Istanbul: March 4th

Day 2 began the way most mornings on study tour do- with a delicious hotel buffet breakfast.  I've come to embrace and truly enjoy the spread of lunch meats, vegetables, and pastries that usually fill these buffets.  It sounds sarcastic, but I'm actually serious.  After nomming, we met up with Koray who would be guiding us all around the city for the day.

Oh, and this is the view of the sprawling city we saw every morning :)

To make our time in Istanbul easier, we were provided with convenient transportation cards, similar to those on the T in Boston.  They were loaded with money, and all we had to do was tap it before boarded a trolley, tram, bus, or ferry.

The tunnel tram- 2nd oldest in the world next to London!  This little guy helped out so much when traversing the steep hills of Istanbul!

We headed over to the Sultanahmet area of the city, where the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, and Hagia Sophia are all located.  So much history in such a small space!  The Hippodrome, which used to be a large stadium seating 100,000 people, has pretty much been dismantled, pieces of it being used to construct other buildings in the city.  

The original floor of the Hippodrome

As Koray shared a bit of this history with us, something life-changing happened!  A little street vendor approached our group, carrying what appeared to be thin bagels on a large stick.  Our class was unsure about this, and I was prepared to ignore this man completely; however, our professor explained that the man was selling "simit," a traditional Turkish street snack, like the soft pretzel of Philadelphia or the hot dog of Copenhagen.  He graciously purchased a few for us to sample, and since then, I have never been the same.

Bagel/Pretzel hybrid covered in sesame seeds.  THE GREATEST SNACK

...And for just 1 lira, you could pick up a simit at one of these many stands all around the city.

Alright, back to history and moving past the snacks.  We visited the Blue Mosque first, which is the largest mosque in all of Turkey.  It's called the Blue Mosque because of the original blue paint and tile work inside.

Right across the way is the Hagia Sophia, which started out as a church during the time of the Byzantine empire.  It's an enormous building, and it was constructed in just 5 years!  After 916 years, it was converted into a working mosque for another 481 years.  Now, it's a museum of sorts and attracts tons of visitors every year.

The face is evidence from the days when it was a Christian place of worship, as Islam doesn't allow human figures in mosques, etc.

From above.

After a packed morning, it was time for lunch.  A few of us set out down a small side street, where we were beckoned by a waiter from every single restaurant.  Although a little overwhelming and unexpected at first, we were finally sold on a restaurant that promised a roof top terrace with a view of the Blue Mosque.  It didn't disappoint.  And the food was pretty delicious too.

Thennnnn we met up with our class again to visit the Topkapi Palace, the former residence of the Ottoman sultans.  It's now home to collections of jewels, weapons, and the most beautiful tile I've ever seen in my life.  (Regardless of the fact that this tile is located in the former harem where all the sultan's 300 concubines lived.)  

 

 
AH so much blue and green and teal.  All my favorite colors.  The pictures don't do it justice.

We had some more time to explore, so we took that opportunity to stop for some Turkish coffee!  I had been super excited to try it- it's a lot different from normal coffee.  It has a much stronger flavor, combined with a semi-sandy consistency, and it's served in an adorable little cup.  The idea is to finish your coffee, then turn the cup upside down on your saucer, wait a minute or two, and then read your fortune via the coffee grounds.  It's an acquired taste, but I enjoyed it.

Somewhere in there, I saw an ice cream cone.  I wonder what that says about my future..

The next stop we made was the Basilica Cistern.  With only 20 minutes before it closed, we decided to duck in, and I'm SO glad we did.  It's basically a huge underground room that was discovered while the city was doing unrelated construction.  And it can hold a ridiculous amount of water.  The atmosphere was so cool, and they had really ominous/new age music playing in the cool darkness.  

Down in the Cistern, we ran into a bunch of our classmates and we all met back up in front of the Hagia Sophia to walk to the Suleymaniye Mosque, then to a performance of the Whirling Dervishes.  The whole tradition is a ritual dance based on Sufism. 

As they spin, they keep one hand up to God, and the other down to distribute God's goodness to the earth.

Incase you're still curious, I was able to get a short video.  Enjoy.

Phew, well there you have my whirlwind first day in Istanbul.  SO MUCH FUN.  But don't worry DIS, academics started bright and early on Day 3...