Rice Pudding and Precious Gems!

July 22
We woke up a little late because we were out pretty late last night! Do you know what I found out that shocked me? People have never heard of Whataburger! Some girls from Virginia have no idea what it is, I had no idea it wasn’t all over America! Istanbul is so humid, basically like Houston! Anyways, the other day I ate way too much baklava and I didn’t eat any the rest of the time in Istanbul! We headed out and met Torros at the baklava place by the edge of the port (next to Hotel Odessa) and Torros was asking if I wanted more baklava for breakfast, making fun of the fact that I ate way too much of it! Then, we took the tram to the Hagia Sofia (Ayasofia), it was a far ride. We stood in a long line to get in and once we made it in, the crowd spread out. The outside of the Hagia Sofia was very historic looking and there were beautiful yellow flowers everywhere. We stood behind a tour group for a little bit listening to some facts about everything! Rachel had taken a tour here the other day so she shared her knowledge too, and Torros would tell us more! The inside was huge, and it almost reminded me of the Vatican, but with a Turkish twist. There were domes, pillars, and gold Arabic writings everywhere. There were 3 archways to enter the main dome, one for God, one for Jesus, and one for Mary. We got to see a big throne inside where the emperor would sit and it was covered in gold and decorations! Inside, there were 4 angels in each corner of this massive structure and they all had gold leaves over their faces. They used to not have faces so people wouldn’t worship icons, only fictional things. Then, once the gold leaves were placed over the angle’s blank faces, many years later someone said that one of the angels had a face underneath the gold leaf. The government didn’t want to risk losing money in removing the gold leaf and having no face there, ruining the sculpture, but the man insisted that they take it off. Somehow he convinced them, and when the gold leave was removed, there was a face! After hearing this cool story then seeing the angels in the corners just made the experience fascinating. We went up a steep rocky ramp/tunnel to get to the next floor. It was dark and cool, and pretty tough to walk up. We passed the “sweating stone” on the second floor and it was a huge column that leaked water. People were in line to touch the water and make a wish. There was a small hole on the column for you to put your thumb in. You put it in, turn your hand all the way around without bending your arm (if you can), and if you succeed, you make a wish! It looked a little unsanitary because everyone was touching it and the line was long, so I took pictures and watched these old men do it perfectly; I think they had rubber wrists!

After, we went down the street to a buffet café thing and got rice pudding! We sat on the second floor that overlooked a park and the busy street. The rice pudding was delicious and it tasted like caramel and crème, mmm! Nest, we headed to the palace that was closed the other day, we couldn’t go to Istanbul and not go to the palace! When we were getting tickets after a long walk through big trees leading to the palace entrance, there were many women covered in head to toe in black. They would all have veils over their faces and you couldn’t even see their hands. It was actually kind of scary looking because it looks like a black figure walking around, and they were everywhere. The men they were with would look normal, normal clothes, no extra features, and the children would be dressed normal with their faces showing; a very different sight to see. Once we entered the palace, there were guards everywhere. It was so beautiful inside the courtyards. There were many plants, grass sections with flowers, sidewalks through everything, a breeze, and it was shady from all of the massive trees. It’s all outdoors except for the museum parts where you walk into a stone room which is super hot, then you walk back out to the courtyards when you’re done.

The first place we walked into was full of emperors’ coats and royal attire. The outfits were huge and ornate, covered in rubies, diamonds, pearls, and emeralds and the patterns on the fabric was incredible. Through all of this palace experience, you can’t take any pictures except when you are outside, so I couldn’t take pictures of the amazing outfits and precious jewels. Next, we went into a jewelry part. There were royal boxes covered in diamonds, sapphires, turquoise and everything else! What was interesting about all of these natural stones was that they looked fake in a way. They were not cut by jewelers like you see in stores. They were chunks of diamonds and emeralds that were just jagged. It was beautiful in its own way because it was presented so naturally, and the colors were a little different since they weren’t cut a certain way. We saw many other swords, crowns, armor, and everything else you can think of, covered in jewels. It was amazing! Then, we went over to one edge and walked up some steps to a little tower that overlooked the water! We stood there for a while just soaking up the amazing views, then headed back down and out. Once we started walking back down a main street to go to the bazaar, we saw these dressed up men with a put of taffy-like stuff. It looked like a kettle drum, filled with colorful candy! Rachel got one, and I regret not getting one after I tried hers! They stake a little wooden stick and wrap different flavors on it, making a rainbow swirl! It was pretty cool.

Then Torros took us to another local restaurant where we sat and had meatballs and bread with olive oil! It was to dies for. The meatballs were rectangular in shape (meat rectangles) haha and they were spicy! Two of the girls got salads and got sick because it was washed with water that their bodies weren’t used to. I stick to the rules and only eat things that are cooked in hot temperatures or that are bottled and sealed. After that, Torros had to leave so he led us back to the Bazaar. It was so weird not having him there again with us to show us and explain everything. We got treated differently, not better or worse, just differently since we weren’t walking with a Turkish guy. Funny how that works! When we were with Torros, we wouldn’t get talked to as much by store front workers and people didn’t make many comments to us. When we were alone, we were definitely treated like tourists and called Barbie, Baywatch girls, Spice Girls (more than 5 times) and many other hilarious things. They were all so nice and complimentary, without being creepy or bugging us. One man said to us, “Excuse me ladies! You dropped something!... My heart!” haha it was funny and he knew it would make us laugh.

We spotted some jewelry the other day at this one place so we went back to bargain and get our prize! We ended up talking to the 3 workers for a long time and the owner closed it and ordered us some tea! He ordered someone to go to this little phone on the wall, where I guess they order tea, and then it came right up on a pretty silver tray! We sat and chatted in this little closet of a store for a while and the owner was telling us about all of his travels around the world and he was showing us pictures on his iPhone of him in many countries. He told us we looked “fresh” meaning young and pretty. He said he wasn’t ‘fresh’ anymore haha. It was such a great experience and we got pretty good deals on the jewelry we picked out, along with delicious Turkish tea and a good story! Then, I asked where’s the best place to find something (I can’t mention it, it’s a gift for my dad!) and he led me to his friends store and I got a sweet deal on a pretty cool gift! I stopped by some music stores to see what I might be interested in, and you get a feel right away from the owners if you want to purchase from them or bargain, or if you want to leave and find another more inviting place. I went into a really nice and quiet one and I was looking around but the owner didn’t help me at all. I don’t know if he didn’t take me seriously (because I was looking at nice instruments and he probably thought I was clueless), but he wasn’t helpful/talkative so I left. That’s the whole fun of the bazaar- talking, joking, bargaining! After several music stores I went back to one where the worker was really nice and I bargained and got something for a great price compared to the other stores (another gift, so I can’t tell you what it is!). We went into one place and we were looking at these beautiful tiles and chatting with the owner. He was the sound technician for The Cranberries who were performing that night! He showed us his tickets and everything, you always find out cool stuff when you start talking, even if they aren’t good at English!

Something awesome- I love learning languages and speaking new ones, so I would constantly be saying Hi how are you, thank you, and bye in Turkish. The Turkish people would smile so big when I would use just a few of their words, and in some cases it would get me free things (like baklava for saying hi how are you!) When I’d say ‘no thanks’ in Turkish, they would all be like “Oh my gosh she knows Turkish!” and they would smile and be really nice. It was cool to show them that I was trying to learn their language and fit in, in a way, and it made a few grumpy people smile. I loved it and I think that it makes a huge difference when they see that you make an effort to be like them instead of expecting them to know English. There was man being overwhelmed and mad because we were all crowding his store and being loud. When I bought some gum, I got free cookies (delicious ones, like Oreos) because I said thank you have a good day in Turkish! Something so small like that means a lot to them, I could definitely tell. They appreciate it so much and it makes you stand out as a nice tourists who loves cultural experiences. I know us SASers learned a few Turkish words, but I never heard anyone try to say anything, which made me sad because it’s so fun!

We finished up shopping and headed on the tram (I accidentally took us the wrong way, but we made it back) and got ready for another night out!
 We met Torros and Everan and all went downtown for a nice dinner. We went to a completely different part of Istanbul than the area by the port and Bazaars. We passed through Ataturk’s palace, where he dies, and it was full of huge oak trees that lined the streets. It looked like any major city, with many lanes in the highways, huge buildings, many nice international shops, malls, restaurants, a big stadium, and anything else you’d find in a city of 15 million people! It was crazy seeing this part of Istanbul, I had no idea this is what it was like. It was so… normal. Yes, we were in Turkey, but it was so normal! I can’t get over that. The only difference was the crowd, cars, and more chaotic driving. We passed by one of the first/oldest (but modern looking) malls in Turkey, which was beautiful and covered in waterfalls made out of Christmas lights! We went to a place called Midpoint, which was in the richer part of Istanbul. The houses and condos around were for rich people, but the café we went to wasn’t super expensive, just really, really nice and a good change from places by the port. On one side of the street was the place where we ate, on a nice outdoor patio, and on the other side was a park on the edge of the Bosporus where you could see the Bosporus Bridge! After seafood pasta and steaks, we walked along the piers and boardwalk, passing by huge yachts and looked across the water at Asia! It was so close and full of bright lights and a giant Turkish flag. The Bosporus Bridge was fully lit (reminded me of the Golden Gate Bridge) and it would change colors every 5 minutes. We walked up and down the waters edge and then stopped for a Nutella waffle folded in half, filled with kiwis, strawberries, and rainbow sprinkles! Mmmm.

We headed back to the part where everyone (SASers) usually stay around, and went to Taksim Square again to the same little 5 story bar before we figured out what club to go to! We decided to go to the nicer clubs that were further away, but the taxi drivers don’t charge you much at all here! We all piled in into 3 taxis and went to a place called Crystal, a very nice club under the Bosporus Bridge. The guys had to dress nicer than normal (us girls always looked nice, so we didn’t have to go change). When we went in, it was beautiful and all white with dim colored lights. You could tell why celebrities came here. The only problem was that if you wanted a table to stand by or sit at, it would cost you about $200… just to sit down!! we left after about 5 songs because there’s no where to sit unless you pay. We walked across the street to Reina, which was closing because it was 4 am (so early for a club to close here!) so we went back across the street and down a little ways to 8th Hill, a 4 story club. We went to the very top and the owner let us sit at a table for free, shocking! We hung out there for a while then all headed home because the night was late and no one was really out.

Another wonderful day in Istanbul!!