Istanbul-Monday, April 6

At breakfast at the hotel a manager came and apologized to Brian for his late room service Saturday night. Whoa!

First up for the day: the "real" cistern--Yerebetan Sarnici (Basilica Cistern). They could tell they were at the "real" one this time since it was much more crowded, there was water (and fish) inside, and they found Medusa, too!

The cistern was built in 532 used and then forgotten about...the Ottomans were not aware of the cistern until exploring in 1545 uncovered locals who could "miraculously" retrieve water and fish by lowering buckets in their basement floors. Amazing that an underground tank built with 336 columns to hold 80,000 cubic meters of water could go unnoticed for so long.









After the cistern was a walk to the Grand Bazaar. Lunch of the best doners Brian has had since being here was part of the overwhelming walk through the bazaar. He had gone not expecting to be wowed, but he came back ready to send me on a bus to Istanbul right away to go shopping at the bazaar. There were entire aisles of stall offering the similar products...so if one wouldn't bargain with you or didn't have what you wanted, you could just move down the aisle and try the next one. As Rob put it later on, we could have just made a trip to Istanbul to set up house when we arrived and I wouldn't have had to complain about not being able to find things in Ankara!






They walked some tight and twisted roads to visit the Yeni Cami (New Mosque) and happened to witness the transportation of goods up the hill old-school style--on the backs of people. The porters had a system of extra walkers to take the load when someone got tired, so the bundles were always moving even as the porters took breaks. The job is not OSHA-certified for sure, leading to men who walk permanently bent over as if still carrying a load. There are even a few here in Ankara who offer to carry home your purchases from the pazar if you wish.

The Yeni Cami is 400 years old and somewhat like a "mini" Blue Mosque, decorated inside with pretty blue Iznik tiles. It is a functioning mosque also, so shoes must be removed and prayer times result in closing for 20-30 minutes after each call.





Brian and Rob wanted to squeeze in a view of the Suleymaniye Camii (Mosque of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent) before heading to the bus stop so they started walking up a steep and winding hill, attempting to follow the signs spray painted on walls to the mosque. When they still hadn't seen the mosque and had walked to what felt like nowhere, Brian had a new appreciation for the term "tourist trap" and wondered if perhaps the spray painted signs were bogus and just leading them to a place where they could be relieved of their cameras and money. They did finally make it to the mosque, though just as a call to prayer started, so they couldn't enter. They waited around outside and were finally allowed in, only to find that it is completely under renovation inside and only a very small hallway was open for worshipers and tourists. Not a good end to the sightseeing.





They took a cab back to the hotel to rest before the bus ride back to Ankara...and learned that 2 cokes at the bar at the Intercontinental runs (only) 30 lira (!)

The transportation was a bit worrisome, as Brian had not known about the shuttle from the main bus station to the Taksim Square area (he had taken a taxi on the way in). So when the taxi driver dropped them somewhere different than he was expecting, and their bus departure time came and went, he was a bit nervous they had missed their bus. But then a shuttle showed up, brought them to the station where Brian had arrived two days earlier, and they waited for their turn to board, asking each bus, "Ankara?" since the mumbling, buzzing announcements were in Turkish and it was doubtful they could be understood even if they had been in English.

They had 3 tickets for 2 people, which caused confusion at every stop. Brian's student wasn't able to come at the last minute, so they just had the extra seat as extra room. But at each stop the steward wanted to be able to seat someone there, even though Brian and Rob had the ticket for that seat. Oh well. Brian watched movies and such, and Rob was in conversation with a kid from Chicago for a bit longer than he would have preferred...but it makes a good story at least.

Later on they arrived in Ankara and then back at the apartment, and it was great to see Rob and stay up and chat with him. I can't believe he pulled off the whirlwind tour of Istanbul without jet lag!

More pictures from today:

2009-04-06Istanbul