We have been staying in the Old City and most of our adventures have been in this area. Today we went on a cruise on the Bosporus and this gave us a much better idea of the size and diversity of this metropolis. The Bosporus is a stretch of water that connects the Black Sea with the Marmara Sea, which eventually connects to the Mediterranean. It is but 17 miles long and yet is one of the most heavily travelled waterways in the world. The harbor appears to stretch the length of its shores but actually is many, many little harbors spread up and down the Bosporus. Not only is Istanbul split by this waterway, but so too is Europe and Asia. It is the only city that straddles these two continents - and in such a unique manner. Istanbul, due to its location, has been the seat of power for vast empires and has had many names including Byzantium, Constantinople, and Istanbul.
The tour included about 30 people and since we had time to kill before the actual tour, we were led to the Spice Market, which proved to be a bit underwhelming as it was much smaller and more modern than we had expected. Since we had planned to visit this market and the Grand Bazaar on Monday, with a guide that we had hired long distance, we just walked through it quickly and headed back to the bus, which took us to our boat - a ship - that could have probably held 300 or more.
Our guide spoke English, as do most of the people in the tourism industry in Istanbul. We had been told that Istanbul has over 3000 mosques - which come in all sizes - and certainly from the water we saw many, many beautiful ones. We also saw palaces that were built by various Sultans - summer palaces, winter palaces, and just plain old palaces. They were reminiscent of Buckingham Palace as most were rectangular in shape as opposed to being castle-like. We also saw opulent hotels that cost thousands of dollars per night - if you have to ask, then you can't afford it! But what was most amazing were the houses, not only along the shore, but up into the hills and beyond. And these were not shacks; these were huge, single family dwellings that cost in the millions! The guide also pointed out, way in the distance, between two hills, the downtown business section of Istanbul. Again, this gave us a better idea of the enormity of the city.
The guide pointed out the two bridges that span the Bosporus. With only the two bridges, and up to two million people a day moving across them, there are huge traffic jams. The solution was to build the Marmaray Tunnel that handles rail traffic between the two continents - again the only tunnel that connects two continents in the world. The tunnel has been open but a year. The Asian side of the city appears to be much more residential and quieter than does the European side. For that reason, many people like to live in the "suburbs."
We then went to Taksim Square, which is seen as the episcenter of the city, both geographically and emotionally. It has been the scene of various protests and riots, some just a couple of weeks ago. There is a huge walking and shopping area off of the square with typical Turkish restaurants and shops and many American ones as well, such as, MacDonald's, Burger King, Domino's, Sunglass Hut, etc. BTW, MacDonald's delivers in Istanbul. After traversing the shopping area we headed down a major hill toward the Istanbul Modern, and while the museum was not worth the walk, the walk itself, was! Apparently Istanbul is another one of those cities built on seven hills, and we walked down one of them, with narrow, windy streets and great local shops and restaurants.
After the museum, we took the tram back to the Blue Mosque and from there wound our way back to the hotel for what has become our daily ritual nap. I only say that because travel is work and while it is really enjoyable it requires both physical and mental effort so taking a short rest is not a bad thing. Plus walking from the tram station gives us confidence because we can find our way back to the hotel - to paraphrase Peter Pan, "Head for the Blue Mosque and turn left!"
In the evening we had reservations to see the Whirling Dervelishes. Contrary to popular belief - ours at least - this is a religious ceremony and not a dance performance. The location was in a grand old domed building, of which there are many in Istanbul. There were about 200 people in attendance and the music and the room certainly created an amazing environment. The Whirling Dervelishes were five men dressed in black capes which covered white gowns - for lack of a better word. They appear to literally go into a trance-like state and begin whirling, and whirling, and whirling. They must whirl hundreds of times, but they don't spin their heads like ice skaters or dancers do - their eyes are mostly closed and they just spin! There is no applause - big sign in English, but not Turkish - and then it is over.
Again, we walked back to the hotel by looking for the minarets of the Blue Mosque and turning left! However when we got to the Blue Mosque there were thousands of people who had setup elaborate "picnic-style" dinners on the grass around the mosque. It was about 8:30 and the fast for Ramadan ends each night at 8:45. So this was, in effect, a timed picnic, with everyone just waiting for the signal to dig in! Dinner for us was not far from the hotel at a fish restaurant that had a roof-top dining area that overlooked the Marmara Sea.
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