A Lady in London

I haven’t traveled to Turkey since I was 14.  My eighth grade class took a cruise through Greece and stopped in Kusadasi for a day.  We ran around Ephesus, tried our bargaining skills at a bazaar, and it goes without saying that we got a factory tour at a rug shop that belonged to our guide’s “cousin”.

A couple months ago I figured that now that I’m living in London it was high time to head back to Turkey to see a bit more of the country than the one day guided tour my junior high self failed to fully appreciate.

Last weekend I headed to Istanbul with seven of my friends.  My boyfriend and I arrived at our hotel, the W Istanbul, around midnight on Friday, and found that the party was just getting started.  We met up with one of our friends for a drink at the swanky W bar, then headed up the hill to the cigar lounge at the Swissotel.

The next morning we dragged ourselves out of bed at 10am.  Well, two of us did.  My boyfriend, who insisted that he needed several more hours of sleep, cocooned himself in his down comforter as our friend and I took off for the Topkapi Palace.

The palace was nothing less than sprawling Ottoman opulence at its finest.  We explored gorgeous tulip-filled courtyards, rooms full of religious relics, a treasury lined with precious gems in every shape and color, an intricately decorated Imperial Divan, libraries, meeting rooms, and harems.

Hours later, we emerged thinking that nothing could impress us as much as the palace.  After haggling with a taxi driver who tried impressively hard to rip us off, we set off on foot to see the rest of the area.

The first two sites we came across were the Hagia Sophia, the gorgeous Byzantine church cum mosque, and the Blue Mosque, Istanbul’s most famous place of worship.  They definitely challenged Topkapi for Most Amazing Sight in Istanbul.  We admired the exteriors, but decided to save the inside for the following day, so we headed down the street to find the Grand Bazaar.

Find it we did.  The Grand Bazaar is so big it’s hard to miss.  The minute we walked inside, we embarked on an epic journey of the senses.  There were gold necklaces, silver platters, gem-studded rings and earrings.  We turned a corner and saw pashminas in every color of the rainbow, silk scarves in emerald green and deep turquoise, and stacks upon stacks of brightly colored bowls, plates, and serving dishes.

We followed our noses to the spice vendors and their tall cones of saffron and rose buds, then to the sweet counter with Turkish Delight and nougat, then to the kebab stand, the tea vendor, and the sit-down restaurants.

Forging ahead, we ventured deeper into the bazaar, finding ourselves in a narrow labyrinth of antique dealers that opened into a wide stretch of stalls selling key chains, necklaces, coasters, and trinkets with the giant blue, white, and black eye that never stopped watching us as we wound our way through the unending market.

We stumbled back into daylight an hour or so later and found ourselves in the midst of a downpour.  Hurrying down the hill toward the spice market, we came across a rooftop restaurant and availed ourselves of a delicious flat bread pizza and two Turkish coffees.

Revived, we made a quick stop at the spice market before walking across the bridge to head up the hill for dinner.  My boyfriend, who had since emerged from his sleep coma, met us in Asmalı Mescit, a bustling neighborhood full of tiny pedestrian streets lined with cafes, restaurants and bars.

We had a drink at an outdoor cafe, followed by a huge and very delicious dinner at a restaurant called Refik, followed by cake at another cafe, followed by drinks at Leb-i derya, a restaurant/bar with great views over the city.  From there, we met up with the rest of our friends at a club to finish off the night.

The next morning we set off to see the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, both of which were gorgeous inside.  It was amazing to think about how much history they have seen and how many centuries they have endured.  The Hagia Sophia was particularly interesting with its blend of Byzantine Christian and Ottoman Muslim religious imagery and decor.

In the afternoon we sat down for a leisurely lunch.  We had hummus with flat bread, five different kinds of fried cheese, lamb koefte with rice and salad, and baklava for dessert.  The Turkish coffee goes without saying.

Our friend left for the airport after lunch, so my boyfriend and I decided to head back across the river for some tea and shisha.  Two hours later, we dragged ourselves out of our low chairs and across the parking lot to the Istanbul Modern.

I’m not usually a huge Modern art fan, but I really enjoyed the Istanbul Modern.  We spent awhile walking through the permanent collection, then took a break for a fruit plate at the water-side restaurant.

For dinner that night we headed up to the Galata Tower, the only remaining part of an old Genoese fortification that dates back to 1348.  Just down the hill from the tower was Galata House, a Russian restaurant in an early 20th century British civil prison.  Amazing how many different cultures have influenced Istanbul’s development over the centuries!

Dinner was a truly unique experience.  Run by a couple who were both architects, Galata House restaurant featured recipes from the Russian wife’s mother’s family.  While we dined, the Turkish husband told us about the history of the building while his wife sat down to the piano to play and sing old Russian folk songs.  As the husband went from table to table to talk to the guests, he switched easily from English to French to Danish and back again.  Dinner wrapped up with a tour of the building, complete with old prisoner graffiti.

After dinner we once again met up with the rest of our friends, who had been biking on a nearby island all day.  We went to the bar at their hotel, the Çiragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul, which, as the name implies, is set in an old Ottoman palace on the Bosphorus.

The next day was largely my own.  My friends all left for London in the morning, but as my flight wasn’t till later, I set off to explore some more of Istanbul by myself.

I started out in the spice market, which I had only seen a tiny bit of two days prior.  I walked through the large halls filled with Turkish Delight, tiny rosebuds, fish spice, and nougat.  I walked outside through the stalls of the fishmongers, the meat vendors, and the fruit sellers.  After awhile I found myself in an outdoor courtyard filled with cafes, which I kept in mind for later.

From the spice market I walked up the hill and back through the Grand Bazaar on my way to the Basilica Cistern.  I bought my ticket at the counter, then descended under ground and back in time to 6th century Byzantium.

The cistern was gorgeous.  Its high arches were supported by a melange of Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns, and the low light and eerie music made the place feel otherworldly.  Large fish swam in the shallow water below the walkway as the ceiling leaked slow droplets into the pool.

I took in the cool air and silence of the cistern as I walked along the platform.  The two mysterious Medusa heads, one upside down and the other on its side, greeted me with their stoic eyes as I made my way slowly around the underground cavern.  I was mesmerized.

Back in the daylight, I walked down to the waterfront and had lunch at the restaurant by the spice market that my friend and I had been to two days before.  Finding myself with a bit of time left after my lamb kebab, I walked back through the spice market and out to the row of cafes in the courtyard.

Choosing one at random, I walked up to the host, who promptly took me to a tiny courtyard upstairs.  I was the only one there.  Well, not quite the only one.  As I sat down, I heard a rustling in the bush next to me.  Looking down, I saw that the potted plant was sharing its pot with the world’s tiniest kitten.  As I sat watching the cat, a second one emerged from under my bench and joined its sibling in the pot.  Then a third.

I sipped my Turkish coffee and watched the adorable trio of potted kittens until the mother cat showed up to take her little ones away.  At that point I looked at my watch and realized that it was time for me to be getting away as well.

As I headed to the airport, I thought over all of the amazing things I had seen in Istanbul.  The mosques, the palaces, the markets, the museums, and all of the beautiful neighborhoods ran through my mind like a brightly colored slide show.

Thinking back to my last trip to Turkey, I felt like I had done a pretty good job of redeeming my 14-year-old self.  Next time I travel to Turkey, I’ll have to head back to Ephesus to actually appreciate what’s there.  Next time…