Istanbul Part 2: The Cistern & The Blue Mosque

I really cannot say enough about Istanbul. It was such a cool city! It was such an interesting mix of cultures- its almost like it was once the crossroads of the world. We tried to see as many of the sights as we could in the short amount of time we had in Istanbul, and it was tough, there is just so much to see and do! We walked down our hill every morning, passing the Galata Tower and crossing the Galata Bridge. Even our walk down the Istiklal street was interesting, known for being a shopping hub in Istanbul, it was packed day and night and we quickly learned that we had to keep our eyes open at all times. It was mostly a pedestrian walkway, but there was also a trolley that would lumber through occasionally that we had to watch for, and sometimes there was even a car or moped. Plus, the shops along the streets were full of interesting things and not to mention there were mosques every few feet- it was exhausting just to try and look at everywhere all the time, dodge through the crowds and watch out for the traffic!

We made it up to Topkapi Palace where we walked the gardens- it was easy to see why the Ottomans built the palace there- the view was incredible, covering most of the European side of Istanbul as well as the Asian side, just spectacular! Our next order of tourist business was to go visit the famed Blue Mosque, however the call to prayer sounded and we were told we would have to wait for prayers to finish before we were allowed in. Fortunately, in our wanderings we had found just the place to kill time- and try a traditional Turkish treat! We had found an adorable little street right next to the palace, in fact, one side of the street was lined by the palace garden wall. Anyway, the whole street was adorable with winding, narrow, cobbled streets, art stores and layered cafes traveling up the street. We sat down at one of the cafes and tried our very first Turkish coffee! Having read that it is very strong we all ordered ours with sugar. Turkish coffee is made a very specific way with tiny grounds being boiled in a specific cup and if you want sugar it needs to be added when it is being made, there is no adding sugar to the coffee! Because it is unfiltered, the grounds settle along the bottom of the cup and stirring in sugar would agitate the grounds making for some very chewy coffee. The coffee that we ordered was very strong and we were all glad we had it with sugar!

Coffee break over, we headed to the Blue Mosque. Otherwise known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, it was given the name Blue Mosque because of the blue tiles that line the interior of the mosque. (Cool fact- the French visited Turkey and were so blown away with their use of blue that they named the color after the Turks- Turquoise!) The mosque was built between 1609-1617 and the sultan who commissioned it, Ahmed I, was so dedicated to its construction that he worked as a laborer on it. My mom and I had to cover our heads as a sign of respect upon entering the mosque and fortunately we had our scarves with us, although the mosque provided scarves for the head, or wraps for bare legs free of charge- unlike some places who charge a whole Euro for their stupid, itchy scarves to cover your shoulders (St. Marks Basilica, I am looking at you!). And we all had to remove our shoes and carry them around with us in bags while we were in the mosque. Wow! It was absolutely incredible! The domes in the mosque are supposed to represent heaven, and they sure got it right- it was lofty, bright and airy and felt so serene. It was absolutely huge, and the beautiful blue tiles that gave the mosque its name were very prominent and absolutely exquisite. It was an absolutely amazing sight! It was a totally new experience for me to be in a predominantly muslim country and we tried to be as respectful of the culture as we could. Throughout the day we could hear the call to prayer. No matter where we were in the city, you can hear a voice echoing from the mosques calling the muslims to prayer when the time comes. We were all a little surprised though when the call the prayer sounded, we didn’t see people rushing off to pray- many people seemed to ignore it. I am sure I am revealing my ignorance when I say that, but it was just a genuine surprise for me.

One of my favorite activities was visiting the cistern. Nothing like what I would picture a water storage facility to be- it was huge and beautiful. Built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, it was completed in 565- we actually walked around in something that was built 1500 years ago! It was totally mind blowing, especially considering that the cistern is still held up with the original 336 columns. And there is a city on top of it! You would never even know that this giant, underground cistern is under the city, there are roads, mosques, parks, all kinds of stuff just sitting on top of it. The columns used to hold it up were not made specifically for that purpose, but were left over from other projects or recycled in the construction of the cistern so many of them are similar but there are a few really unique looking columns. Two of the columns have giant stone medusa heads at the bottom of them, in one of the she is upside down (legend has it that upside down, Medusa’s head is rendered powerless) and in the other column she is sideways. Each of the columns are light with red spotlights which provides a very unique, dim lighting. While the cistern is no longer used to hold the cities water, it does still have some water in it along with giant goldfish. We sat and watched the goldfish swim for a long time, the water is quite shallow in several places and the fish skim along the surface and create wakes as they go.

I really loved the food of Istanbul as well- we tried some really good food! We also tried some not so great food in the form of Ayran. Ayran is a yogurt drink that everyone in Istanbul seems to love, so we decided to give it a go while we were enjoying some delicious donners. Well, my mom and I went for it, Nick opted to try mine and go for a water instead. I guess it is an acquired taste because it was rather difficult for us to choke down, mom declared that it tasted like the liquid that runs off cottage cheese and I had to agree. Not my favorite. Fortunately, we had tons of other good food including donners and kebabs and street foods like juicy slices of watermelon and peeled, spiraled apples.