Day 22 – Istanbul is Constantinople…

Yes, they know the song. J

 

Like most days around here, it was cool, but at least the sun was shining.  The ship didn’t get to that part of Turkey until the afternoon, so we decided to make a ‘short day’ of it.  The pier, once again, offered no shortage of taxi drivers promising you anything for “a good price” (including iPads, Chanel #5 perfume, etc), but the Principal had done enough research to know that we just needed to get to the end of the pier and there would be a tram that would take us downtown.  Unfortunately, what we COULDN’T find was the thing to buy tickets to get ON the tram… so we walked.  And we walked.  And we walked.  We actually walked all the way from Asia to Europe.  Yep, Istanbul is the only city that spans 2 continents and if you cross the bridge, you’re on a new continent (it’s a large bridge).

The wares in Istanbul are a little different than in Greece & Rome.  They’ll still sell you anything ‘touristy’, but they’re known for several things… the spice market (a lot of it fake, especially the saffron, unless you know what you’re looking for), the apple tea (the locals don’t drink it, but they think the tourists love it) to go with the Turkish tea sets, and then the scarves.  LOTS of beautifully woven scarves.  These are not the “black burqa” muslims you might think about, these ladies wear bright colors.

Still, one thing we weren’t expecting were the stationery stores.  We must’ve ventured into a “corner” or something, b/c we counted no fewer than 14 stationery stores all within a 3 block stretch.  They all had beautifully calligraphied wedding invitations in the window and it wasn’t until we’d passed our 3^rd or 4^th in a row that we realized it must be a ‘thing’ in this neighborhood.

 

 

Speaking of bright colors. We ran into this interesting view just a few blocks along out walk from the ship to the bridge. It seemed odd at the time, but we later learned that this was the first in a series of what has become something of a cultural phenomenon. Part graffiti... part community beatification... part social protest (with any number of groups thinking it was for their cause.

 

 

 

 

 

We find our way through the old Spice Market and eventually on to the Grand Bazaar... and while it’s ‘busy’, it's not overwhelmingly crowded.  The Principal decides to buy me a nice scarf/shawl and while we’re in the booth (these are not ‘stores’, they’re booths - with many back rooms hidden through the tiniest alleyways) the man asks him, “Are they all yours?”  It’s a question I used to hear quite frequently when the kids were little, but not so much in recent years.  The Principal confess that, “Yes, they’re all ours.” At which point the man turns to me and says, “You had all these children?”  I’m not sure why that’s such a surprise, but, ‘Yes, they’re all mine, too.”  He then punches the Principal in the arm and says, “Congratulations!  We love big families!”  It was quite the experience for the Principal.  I don’t particularly feel like I have a ‘large family’, but it was cute to see the Principal’s expression on his face at the compliment.  It wouldn’t be the last time we heard it.

More walking and we meet up with BIL/SIL/DN were outside the Grand Bazaar taking a short rest from their purchasing.  We ventured in only to “see what it was like” and promised ourselves we’d come back tomorrow.

We DID figure out how to find tram tickets, and security at the tram indicated that 3 of the children would be free (it’s hard to read Turkish, even with the “English” lettering), but getting through the turnstiles 2 at a time proved to be a little tricky.  Still, it was nice taking a tram ALL the way back from Asia (or across town, if you’re feeling less dramatic).  It really did drop you off right near the dock… and we were back.  A couple of photos of the kids out in front of… well, something with a fountain on each side… and we’re done.

 

A side note here.  We realized on our journey back, Istanbul is a ‘dog city’.  In many of the cities that we’ve been in, the locals seem to allow either feral cats, or stray dogs.  Never both… but there are definite “Dog” cities… and “Cat” cities.  Rome is a “Cat city”.  They even have an entire center square near the ancient forum dedicated to housing these feral cats.  Apparently there are a couple of vets that go over and take care of them… it’s a bit odd, to tell you the truth.  San Gimignano is also a “Cat” city, as was Ephesus.  Athens was also a dog city.  In fact, they had signs all over the forums saying that the guests were invited NOT to pet the dogs that lived there.  Istanbul is a “dog” city.  In little park areas everywhere you could see 2 or 3 large dogs just lying in the sun.  There were a couple where you had to really look to see if they were breathing (they all appeared to be, just lazy).  Living in the US, it’s not a sight you see very often.  In all our travels we were never bothered by any of the animals, but it was interesting to take note of what the locals ‘tolerate’.  “Cat City” or “Dog City”… each one seemed to have a flavor.