Vol 57 Day 9 Istanbul

Two hours into the journey to Istanbul on the night bus there was a traffic accident on the highway. We were stopped on the side of the road for 1 1/2 hours in the middle of nowhere. Every now and again an emergency vehicle would go by but other than that there was no traffic in either direction. There's no movie on the buses in Turkey like there is in Thailand but there is snack service. A dude comes along every couple of hours and hands out beverages and cookies.

I arrived in Istanbul and walked to Ferhan's, who was feeling much better. We got all caught up, had breakfast, then I had a quick shower and hit the streets. I headed to the English language bookshop he had told me about to look for a travel guide for Morocco. I was leaving the next day for Casablanca and I knew next to nothing about the country and I had no plans for where I was going or staying. Yikes!

I found a Loney Planet Morocco at the shop and was on my way. I walked down the hill towards the tram station, stopping along the way to purchase my once monthly coffee. I stopped drinking coffee a couple of years ago but since moving here have allowed myself one decaf cup per month. This one was an exquisite iced mocha.

I caught the tram to the Sultanahmet district. My plan was to head to the Grand Bazaar, scope out the shopping, looking for the best deals on the best quality stuff, and then return the next day to make some purchases. I was almost there when I realized I was no longer carrying the sack with the new travel guide. Crap. I had either left it at the coffee shop or on the bench at the tram station. Crappy doodle doo.

This is one of the main entrances to the Grand Bazaar and let me tell you, it is awesome!


With over 4000 shops and several kilometers of lanes, as well as mosques, banks, police stations, restaurants and workshops, the bazaar is a covered world.

It goes on and on.

It started with a small market in the 1400's and grew to cover a vast area as neighboring shopkeepers put up roofs and porches so that business could be conducted in all weather.

A system of gates and doors locks it up tight at the end of each day.

This section, Sandal Bedesten, is from the 17th century. 12 giant pillars support the domed roof.





I took a ton of photos of the ceilings but none of the floor. I can't remember what the floor was like. I'm guessing tile.



You name it, you can buy it somewhere in the bazaar.


These are the special outfits boys wear for their circumcision ceremony. Boys are routinely circumcised in Turkey, a Muslim country, at age 4 to 8 instead of at infancy, changing it from a birth ritual to a coming of age ordeal. This is hailed as a special day for these boys. They are treated like Sultans, receiving a feast and many gifts. I only spoke to two people about this tradition, both men, and they denied any possibility of negative psychological effects. Hmmmm.

This photo is for my brother. Russ, I love you so much but I'm afraid I did not buy you one of these snowballs. Please forgive me, I know how much you love them, but I was worried it would burst in my suitcase. Perhaps this photo can be enough? :)




I stopped for lunch at a tray cafe after spending hours wandering around the bazaar. Pilaf, stewed cauliflower, stewed fennel and a green that was similar to spinach. Yes they cook the hell out of their veggies but they are yummy anyway.

Walking past a McDonald's I spotted this Hello Kitty Happy Meal sign. She's everywhere!

A super sweet courtyard. This city is just so beautiful.


More staircase photos.


The University.

I wandered around for hours then headed back towards Ferhan's, stopping at the tram station and the coffee shop to see if anyone had turned in my lost book. Nope. So I trudged back up the hill to the bookshop and discovered that I had bought their only copy of the Lonely Planet Morocco. So I bought the Rough Guide Morocco, poked around Beyoglu for a bit, enjoying another of those baked potatoes with the multi-choice toppings, and then headed back to Ferhan's. I quickly searched the CouchSurfing site for hosts in Casablanca and sent out a bunch of couch request emails.

Then Ferhan and I headed out to meet up with a bunch of Istanbul's Couch Surfer's for another night of socializing and dancing. We walked through the Beyoglu neighborhood where business thrives at night.

The produce is perfect in Istanbul too.

Mussels.

Offal.

The narrow streets are lined on either side with sidewalk cafes and bars.

There were about 2 dozen of us, many of whom I had met at the last Couch Surfing party. We started out at a night club with a DJ who was a little too enamored with American dance music. So we all trooped a few blocks away to the coolest bar in the world, Pulp. It's in a five story building and there is a different bar on each floor. The 1st, 3d and 4th floors had live bands. The 2d floor had a DJ. We went to the bar on the 4th and 5th floor. The band plays on the 4th floor but the ceiling is open above the stage so you can watch them from the 5th floor as well. They were really good.




We had been there about 1/2 an hour when I reached down to scratch my calf, which felt a little funny. When I touched my leg, it was numbish, but also kind of pins and needleish. I lifted my pant leg and found my legs were all swollen and red and just plain scary looking. I have already written about this in Vol 47 so I'll just say I was soooooo bummed, but I felt I needed to get home and get my legs up. I had been walking all day long and it had been a hot day. So I said goodbye to my Istanbul CS friends and headed down the spiral staircase. 6 stairs from the top my fu*@ing shoes slipped on the marble steps and down I went.

This was the moment. This was the moment I fully realized how very much I hated those shoes. I sat there on the floor at the bottom of the stairs and I shouted "FU*@KING SHOES!" Seriously. I smacked my elbow on one of the steps when I fell and it was hurting pretty good, and my butt was kinda sore but its lush padding protected me from injury. All of this went unwitnessed. 5 bars and no one was in the entry hall when I fell. I looked up while sitting there on my bruised ass, cursing those fu*@king shoes and saw this:

Sweet shot, huh?

I hobbled back to Ferhan's, had a cold shower and went to bed.