My dad, me and my mom in front of the Blue Mosque
We stayed at a pretty cool hostel, and got to know the other guests and staff quite well over the week. I'm writing the post rather late, so I can't remember exactly which things we did on each day of the trip, or lots of name details, so here's a semi-accurate account:
Arrived in Istanbul and checked into the hostel. We met lots of other guests and hung out in the lounge area and had some dinner. There was a guitar that was missing the high E string, but some people still managed to play some good stuff and we had a bit of a sing-along, it was good times. I also broke out my new sketch book for the first time and did some drawing. Turns out this is the best conversation starter ever, haha, so I had to explain to lots of people that no, I wasn't a serious artist, just trying it out for the first time.
My dad chilling in the hostel room
My dad and mon eating dinner at the hostel, mmmmmm
The next day we set out to see some of the city. Or so the plan was...a little ways down the street we met Bill, a turkish businessman who was nice enough to show us some sights and tell us a little about the city. We weren't really such what was going on, but he was very nice so we walked and talked with Bill for awhile. Soon we arrived at a carpet shop, owned by Bill's cousin, wouldn't you know it! He invites us in for some tea and to learn a little about carpets. It sounds innocent enough (we were young and naive), so we go into the shop and meet the owner who proceeds to give us a presentation about the different kinds of carpets, and how they have evolved over the years and what different styles mean. Employees are dragging out heavy carpets from all over the shop and putting them on display for us. It was actually very interesting, and all the while we are drinking apple tea (mmmmm) and turkish tea and having a nice time.
At the end of the presentation, the owner now tells us he will begin taking away carpets, and we are to say yes or no about whether we like them. Suddenly alarm bells start to go off...wait a minute, since when are we purchasing carpets. I have a whispered conversation with my mom, and she says that she actually is interested in maybe buying one, so we play along. This process takes quite some time, and eventually we are down to 7 carpets that we like. The owner does some over-complicated math and shows us the amazing deal that he will give us if we buy all 7. We laugh and refuse, explaining that we would actually like to be able to afford our flight back to Switzerland.
After much awkward negotiating we end up buying 3 carpets for a decent price (we hope). The owner is satisfied, and invites us back later for some turkish dinner and to meet his friends. We of course fall for the trap again...dinner ends up turning into yet another round of attempted carpet selling (though we do get some nice food too). Eventually we managed to leave without buying the $16000 silk carpet that we didn't buy earlier, and return back to the hostel. Day 1 done, no sightseeing accomplished, lol. At least we got some nice carpets :)
My dad, mom and me in Istanbul in front of some cute houses
My mom in the carpet shop
Carpet buying.....eep!
The nice Kilim we bought
Wool carpet, embroidered with silk
Wool on wool, "Santa Claus" rug. Various symbols on the rug represent different religions.
The next day we checked out an Istanbul festival that was going on. There was some traditional dancing, which reminded me a lot of Irish dancing, and some drumming. We then went to the Topkapi Palace, which was very beautiful. Lastly, we headed down to the shore and checked out the spice bazaar, where all the locals buy spices and food. It was packed with people, but fun to look at all the crazy food for sale.
Turkish dancers
Yup, he's spinning the drum from his teeth
Gardens inside the palace
Visiting Topkapi Palace
Spices at the spice bazaar
That is one huge block of cheese
That night I went out partying with some of the other people from our hostel. We took a cab to Taksim and went to a club that had a turkish band playing, they were pretty decent. Everyone was really fun to hang out with, and we had a good time dancing and talking.
The next day (Easter!) I walked along the Marmara Sea coast with my parents. It was a nice sunny day (most of our days there were) and we watched people fish and bought food from various vendors. We went for dinner at a resturant near our hostel, where there was a Whirling Dervish performance, it was cool.
Cucumber salesman ...interesting
Some guys were snorkeling and fishing
My dad eats muscles
Whirling Dervish...hope I didn't distract him with the photo...oops
My parents in front of the Hagia Sophia at night
Monday we took a boat ride to the Princess Islands (group of islands south of Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara). It gave us a good view of the Istanbul coastline...I couldn't believe how far the city stretches! We walked around the largest island, and had some lunch (at the most expensive resturant on the island....sigh, long story...). In the evening we went to Taksim and shopped in stores and saw the Galata Tower. The original tower was a fire look-out tower...until it burnt down, haha.
The boat we rode on
Getting off the boat at the islands
View of Istanbul from the sea
Feeding seagulls that were flying behind the boat
Galata Tower in Taksim...didn't go up becuase it costs money, and all there is is a resturant at the top
The next day we did another boat ride...this time up the Bosphorus. We stopped at various docks on both sides of the river, and ended up nearly at the Black Sea, where the was a short walk up to a castle. We got a great view of different parts of Istanbul, and the 3rd longest bridge in Europe (or something like that...). It was here that I had my only kebap in Turkey, since I ate so many at the beginning of the year I unfortunatly exceeded my kebap quota before I even got to their origin country, lol.
On the way back to the hostel we went through the Grand Bazaar, which a covered area packed full of vendors and various stores. I didn't buy anything, but it was amazing to see all the different things for sale. The bazaar is divided up into different sections for different items, and it's so huge that you could easily get lost. All the surrounding streets are somewhat involved, so we had a bit of a hard time getting out, haha.
Cruising up the Bosphorus
One of the stops on the boat ride.
The scenic walk up to the castle at the last stop
The more scenic part of the walk
Castle, with Istanbul in the distance
My parents with the Bosphorus and the Black Sea in the background
Me and my mom on the boat ride back. We got given flowers from the resturant owner where we ate lunch.
The Grand Bazaar
On our last day in Istanbul, we finally went inside the Blue Mosque that we passed every day on the way too and from our hostel. It's still used as a mosque, so you can only go in during non-prayer times. The inside was beautiful, all decorated with blue and white tiles (that it is named after). Next we went to the Hagia Sophia. It was really cool because it used to be a church, but it got converted into a mosque. They've uncovered paintings of Jesus and Mary undernead the new walls.
That evening my mom and I went to a turkish bath. It was a crazy experiance, you go into the main room and they scrub, wash and massage you until you have never felt so clean. I would definilty reccomend it if you are ever in Turkey, though, I've heard that the men's ones can be quite harsh (one guy showed me bruises he got!)
Inside the Blue Mosque
The gardens in front of the Hagia Sophia
Inside the Hagia Sophia
Uncovered from when it was a church
The way home was pretty eventful, especially since I forgot my passport in the safe at the hostel and only remembered on the way to the airport! We somehow still made the plane...oh the shame though ;)
It was a fun and relaxing vacation with my parents. I'm glad that I was able to go on a trip with them while they visited me, it was definitly a different style of trip than what I'm used to, way less hectic!
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