This past weekend I took a trip to Istanbul. Monday was a holiday in Greece (Clean Monday), which marks the beginning of Orthodox lent. My friends and I took advantage of this extended weekend and headed to Turkey for an adventure. The flight to Istanbul is only about an hour and we got in early Friday morning. At the airport we had to purchase a visa just to visit. Our first stop was the Grand Bazaar. It is a huge, indoor bazaar with thousands of different little shops and vendors selling all types of scarfs, rugs, dishes, lamps, and even bellydancing outfits (although I did a fair amount of shopping here, I didn't buy a belly dancing outfit. . .tempting, but simply not practical). Going to the Bazaar was an experience in itself. It's all about negotiating a price and they often give women a better price than they give men. The store owners try to get you to buy things from them by shouting ridiculous complements at you. Some of my favorites included: "Buy one, get me free!", "The sight of your beautiful face has changed my life, come spend your money here", one man even offered to buy me dinner if I bought something from his store (I passed). Later that day at a restaurant, someone offered to buy my friend for 35 chickens and three cows, she also declined.
On the second day we visited the Haghia Sophia, which was built in 532. It was originally a basilica, but was later converted to a mosque. The Turkish population is 99 percent Muslim. The inside is beautiful, although many of its mosaics were either destroyed or looted for their gold. Our tour guide told us that it was built in five years, which is incredible because of the building's size and complexity. They are now restoring the dome, a project which has taken 17 years and is still in process. We also went to the Blue Mosque, the Archeological Museum, and the Hippodrome. The day before we left we went to a traditional Turkish Bath, which was quite a cultural and relaxing experience. The room is similar to a giant suana and there is a large warm marble stone that you lay on. Finally, on the last day we took a ferry over to the side of Istanbul that is in Asia. Most of Turkey is actually a part of Asia, although most of the sites of Istanbul are in Europe. My trip was wonderful, but also exhausting!
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