Istanbul .. Day 23

The tourist stuff

Yesterday we finally did the two main tourist sights here, Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace. Hagia Sophia ("divine wisdom"), completed surprisingly early in the Christian era in 537, was for 916 years through the Byzantine era the center of Christianity in the East and, after the fall of Rome, in the entire Western world. Then the Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453; on day one they turned Hagia Sophia into a mosque, plastered over the religious frescos and mosaics, and made it the center of the Muslim faith here for 481 years until the state of Turkey made it a museum in 1934. For over a thousand years it was the largest building in the world. Similarly from 1453, Topkapi Palace was the residence of the Sultan and therefore the seat of Ottoman power for more than 400 years. It’s a warren of lovely rooms, red tulips, courtyards, gardens, mosaics, calligraphy, armaments and all aspects of Islamic faith and life. All of that is of tremendous historical interest and importance. So we rested in the garden of the Blue Mosque.

Having said all that, however, yesterday was our first lousy day here. Huge crowds at both sites, terrible tourist food, jam-packed trams, cabs that refused to take us home because of gridlock, and very tired feet. Imagine what high season is like! 

There were two bright spots, however. Outside Topkapi we were happily ambushed by a dozen excited Turkish high school students eager to practice their English and talk about America. What a delight they were. And on a bench beside the Blue Mosque we enjoyed a long talk with Jacob, a 25-year-old Turkish university grad and engineer on a Turkish cargo ship. He’s currently in port, but while we spoke his shipmate called to say their ship had just arrived in Portland from China and Japan. 

Wiser now, we went back to the Old City today and bypassed the congestion. Did some quiet shopping, found the cute little hotel where we stayed in 1997, and had an excellent traditional lunch. Taxi home. Couldn’t be happier. We still do like it here. But after a Bosporous cruise, more coffee overlooking the water, more fresh-squeezed orange juice, more shopping, a kebap or two, some lahmacun, and perhaps talking with a few more Turks, we’ll happily head back to quiet Minnesota for a while. Is it still snowing there??