Bay Area

Day two began with a blustery run along the coastline and a revelation: Istanbul (especially in March) is a lot like San Francisco.  It has winding little streets that run seemingly vertically up hills, an overcast sky and a whole lot of wind, a bay (here, the Golden Horn), a suspension bridge merely lacking the International Orange finish, and a melting pot feel where east meets west.  That said, it's a whole lot more affordable here, to the point where human labor is the norm.  It took us all day but we realized that these flattened backpack-looking things we had seen tipped against the sidewalk walls in the morning were actually bases upon which giant loads could be strapped for transport to restaurants and shops far from the waterfront. (You can see the base of the backpack peeking out beneath the teal pillow-looking thing)

Men hinge over at a 90 degree angle, their backs to the opened back doors of a truck, and giant sacks, boxes, and pallets of cheap goods are strapped to their backs.  When we learned later in the day that 10-20% of Turkey's residents are unemployed, this cheap labor made a bit more sense.  It still had the uncomfortable taste of the miserable Chinese porters, though.  At least these guys didn't have to climb a mountain?

Our morning was spent as a sort of Intro to Istanbul Tourism.  We began at the Grand Bazaar, because why not?  It has a little bit of everything.  Since neither of us has a strong desire to purchase any shirts, shoes, jackets, scarves, tea sets, jewelry, or bowls, we made few friends.  Still, it was fun poking around.  Our favorite discovery was actually outside of the Grand Bazaar, at a small little stand.  It looked like a stapler but....

It was a tiny handheld sewing machine!  I was very tempted to get one so that I could sew additional pockets into my white coat.

Next, we went to the Suleiman Mosque.

The interesting part about this mosque is that it is one of the simplest in the city, and yet it is considered the most magnificent and beautiful.  Sadly, most tourists only hear about and explore the Blue Mosque, which is much more ornate (although I still like it).  The Suleiman Mosque has a faint blue color, simple but elegant tiling on the inside, a domes-supporting-dome structure borrowed from the Hagia Sofia (more on that in a future post), and elegant gardens.  It was designed by Mimar Sinan (architect for 3 sultans in a row!), was completed in 1557, and set the standard for mosque construction around the world.  Walking the grounds felt like entering an oasis from the non-stop conversations with the seemingly bred-for-extroversion Turks.  It also brought us a gorgeous view of the city.

Our third stop was the Spice Market.  Josh got to try Turkish Delight for the first time, and we wandered around breathing in the fumes of dried teas and mounded spices.  We also ended up in a sort of market extension off to one side where they sold mainly roosters, plant seeds/bulbs, and (most surprisingly) live leeches.  There are surprises around every corner here, if you bother to look.

We were scheduled to go on an afternoon bosophorus tour, but we had a bit more time before launching, so we walked a bit of the Galata Bridge only to find.... MOON JELLIES!  I'm not sure how visible they are in this picture, but there were hundreds of them just beneath the surface of the water.

After several trips to the National Aquarium, I was well prepared to appreciate the four semicircles on the back of these jellies and identify them.  My favorite moon jellies have always been the pinkie-nail-size ones, but any sighting in the wild was pretty exciting.

At last, we boarded our Bosphorus cruise ship.  We had decided on the 2-hour "Circle Tour" rather than the 6-hour all-day trip.  There is only so much residential skyline one can appreciate, and even a pristine island seen by horse-drawn carriage is anticlimactic in a gray haze.  There were a couple of very beautiful buildings along the way, though, including mosques, mansions, and a gorgeous building that is apparently the "Versailles of Turkey".  We also watched as dozesns of seagulls accompanied the ship, snapping bits of simit (the Turkish sesame seed-covered bagel-ish circles, http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simit) out of the air as a woman in conservative Islamic dress stood on a bench and hurled them out the window, laughing in pure delight.  

The gentle rocking of the ship was the perfect way to relax after a day of aggressive sight-seeing and city-walking.  We had roamed touristy neighborhoods, hiked more authentic-seeming residential streets, and appreciated the fact that literally everything (scales, Barbies, juicers, zippers, six foot tall spoons) is sold on the streets of Istanbul.  But the best part is wandering around and soaking it up for free.

Spotted: Some things are universal.  Like no line for the men's bathroom, and one that's out the door for the women's bathroom.

Note to future travelers here: you have to pay to use the public restrooms (WCs), so keep coins handy!