Turkish delight on a moonlit night

Ok, so we did spend the entire trip singing this song. But we did stil manage to see and experience all of Istanbul.

We arrived on Friday night and after a techno-filled 80 mph shuttle van ride, arrived at our hostel. We stayed in Sultanhamet, arguably the most touristy part of the city. Istanbul is enormous and home to almost 3,000 mosques, though the most famous are clustered in one area.

We checked out the area briefly, but went to bed pretty

early in order to prepare ourselves for our sightseeing blitz.

We started Saturday at the Blue Mosque (also known as the

Sultanhamet Mosque). Depending on the time of day, it really does look blue. Its other noteworthy feature is that it has six minarets, as opposed to the typical two or four. Compared to the cities I've been visiting in Western Europe all semester, with their Gothic churches and Roman architecture, this looked other

worldly. The mosque is enormous, but was built in only seven years.

(Comparatively, Barcelona hasn't even finished its famous

cathedral.)

After the Blue Mosque, we walked across the street to an even larger structure: The Ayasofya. Originally the Hagia Sophia church of Constantinople, it became the Ayasofya Mosque after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Now it's just a museum, but signs of both religions are very present throughout the entire building.

Strange note: Istanbul is filled with an extraordinary number of stray cats and we saw an unbelievable number of them inside both

landmarks. Tourists were happy to take their picture though.

We concluded the epic morning with a visit to the cisterns.

Once upon a time, the underground water supply was used by the entire city. When it's functionality became obsolete, someone had the brilliant idea to turn it into a basilica. Talk about creepy.

After a stop for some döner and baklava, we headed for the harbor.

On the way, we made a pit stop at the Egyptian Spice Bazaar, which is filled with (like the name implies) spices. Each stall also features its own unique variety of Turkish delight.

My only reference for the treat is its appearance in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, so we had to try some. It tastes vaguely like a marshmallow, though the chewiness quotient depends on the flavor. The verdict is that I'm ambiguous. We did, however, encounter innumerable types of nuts and dried fruit, so I was pretty happy.

Snacks in hand, we took the ferry to Asia. There really isn't much on the Asian side of the city (if anything, it's a lot less touristy), but we wanted to at least say that we set foot on two continents in one day. We explored the area surrounding one of the ferry stops, and then started to make our way to the other harbor. We asked for directions in a bookstore and they advised us to take either a bus or a dolmus, a group taxi. I had read about the dolmus and so knew they were totally safe (and probably a better idea than normal cabs, which require a little haggling). The bus didn't seem to be coming any time soon, and the taxis were going directly from one harbor to the other, so the four of us piled in (claiming the back row).

It wasn't entirely clear how one was supposed to pay, or WHAT one was supposed to pay, so the other passengers helped us out. It also wasn't exactly clear when one was supposed to exit the taxi. The driver would open the sliding door, people would hop out, and that was that. We figured we'd know when to get out. Not so much. After driving around for a minute with the door open and us still in the taxi, the driver yelled "GET OUT." So we did. Onto an island in the middle of traffic. The other dolmus drivers seemed pretty amused by us.

We made it back to Europe safe and sound.

On Sunday, the weather was a little bit of a deterrent, but we were still able to visit the enormous Topkapi Palace. On our way, we stopped for simit — a food item sold on the streets for a dollar that looks and tastes an awful lot like a sesame bagel. On the palace grounds are multiple prayer areas, ramps so the sultan can be carried and an entire building for swords and jewels. The old royal garments were also displayed and we were in shock over how large they were. I guess the ramps and the delicious Ottoman cuisine might be explanations.

Speaking of cuisine, we became very well acquainted with baklava while on our trip. In particular, with one particular shop (we managed to visit multiple branches). The shopkeeper was so impressed by our group dynamic (one boy to three girls) that he insisted on taking a picture with the three of us. We suspect it may be up on their wall pretty soon. Jeremy got a lot of street cred for traveling with us — he got called a Sultan and was asked by a restaurant proprietor if he could have one of us. The catcalls — though more verbal than Barcelona's "hola guapa" — didn't really feel all that threatening. They really were just amusing. Restaurant managers will say anything to try and get you to sit down. Though the non-creative opt for the "Yes please, yes please," notable solicitations we got included: "You're so beautiful you can't be real," "You're so beautiful but you would look even nicer at my table," and a rousing rendition of "Don't you wish your boyfriend was hot like me?"

We encountered the greatest amount of haggling and catcalling during our all-day visit to the Grand Bazaar on Monday. Home to over 4,000 stalls (plus countless street stalls outside), it makes for one of the more intense shopping experiences I've ever had. We bargained with the best of them. One merchant even thought I was Turkish, but figured out that was not the case when I didn't respond to his comments. (We had already concluded I was the most Turkish looking of the group, but that's really not saying much.) Scarves, pottery, earrings, tea glasses, leather coats and fez in hand, we emerged hours later (an exit caused largely by the collective lack of funds).

We left Istanbul at the alarming hour of 3 am on Tuesday (6:30 am flight, but infrequently running shuttles). However, we were flying real airlines (a nice change from Vueling and Ryannair), so there was a lot of coffee to help us make it through. The trip was unbelievable, but now I have to return to the grind. Two weeks and counting, and a whole semester's worth of course work to reteach myself before then. Yikes!

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Also, if you made it this far (I admittedly just wrote a brief novel) and still want more to read, check this out. 120: You are beautiful. I cannot wait for January.