Istanbul is the 6th biggest city in the world with a population of 14 million people, but it's spread out over a lot of land on two continents. The area we were staying (Sultanahmet) is the tourist sightseeing hub of the city so it was really busy during the day and pretty dead at night. It may have 14 million people but it doesn't feel nearly as busy as some other cities unless you are in the middle of the tourist crush. It was also cold and rainy most of the time we were there, so we didn't explore maybe as much as we would have in nice weather but we hit all the major sights. Sometimes when you've been outside in the cold for a while it's best to just put your head down and get to warmth. This may be partially the weather but I liked other parts of Turkey more. However, the whole experience was made better by seeing friends in person. Speaking of:
Before we get any further we would like to thank our friends Martina and Payman for exploring Istanbul with us. Guys, we had a lot of fun and we can't thank you enough for your coming out and adventuring with us (and your storage). This is us in the lobby of the Hodjapasha center where we watched then whirling dervishes perform the Mevlevi Sema ceremony. It's a religious ceremony with five people in white robes and some music. The most interesting part is when they just whirl (hence the name) around for minutes on end. The ceremony itself is a little boring but it is remarkable how they can just spin forever.
Since Turkey is almost entirely Muslim, they don't celebrate Christmas but they do basically co-opt a lot of Western Christmas traditions for New Year's. Here is a New Year's tree we came across in Istanbul.
This is the beautiful dome of the Blue Mosque from the inside. You can't wear shoes, but they leave the doors open so it's pretty chilly inside.
Here we are inside. Chrissy had to cover her head.
Here it is is from the outside.
This is a street in the grand bazaar. It is one of the largest covered markets in the world and a crazy place. It's really crowded and everyone is yelling at you to look in their shop. Most things are overpriced compared to what you can get elsewhere, but you can also haggle to your heart's delight (which Chrissy is better at than me) and it is a sight to see.
This is underground in the Basilica Cistern. It used to be a water source for the nearby buildings but now it's a tourst attraction. You can't really see but there are a lot of fish swimming in the water. Hard to translate to pictures but a really cool place.
There are two Medusa heads in the cistern (the other is upside down). Mimicking statues is always fun.
Here we are at the Aya Sofya or (Hagia Sophia in English). It used to be a church (notice the Christian imagery behind us) that the Ottomans converted into a mosque and it's now a museum. It has one of the bigger domes in the world but it was partially covered by scaffolding.
View from the balcony.
Here we are in a room at the Harem of Topkapi Palace where the sultans lived. Every room is covered in ceramic tile.
See?
Overall, Turkey is a cool place. The food is really good (more on that later) and the people are generally friendly. The people trying to get you into their shop or restaurant can be pretty overbearing though. It is crazy the different things that were yelled at us. "Yes, please" was always how most of them started which is annoying because it's an unasked for invitation. After a while you start to appreciate the ones that at least start with "Hello." We had people wrongly guess nationalities and start with multiple languages too. Spanish and German we're probably the most popular. It makes you wonder their criteria for guessing where you are from. Usually they just ask where you are from though and then act like they know US geography even though they don't. When we declined to go into a restaurant once the guy yelled after us "if you don't come back, I'll kill you!" Some favorites yelled at us:
"I am here!" (No follow up).
"I know what you like: carpet. Come into my shop, I won't try to sell you anything." (Also known as the worst sales tactic ever).
"Yes, please. Ohio? Tennessee?"
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