Since Monday is a holiday and I haven’t been to Istanbul yet, I decided to spend the three-day weekend there with my friend Basem. After comparing all of the different types of transportation, we decided to take the fast train. The tickets were 100 TL ($28) for business class, which provided a meal, wifi, and nicer seats. The 7:20 p.m. train worked perfectly because I had a class until 4:30 and then we met up at 6 and took a taxi to the train. One of my students also went along to meet up with her cousin because she didn't want to go alone. The train ride was a bit bumpy and stopped several times along the way. It took 4 hours to reach our destination. The train reached up to speeds of 250km (about 160 mph), which I thought was impressive as it whizzed through small towns. I was initially annoyed with the screaming kids but then they fell asleep, so I was good. The food was okay. The stewardess served it quickly after we sat down, like literacy 5 minutes within the train starting. The hot part of the meal was beef, bulgar, peppers, and mushrooms in a savory brown sauce. Then, they served a carrot and yogurt salad and bread. There was also a sweet, syrupy dessert along with drinks (sodas, etc.). Afterward, they came by several times with the drink cart to serve coffee and tea.
After jumping in the taxi, we round our way around the city to get to the hotel. We arrived on the Asian side and had to go over to the European side. We crossed over the bridge and headed to our hotel. The hotel has adequately decorated rooms with bright decor. The rooms are clean, but a bit small.
After a good rest, we went over to the breakfast place across from our hotel and noticed that there were a lot of dirty dishes on the tables. The breakfast was set out, but it was quite sparse and the workers were running around frantically. When we finally got plates and coffee cups, the workers told us that they were taking care of a breakfast on the terrace (on top of our building) for the boss, so they were basically running back and forth with trying to take care of everything. We were a bit annoyed but we understood the situation. After breakfast, we told the worker at the desk about the breakfast fiasco. They were apologetic and told us they did the best they could, but it was for their boss. I told him that the boss chose his guests over the residents. Later, when we got back to the room, we found apples, oranges, pears, strawberries, and kiwis as a peace offering.
After a good rest, we went over to the breakfast place across from our hotel and noticed that there were a lot of dirty dishes on the tables. The breakfast was set out, but it was quite sparse and the workers were running around frantically. When we finally got plates and coffee cups, the workers told us that they were taking care of a breakfast on the terrace (on top of our building) for the boss, so they were basically running back and forth with trying to take care of everything. We were a bit annoyed but we understood the situation. After breakfast, we told the worker at the desk about the breakfast fiasco. They were apologetic and told us they did the best they could, but it was for their boss. I told him that the boss chose his guests over the residents. Later, when we got back to the room, we found apples, oranges, pears, strawberries, and kiwis as a peace offering.
After breakfast, we took a walk down the alleys and it looked so European to me. The alleys are close with small shops at every step. We caught the train and took it Güllhane and headed towards Aya Sophia. There were beautiful purple tulips along the way to the museum. Once we reached the museum, there were the typical guys there trying to sell extra tours (for a fee, of course) to tell you about the museum. We rejected the tours and waited in the long line for tickets. I love the way Turkey really supports teachers and offers a museum card for 20 Lira (less than $6) with access to over 300 museums, gifts shops, etc.
Aya Sophia was originally a church and then turned into a mosque. There was scaffolding covering nearly half of the museum, but the building was still stunning. It was adorned with calligraphy, mosaics, wooden signs, paintings, etc. of the past religious relics. The building itself is stunning and along with the number of tourists, it was truly something to see. I was fascinated by the diverse number of people and all of the Christian ruins. We ran into a group of Turkish high school students whose English teacher asked us to take their picture. After the picture, we asked one of girls about her shirt that said: “holy chick” and the whole group giggled. They felt embarrassed by their level of English and asked their teacher what we said. It was a fun moment that reminded me of how much I miss my high school students.
After Aya Sophia, we passed by the largest tulip carpet (I am not sure if it in the world or not, but it was large) and then headed over to the Sultanahmet (the blue mosque) mosque. This is the first time, I have been to a mosque, so I was excited. I knew that I needed to cover my head, arms, and legs, but I didn’t realize I couldn’t wear pants. So, they had an area for foreigners to change and get the appropriate clothing. Since it has warmed up, I totally forgot my scarf, so I borrowed some material that worked like a scarf. We took off our shoes and entered the mosque. Less than half of the mosque was for visitors and the other half was just for people who were praying. Of course, you had to be a resident of Turkey and a man to go to the prayer area. I found women praying at the very back of the mosque. It was disturbing to me to find women who were taking off their scarves when they came in the mosque or not really paying attention to the regulations. I just felt it was so disrespectful. No one would really say anything to them, but it was more of a respect thing for me. I was a visitor and I needed to respect the rules.
After the mosque, we grabbed some fresh juice (orange and pomegranate) and headed to Karaköy dock to take the ferry across from the European side to the Asian side. It cost about 1.75 Lira, which is about 50 cents. We went to Kadikoy, took a walk in Moda and found Walter’s Coffee shop. Basem had found this coffee place a few years ago. It is a homage to Breaking Bad and Walter White. The coffee shop is decorated in white, yellow, and black with a chemistry theme. There is a large periodic table on the wall with several names and a chemistry set that brews the coffee (pour overs). They actually roast real coffee and use these yellow hazmat suits when they are roasting it. The coffee shop is also very well-planned and spacious with electrical outlets everywhere. The vibe was very nice.
After coffee, we found a beautiful terrace on the third floor of a restaurant and had a late lunch of traditional Turkish food. Then, we walked around a bit more, took the ferry back to the hotel and rested for a while. I wanted to go out to a pub later, but by the time I reached the hotel, I was tired and just wanted to rest a bit. After a few hours, Basem went out and found us some food and wine and we had dinner on the top of our building. The view was specular and the weather was perfect. In the distance, you could see at least five or six planes lined up to coming into Attaturk airport. After dinner and wine, I slept like a rock.
