July 19-23: Istanbul, Turkey

We arrived in Istanbul and met up with my friend, Ekin. We became good friends in Spain, where he was studying and I was teaching. He’s from the southern coast of Turkey, but has lived in Istanbul for the past five years, so it was wonderful to have him show us around. He was awesome enough to let us stay at his place with his other three roommates. He’s also recently “funemployed,” so we didn’t have to work around any schedule!

We got there on a Monday night around 10:30 pm, but you never would have guessed it by looking in the streets. There were TONS of people out; it looked like it was a special festival or something! Ekin said that that was totally normal and that there was nothing special going on. As we later found was common all throughout the day, people sell boiled and roasted corn on the cob, a kind of pickled vegetables, bread, baklava, Turkish Delight and other types of sweets, stuffed mussels, light up toys, balloons, roasted chestnuts… There are also ice cream stands that have bells on them, which the worker hits the ice cream on while teasing the customer.

Ekin, his roommates and his friends were very welcoming, super friendly, and amazing hosts. They made us traditional Turkish breakfasts, spent a lot of time chatting with us and explaining cultural things we didn’t know, and even asked Jeff to play in a friendly soccer game (Jeff played very well, but his shirt was literally soaked with sweat...not a dry spot on it).

We had planned on going out to some islands, but through some misunderstandings, we never went but had an amazing day seeing some interesting parts of the city instead. We checked out the Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar, got a fish sandwich from a place that cooks them on a boat docked on the river, and took a ferry up the river and across to the Asian side. On the Asian side, Ekin took us to this place that has special Turkish yogurt; he said that it’s better and more expensive if it has a skin over the top!


Delicious fish sandwiches

We also visited the Blue Mosque, the Aya Sofia, and Topkapi Palace. The palace has beautiful views and lots of amazing treasure and relics, including a (supposedly authentic) footprint of Mohammed and an 82 carat diamond. The Aya Sofia is a very impressive mosque that was originally constructed as a Christian church in the 500’s. When it was converted, they plastered over many intricate mosaics of Jesus, angels, Mary, and John the Baptist. Since turning the building into a museum, they have uncovered the mosaics, and most are unbelievably well preserved.


Traditional Turkish evening


Outside the Blue Mosque

It was fun to finally be in a place where the culture is a bit different than our own. Turkish people take off their shoes before going in their home, don’t normally wear shorts (despite the heat), and take hosting very seriously. They love playing backgammon and drinking tea at cafes (check out the picture). They are blunt, careful about being wasteful, and male friends kiss each other on the cheeks. It was also so incredible to listen to the calls to prayer five times a day. Ekin’s apartment is two doors down from a mosque, so we were not-so-pleasantly awoken every morning at 4:30 am. Istanbul is a beautiful and interesting city, and it was wonderful to visit it and stay with a good friend who could shows us the best aspects of the city.