Merhaba! (Hello!)
Signing on for a 13 day bus tour was a huge stretch for me. I’ve been traveling on my own for 30+ years but never on an organized tour or cruise, because I love the planning and covet the freedom. I think I’ve learned well, from my 1982 first edition ETTBD, to the overflowing shelf of blue and yellow books that are my go to travel guides. But Turkey was a different challenge. I couldn't pronounce the language or figure out the best way to connect the widespread places I wanted to see. And nobody would go with me.
In July, 2017, my friend Judy from Atlanta’s Rick Steves travel group announced she wanted to go to Turkey on an October tour in 2018, and a few days later, I impulsively signed up too. DH said he needed to stay home near a phone in case I got myself thrown in jail. Older daughter thought the whole idea was crazy: “I can see the headlines now. Twenty-four American travelers in Turkish prison. Trump negotiates release. Twenty-three headed home. One won’t get on the Trump bus!”
Since then it’s been a mixed bag of anticipation and angst. I’m not shy, but I am falling off the deep end of the introvert scale, meaning I need solitude to recharge, lots of it. I wasn’t sure this was going to work, but what surprised me most was how much I liked the people, the Turkish people and my new traveling companions. Come along for the ride, and I’ll tell you how it went!
I'm Ruth Fletcher from Roswell, Georgia, on the northwest side of Atlanta. My first trip to Europe was a glorious, unsupervised university summer in Italy when I was twenty. I never quite got over it. My husband says I have loose tent pegs.
This is my friend Judy from Atlanta. She would be the one least likely voted a grump on a Rick Steves tour. The carpet salesmen can spot her two blocks away because she's too nice to chase them off.
I'm calling this little red lion Yip, kind of like Yelp. My unsolicited opinions, occasionally helpful, I hope.
And all the photographs were done with my iPhone 7.
Getting there
We flew Turkish Air direct from Atlanta in eleven and a half hours to avoid an even longer Delta flight with a layover. Leaving after 10PM we hoped would buy us a little sleep. Paid the extra to choose our seats and got the bulkhead, with five empty feet in front of us. Bought our tickets about six months ahead, as soon as the price dipped near $1000. In hindsight, we might have gotten a better price if we'd watched and waited, but our flight was almost full, and I could not survive a middle seat that long. Turkish Air was fine. They don't fly everyday from ATL, so we arrived in Istanbul four days before our tour started.
Immigration lines were nonexistent, and they barely glanced at our visas. Glad we took the hotel's offer for a driver. We came from Atlanta with Turkish lira in hand, but with an exchange rate of about 6:1, I felt I was holding a great wad of Monopoly money. My biggest fear was making a conversion mistake and giving somebody a 10 cent tip!
We drove into Istanbul in rush hour traffic, with the peaceful Maremma Sea on our right and the crumbly walls of the old city on our left. Turned into one of the narrow old gates just as all the five o’clock calls to prayer went off. Streets are congested with parked cars, pedestrians, and construction obstacles, and small shops and restaurants spill onto the sidewalks. Having one of those classic "not in Kansas" moments. Exciting!
istanbul Tour Hotel
Our tour hotel, the Azade, was converted from an old Ottoman palace, and we upgraded to a sea view room, and we can see it…somewhere out there. Rooms are pleasant and pristine, and the front desk is very helpful, but don’t drink the tap water or even brush your teeth with it! This does not mean it's a substandard hotel. Istanbul is an ancient city with 20 million people, and the old city has outgrown its waterworks.
The hotel called one of the restaurants on lively Kumkapi Circle, and they sent a taksi to pick us up. Grateful the menus had pictures! And they brought out the mezze on a big tray so we could point to those also. Local white wine was crisp and dry, sea bass was fresh, there was plenty of music from roving Turkish mariachi bands at every restaurant, and we got used to the cigarette smoke. Considering we were a little jet-lagged and couldn't read a word on the menu, we had a wonderful dinner for about $16 USD each.
Helpful hint from a friend who has worked frequently in countries with water issues: put a paper cup or a washcloth over the handle on the sink as a reminder when you're half asleep and stick your toothbrush under the tap at 7AM. And bring an extra toothbrush or two.
our sea view
No need for an alarm or a wakeup call from the front desk! Istanbul has almost 3000 mosques, the most in the world. Every mosque has at least one minaret, and the call to prayer is broadcast through all of them at first light. Maybe it’s especially intense because it’s Friday, Muslim holy day, but this was quite a wake up call.
Breakfast at the Azade is extensive, kind of a combination of a salad bar and a breakfast buffet. I don’t know what everything is, but you will not leave hungry. Their breakfast room on the fourth floor has outside seating with a sea view. I put my plate down and went back inside for juice, and when I returned, my plate was gone, and the distraught waiter was apologizing for the big sea bird who had just helped himself! Now we know somebody better stay on bird watch.
The weather was beautiful, and we were anxious to get moving. Our tour info listed which sites we'll cover with the group and additional ones we might want to see on our own. Our hotel is in the historic Sultanahmet district, and it's an easy walk to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. I've got Googlemaps and unlimited T-Mobile coverage, but it's easy enough to just flow with the crowds moving in that direction. We don't blend, but we can flow!
ISTANBUL
Blue Mosque
As soon as we saw the Blue Mosque we realized our hotel’s great location. The green space in front of the Mosque is Sultanahmet Park, and on the other side of the circular fountain with the dancing water is the Hagia Sophia.
The Medusas
The Underground Cistern is just across the tram tracks. Steps descend into a huge dark room with massive columns and a shallow pool of still water. Constantine built this in the 4th century, and Dan Brown used it for the ending of Inferno a few years ago. Two giant Medusa heads are highlights, but the size of the structure is what impresses. I think this is sometimes used as a concert venue, but I don’t know what they do about the water.
and the Hagia Sophia
Istanbul Archeological Museum
Back outside in the light it’s a short downhill walk to Istanbul’s Archeological Museum. Once inside the gate, ancient column fragments and giant trees lined the path. The front of the museum was draped for construction, and the current entrance has now moved farther down the sidewalk. Renovation confusion continued inside.
Ancient sarcophagi are the stars, but English captioning is nonexistent. Info in the RS Istanbul guide helped, but the current order of exhibits is not clear. The showpiece is Alexander the Great’s tomb. Lack of info influenced viewing pleasure.
I had a fun conversation with an older Italian gentleman. He spoke only rapid-fire Italian, but I understood enough to know he was looking for Alexanderʼs tomb. I pointed out what I thought was the massive carved structure, and he beamed broadly. I might have been wrong, but he left happy.
Even with no English explanations, many wonderful lions!
Heading 3
Han, the Restaurant
Exiting through the gift shop, and back on the sidewalk walking toward Sultanahmet Park, we passed restaurant windows and baklava and candy shops Weʼre intrigued by two young women dressed all in white in one front window, seated on low sofas, rolling out dough on tables in front of them.
Thereʼs a couple seated at a window table motioning to us “Itʼs good!” The owner welcomed us in and told us the window sitters would like us to join their table. So thatʼs how we met Tanzer and his wife from Bern, Switzerland, and discovered the Turkish flatbread gözleme at the Han Restaurant.
Chora Church
We took a taksi to the 12th century Chora Church to see the famous mosaics. What remains is spectacular, though much has disappeared and remaining art is neckbreakingly high up. The church sanctuary itself is closed for renovations, but that part contains only a few works of art.
The side apse has extensive frescoes, mostly intact, generally non-restored, and even more difficult to view because they are straight overhead. Good explanations in the RS Istanbul guide.
The entire experience would have been better for me if I could have actually seen it. Think that may have required lying on the floor with binoculars.
Heading 6
Day 1 was easier than expected! Lots of visitors in the compact historical center and we were all going to many of the same places. Googlemaps made it simple. Two blondes don't exactly blend in here, but locals have been very friendly. Carpet salesmen are relentless and annoying. But we never got lost and we didn't buy a carpet. Certainly felt safe everywhere we went.
Day 2 on our own was a wonderful day with a friend of a friend from Atlanta. She’s here teaching English at a university, and my friend offered to put us in touch. We emailed a few times, and she came up with a plan to connect some of the places we wanted to see, plus showing us streets in a more modern part of Istanbul.
Deb showed us how to take the tram to see the Sirkeci railway station, walked us down Istiklal Street, inside the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, and to the Pera Palas Hotel, where they were serving afternoon tea. We also saw a hipper, artsy part of Istanbul totally different from Sultanahmet.
For Agatha Christie fans, this is the famous station where the Oriental Express departed.
Sirkeci Railway Station: The Orient Express
An Artsy side of istanbul
Day 3 was Sunday, and a major cross country bike race had most of Sultanahmet Park blocked. Getting to anything, even with Googlemaps, was complicated because of the street barricades.We were out early to visit the Blue Mosque.
If your hair isnʼt covered you get a blue paper scarf, and if your jeans too holey, a long pull-on skirt. We brought our own scarves and joined the queue. At least eighty percent of the interior was blocked with drapes and scaffolding for renovations. Could see only a sliver of the intricately decorated dome.
A little too much "Eau de Feet" in here today.
blue mosque
turkish and islamic arts museum
After a couple of false starts we found our way to the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum. Itʼs a contemporary rebuild over an ancient palace. Most of the exhibits are well displayed, like the beautiful turquoise pottery fragments, but they lack English descriptions and we lacked historical context. A big section of the museum about Turkish lifestyles, the part that sounded most interesting, was closed.
There’s a good chapter of descriptions in the RS Istanbul book, and ours was in our hotel.
Back out in the sun, crowds were still waiting for the bikes to arrive, and we escaped to a park bench near the big round fountain. Soon three young teenagers, a boy and two girls, approached with a request to answer their questionnaire for a class English project. The polite young man did most of the talking. His English was good, though we had to look at his typewritten paper to understand a few questions. Most were about where we are from, how old we are ["Old enough!"] and our impressions of Turkey. It was fun to help them out. They thanked us, and as they walked away, we heard one of the girls say “Only six more!”
should have brought your RS istanbul book
For a late lunch we returned to Han, and there were our Swiss friends, again sitting at the window table. Today they were sharing a beautiful platter of roast meats and vegetables. The owner Mehmet said this is kebab, and he made one for the two of us. Steak, chicken wings, lamb ribs, beef short ribs, eggplant, and tomatoes. He came by midway to tell us to just pick it up and eat with our hands, and he mixed me a small plate of yoghurt and chilies to spread on the flatbread.
I think I should have stopped before the chilies! Maybe I just wonʼt eat again for the next 14 days.
Day 4, Monday morning, and we’re free until three when our group meets. Off to see the Grand Bazaar. Googlemaps got us there easily, and we’re through the metal detector and into one of the main halls, apparently jewelry street. Lots of gold and garish colored stones. If you show any interest in looking at a window, you acquire a salesman. There seems to be some agreement that one guyʼs turf ends at the next guyʼs shop window, so at least they donʼt follow you down the street like the carpet salesmen.
I think I was expecting something much more exotic. This reminded me of a mall. Shops are repetitive — jewelry, scarves, painted pottery, knockoff designer purses, T-shirts, cheap shoes, cheap shiny shoes. Narrower streets branched off the bigger ones. It was confusing but not the winding maze I had pictured. Easy enough to backtrack to one of the main streets and then find a way out. The few salesmen we actually interacted with were friendly, and I think they must spend long days with very few sales. After five minutes I knew I wasnʼt going to find a treasure, and after an hour the fabric dyes were burning my eyes.
We knew our tour was coming here later, but came on our own because we thought we would want more time to look. One hour was plenty!
But when my friends saw the shiny shoes on FB, they all wanted them!
grand bazaar
