To the Edge of Town and Back

On the morning of day 3 in Istanbul, Jeff sketched the view from the roof while waiting for the rest of us to make our way up for breakfast.  By the time we arrived at the Blue Mosque still very early in the day, the line to enter was already pretty long.  Kat got increasingly frustrated with the people who pretended to not see the line or for other reasons felt like they could join the crowd at the entrance rather than at the back of the line, but only because she is well versed with that trick and wished she had thought to do it herself!   They were well prepared for tourists showing too much skin, and I was given a longer skirt to wear in addition to the headscarves we all received.  The famous, gorgeous Blue Mosque gets its name from rich color that dominates the interior. Amazingly, it was built in just 7 years.  

From the mosque, we walked across the Hippodrome to the Turkish and Islamic Arts museum to see the collection of carpets, calligraphy, ceramics, and Quaran holders, among other things.  Mom felt was it was disappointing and not all that interesting.  Kat liked the oldest piece in the collection - a 7th century AD milestone (distance marker) that states the distance to Damascus.

Mom wanted us to see the Chora Church Museum on the edge of town just inside the Old Town walls, most easily reached by taxi.  Our taxi driver seemed to take a very long route, but we didn’t really have any idea where we were going so we paid the 40 lira fare.  Kat was not very excited about going to see a Christian church, and Lord knows I’ve seen my fill of some pretty important Christian churches this summer, but we were both won over by the beautiful mosaics that the Byzantines had perfected and the Ottoman Islams were kind enough to whitewash over rather than destroy.  The most impressive works included the entire family trees of Jesus and Mary.  It was amazing to see the facial expressions they were able to achieve with the use of such small stones in the pieces. 

From there we walked to the Walls of Theodosius built in the early 5th century.  We climbed up to the top of it to walk along it briefly for the great view of the city.  Mom’s fear of heights kept her on the ground, but us kids all went up the stairwell with no handrail to a 10 foot wide wall with no barriers on either edge…and added it to the list of things that would not be allowed in the USA (right after the fact that when you exit the tram you are allowed to walk across the tracks of other trams to cross the street).

Rick Steves suggested a long walk back to the center of town along the wall, but we opted instead to spend time near the Golden Horn.  So we took the next cab we saw back to the Spice Market, the 12 lira fare adding to the suspicion that driver on the way to the wall may have taken some unnecessary turns.   Among the stalls near the Spice Market we found the entrance going up to the elevated Rustem Pasa Mosque just as the call to prayer had sounded (one of the five times each day).  We weren’t allowed in during the service, so we sat outside in the courtyard to wait and appreciate the impressively tiled facade.  Kat got more pictures of us posed in front of tiles, but this time she wore a solid shirt so as not to clash. 

Istanbul is situated on an interesting section of water between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, connected by the Bosphorus Strait.  Certainly a great way to get a sense of the city and area would be on a Bosphorus Cruise.  Needless to say, I wasn’t super excited about that option especially after my recent experience in Capri, but I was willing to do the two-hour ferry.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to make the choice.  I learned that while I thought my mom would hate a boat ride and my sister would love one, the truth is the exact opposite.  I didn’t know Kat wasn’t a boat person, but was glad that she made the choice to stay on dry land especially as the smells of fish and boat fuel were already difficult enough for me to take.  Instead, we walked half-way across the Golden Horn on the Galata Bridge, which is lined with restaurants and people trying to get you to choose theirs.  The restaurant we ended up picking was good enough – Kat was happy with her fish, Mom was happy to have a beer with lunch, I was happy we would be leaving the smell of the water’s edge soon, and Jeff was happy to sketch what he saw…which included the waterfront topped by the Sulumaniye Mosque.  Since we had decided to forgo the ferry, we made that mosque our next destination.    

Conveniently, the tram exit for the Sulumaniye Mosque is the same one as the tram exit for the Grand Bazaar, and Kat and I had a couple of things we wanted to pop back in to get if the opportunity presented itself. This time Jeff didn’t even bother to pretend to go with us – rather than take the tram he walked all the way from the bridge up to the mosque and made a plan with Kat for meeting in the courtyard of the mosque a couple of hours later.  If there were any problems we decided to just meet back at the hotel.  In the Bazaar, Kat badgered a merchant until he cut the price of a sultan dress-up outfit for Jack more than in half and was happy to see us leave.  We were also able to find the same jeweler we had bought from the day before so that I (who does not make buying decision as quickly) could get myself a marcasite bracelet like mom and Kat. After making our purchases, we pushed our way through a crowded street and made it to the mosque about 5 minutes after 5:00 – the time Kat said we were supposed to meet Jeff – but couldn’t find Jeff when we got there.  Services had just begun so we were not allowed to go inside to see if maybe he was sketching the interior. Mom and I sat in the courtyard to the rear right of the entrance while Kat circled the mosque searching for Jeff before declaring he was nowhere to be found.  Though I was sure he wouldn’t have left just five minutes after our meeting time, Kat was certain that he had already gone back to the hotel…so we walked back.  Surprisingly, Jeff was not at the hotel when we returned.  He came back over an hour later, after having waited for us past the 5:30 time he remembered being the agreed upon time.  If he was sitting where he claims and where the vantage point of the sketch places him, mom and I would have been sitting practically on his lap.  It is still a mystery how we did not see each other.

I spent the hour that Jeff was missing in the pottery store visiting with Omer and narrowing down my options further.  Jeff and Kat came in and quickly picked out more things to buy while I still looked.  I had planned to make my final decision on Sunday before leaving Turkey, but Omer forced me into a decision when he told me that he had to go visit his family and wouldn’t be around on Sunday.  Mom was getting very hungry so we went to find a place for dinner.  It is never a very quick process because you are always walking by shops and stalls and Kat in particular likes to poke.  So, just before we reached a hunger crisis, we sat at a table at the Dervish Café.  It could have gotten very ugly when there was not only no wine but the chicken Mom ordered was finished for the night.  But, the Whirling Dervish entertainment had a calming effect and crisis was averted.    After all my hemming and hawing, I decided at dinner that all I really needed was a single large bowl and a table runner.  Kat bought some baklava on the hippodrome, which was very active given it was the last night of Ramadan, and we sat at a table outside the hotel and had some tea and dessert with Omer.   I imagine that after three full days of being in his store he was probably expecting a larger purchase from me, but I did my part by bringing in my mom, sister, and brother.  I will need to return to Istanbul someday if just to get more pottery.  It is all so beautiful.

Kat and Jeff returned to the Hippodrome to wander around, mom went to bed, and I helped Omer close up the shop. An end to another great day.