see it. And I was hungry. So I started looking for dinner.
The problem with finding dinner was much like the problem with the Bazaar. Every time I stopped to glance at a menu I was accosted by eager employees trying to woo me in with cheesy pick up lines, which is about the fastest way to drive me off. I'd almost made it back to the hostel, however, when one guy's tactics actually worked. Not by any merit of his own though.
I'd stopped to glance at the menu, and actually saw some reasonably priced items I liked. I was about to sit down when he came up with some line about having the best food in Istanbul and his mother making every morsel and while that wasn't terrible it just turned me off, so I thanked him and went to move on when he called on a woman sitting at one of the tables, asking her if it wasn't the best food in Istanbul. She insisted it was, and seemed so enthusiastic I thought "hey, why not?" So I agreed, and he showed me to a little table, which was when the woman noticed I was alone and invited me to join her. That was when I realized why she'd been so enthusiastic.
Jodie and her partner Josh, from Australia, weren't there for dinner. They'd been drinking for the better part of the day. But two friendlier people you couldn't meet, so I settled in for a lovely dinner of good food and better conversation. She's a banker, he's a restaurateur, and they're only in Istanbul for a couple days waiting to take a Black Sea cruise. They were wonderful people though, drunk or not, and lots of fun. Also, they insisted on picking up the bill. I fought! I promise! But... we'd had such a wonderful meal I couldn't really stop them. And now I feel a lot less guilty about the tab I'm running up at this cafe. It was the perfect evening to follow what had been turning into a mildly stressful day, and I have Josh's card should I ever find myself in Australia.
And now it's late, and I really need a shower, so I shall leave you here and hope that a good night's sleep will make Istanbul a little easier to handle in the morning. I should mention it's gorgeous here. I've never seen a city so green, and the Bosphorus glistens like every literary epithet you can imagine. Now to find the time and energy to give it all the look it deserves!
No comments:
Post a Comment