It was a quick three day stopover on our way to UK. A new country to visit. A new culture to explore. I had imagined something else when I heard that Turkey had 96% Muslim population, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the cosmopolitan nature of Istanbul city.
2when we just landed in the old section of the city, it was nice to see the slow moving tram chugging on a street that was filled quaint cobblestones.
Our first sightseeing stop in the afternoon tour was at the place where the ancient races were held called the hippodrome. We stood in front of the obelisk gifted by ancient Egyptians to this city. We then had excellent freshly made pomegranate juice from a roadside card, good for health and quite reasonable too. We went to a place which is a church converted to a mosque also known as mini hagie sophie in Istanbul.
I had seen it in movies, now I was seeing it for real. Soon I found myself in the first of many courtyards of the Topkapi palace. We looked at many exhibits in the museums, we saw the collection of Prophet Mohameds personal effects-his beard, tooth also….this was a sacred experience to many.After seeing unbelievable treasures- thrones, jewellry, artefacts inlaid with big-sized diamonds, emeralds, rubies, I felt a twinge of regret that the mighty Ottoman Empire that once ruled most of Europe and Asia is now not as grand as before….Remember the movie Topkapi dagger?…saw that also here
At night we too felt like royalty on the hospitality received on the dinner cruise. We were dancing with the locals around the boat and I noticed the predominantly Muslim crowd enjoying the show! The nightlife of Istanbul is probably what draws many tourists from conservative cultures over here. On the dinner cruise the belly dancer kept teasing my husband, I did not expect this at all! It was very progressive and liberal for a 96% Muslim population country!
Turkey seemed far removed from the usual conservative culture countries. They have a very cosmopolitan outlook and love to party. My husband went there again and again on work and was surprised to see eateries open in the day during the holy month of Ramzan.
In the next morning we went on a day cruise on the river. It was too cold on the upper deck so we sat down as our boat went in front of the Bosphorous bridge, we felt thrilled to imagine that it joins two continents Asia and Europe. The long Bospphorous cruise made us see the diverse buildings on the Asian and europian continents. We also saw an ancient palace now converted to a Hotel
On the way to the French influenced opulent Beybeiner Summer palace, I had a long talk with two Ethopians about my happy inner child tattoo. Later at night when I went for the swirling derveshes show was thrilled to discover another meaning to my happy inner child tatoo….I receive from the Lord with upstretched right palm and contribute to humanity with my downstretch left palm…I am nothing! The haunting songs, the music, the ambience, the long hats, the costumes, ….t was an unexplainable spiritual experience watching the show of the outstretched arms of the Swirling Derveshishes!.
We also saw variety of carpets that Turkey is famous for, yet I chose to buy a lapis lazuli blue stone gold ring from there. We then went to the top of the Cylimbil hill on the Asian continent, looking over the Bosphorous bridge into the European continent another new feat to write about.
I was lucky to get a proper vegetarian lunch with a Pakistani, Algerian, South African family and an old man from Azerbeijan. The last day was spent shopping and exploring the local markets. Sipping apple tea and pomogranate tea and buying local Turkish delight sweet at the Spice bazaar, getting evil eye removal jewelry.
We looked like the sheikh and the sultana!…we had to strictly follow customs at this biggest mosque of Istanbul- the Suleimani mosque…we also had to carry our shoes in plastic bags! The hagia sofia mosque was initially a church reconverted to a mosque and we saw remnants of the original Christan influence in this mosque.
On the last day we saw the last Eurpoean station, it was the place where the famous Orient Express ends.. At the end of a memorable trip to Istanbul-Turkey we realized that there was so much more that we had not fully seen. Three years later daughter visited Istanbul with even more stories about the yummy vegetarian food, the Christmas celebrations on prince Island, the underground water reservoirs, the strong Islamic presence in the city, etc. Ok there is always a chance to go again, isn’t it?
So which place made you smile today?
Be grateful for the places that make you smile!
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