Day 19, Friday - Canakkale, Bosphorus/Dardenelles, Galapoli, Istanbul
From our hotel room overlooking the straits, we could see the European shore. Ferry boats carry people and cars across all day long. In the morning after breakfast, we were among them. We climbed into a small boat carrying 20 passengers. An old woman sitting next to us was selling embroidered purses. Both sides of the shore were guarded by small medieval fortresses. I took a picture of an older Turk. Compared to the Greek whose photo I took crossing the gulf of Corinth, the Turk was better dressed and not scrawny. The same comparison could be made with the stray cats and dogs. It seems Turkey's Agean coast is a more prosperous than Greece.
Across the straits in Europe, we had to get on a bus again. It did not take a direct route, but zig zagged through Kesan, Malkara, Inecik, and Teterdag. The anticipated four hour drive took six and a half. The scenery more of the previous day's, flat endless fields of giant sunflowers. What do they do with them all? We passed many interesting little towns with picturesque beach fronts for local vacationers. Unfortunately, the bus avoided all of them. I only caught a glimpse from the highway. I tried to sleep.
The only interesting stop we made was in Galapoli (Gerlibolu). This was a little fishing village with small fish hanging in rows on clothes lines. Here, in 1360, Turks first crossed into Europe. It is also the scene of a World War I battle with the Austrailians. The Turks held them off under the command of Mustafa Kemal who later changed his name to Ataturk and became the father of modern Turkey.
I tried to sleep, but got sick instead. Pam was also ill. Along the Turkish coast we passed an extraordinary number of military personnel. There are trucks, jeeps, and tanks everywhere. Sunflowers and soldiers just about sums up this little jaunt. My advice is to either drive, sail, or take a plane to Istanbul from Izmir.
ISTANBUL: Grand Bazaar, Pera Palace
The Istanbul bus station is just outside of the Byzantine land walls built by Theodosius II in the fourth century. Large tracts of this wall are still intact. We could see endless fortress towers to the southwest. Except for us, everyone was Turkish. When the Taxi drivers saw us their eyes filled with American dollar signs. Their scramble to grab our luggage quickly led to a fight for our fare. We sat ignored on the sidelines watching two men start to slug it out.
Suddenly two policeman came sauntering by, looking rather more like an American GI in his combat boots, metal helmet and cartridge belt. His fingers were on the trigger of a machine gun which he held next to his chest. From the smug look on their faces, it was clear that they knew who was in charge. All the commotion immediately died down. All the taxi drivers sat on a low brick wall with their hands folded on their lap as if they were school boys in the third grade. The police began asking questions. Everyone feigned ignorance. Pam and I, who were already sitting a safe distance from the crowd of taxi drivers said nothing. While the attention of the police was focused on questioning several of these overgrown schoolboys, another taxi driver managed to move away from the crowd and discretely motioned us to his taxi. Not wanting to become in an international incident, we followed. He took our luggage and away we went.
Think of Istanbul as a triangle with the land walls to the northwest one side, the Bosphorus shoreline the second side, and the shore along the Golden horn the third. The taxi drove down the main street which bisects the land walls and runs perpendicular from there to the triangular point opposite where the entrance to the bay known as the Golden Horn and Bosphorus meet. This point is the heart of Istanbul. In Roman times it included the Emperor's palace, the amphitheater, the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Sophia). and the church of Holy Peace (Irene). Today as in Ottoman times this area includes the Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, several major museums, and the two churches. In our first glimpse of Istanbul, we saw mosques, minarets, women with veils and the covered bazaar. Istanbul really has the atmosphere of a foreign and exotic country. It is far more beautiful than Athens.
Pam wanted to stay in the Pera Palace hotel, but it was across the Golden Horn, not in the main city. I convinced her that we should stay in a city hotel that was centrally located and more convenient to all the sites we wanted to see. We obtained a room in a hotel next door to Istanbul University. The room faced a tranquil courtyard in the rear shared with all the other local hotels. It cost $40.00 per night which seemed like a bargain. On the way up to our room, I noticed a number of eastern Europeans.
It was only about 4:00 p.m., so we went out to see some sights. We headed down Ordu street for the Grand Bazaar. On our way, we stopped at the Beyazidiye Mosque. Men were washing their feet in preparation of entering the mosque for prayer. Everyone must remove their shoes before entering a mosque. Women are required to cover their head. Someone gave Pam a scarf. We were allowed just inside the door because a service was in progress. This is considered one of the more beautiful mosques in the city and it was easy to see why. Its walls were adorned with colorful tiles and the interior was illuminated with a circular, iron wrought candelabra which was perhaps 40 feet in diameter.
At the entrance to the covered bazaar is an open courtyard. At one end is an outdoor cafe. At the other end, books are sold in many languages, including English. Just past the book stalls is the entrance to the bazaar. The grand bazaar has been a institution for centuries. The original building burnt down in 1950, but this did not diminish the excitement which comes with experiencing the exotic.
The bazaar is filled with streets and alley ways completely lined with shops selling copper, silver, jewelry, porcelain, decorative plates, and icons. Street vendors were actively calling out to potential customers walking by. Although the streets went in all directions, it was possible to go continually downward to the center of the bazaar. All along the corridors, the shop keepers yelled in English as they saw us coming, "Yes, Please" and "excuse me". As we approached the center, the noise level declined. Merchants felt less compelled to scream or even mutter hello. They take the soft sell approach. They have best quality merchandise in the bazaar and they know it.
At 6:30 p.m. all the stores were closing. We decided to continued down the main street of Istanbul, Ordu-Yenicerila. We stopped at a restaurant to eat. The menu was all in Turkish and none of the waiters spoke English. Fortunately, I really like Shish-kabob. At the next table, a group of Moslem women were taking their veils off to eat. Underneath their veils they looked like everybody else.
After dinner, we continued past the pillar of Constantine and many mosques with attached cemeteries until we reached a park. It was rush hour, and a man with a giant four foot high tea pot strapped to his back was pouring tea to customers at a nearby bus stop. On our right, behind a long field of grass was the mosque of Sultan Ahmet, known as the Blue mosque. On the left, partially hidden from view by a park full of trees and Turkish turbes was the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Haghia Sophia), which the Turks call Aya Sofya.
It was closed, so we walked around it. The church was covered with scaffolding on all sides beneath which was burnt orange industrial paint, used more commonly on warehouses around the city. Over the years, buttresses have been added to the original building to reinforce it against the many earthquakes it has endured. The buttresses detract from the symmetry of the structure's original design and are even a different color from the rest of the church. Its depressing to see this church in such a condition. In the gardens, there were ancient columns and arches. Part of the foundation of an earlier church on this site were uncovered.
We walked past Holy Wisdom to the church of the Holy Peace (Irene) which is directly behind it. The current ground level is several feet above the original opening due to layers of dirt over the centuries. The original marble facade is gone, exposing red brown brick beneath. This church was originally used as a hospital and charity house, but became a weapons storehouse during the Ottoman period - very odd for a church named peace. It also became the headquarters of the Janessaries, the elite personal bodyguards of the Turkish sultan. There was no access to the inside.
The archaeological museum is behind Saint Irene on the left. Past Saint Irene, is a park with many shade trees. The park is a walkway which leads to the harbor overlooking the golden horn. There is a nickel charge to enter, which keeps vagrants out. An the top of the hill, on the right, the park is bordered by the sultan's harem within Topkapi palace. In the park and all around, we saw people from many Islamic countries. Women dressed all in black. Many wore veils. Some were so covered up, it was hard to tell their front from their back. As we left the park, we could see the Golden Horn and the cruise ships coming into port. Along the shore line are railroad tracks which are used for public transportation. We walked northwest along the shore line to Galata bridge, then southwest toward Istanbul University where our hotel was located.
When we got back to the hotel, we found that all the hotels in the area had televisions in the rear courtyard. The sound blasted through the windows so loudly it was hard to carry on a conversation. Someone had also used our toilet since we last visited the room and hadn't flushed, leaving solid visible evidence behind which was impossible to ignore. We tried to flush, but nothing happen. I went downstairs to the hotel lobby clerk to explain the problem. He gave me a can of deodorant spray. Something must have been lost in the translation. This was not acceptable, I explained. I convinced the manager to come up and examine the problem first hand. When he saw the toilet, he seemed to think deodorant was definitely the right solution.
Pam was furious. We decided to see if our reservations for the Pera Palace hotel were still good. Down to the lobby I went to make the call. We were both relieved to hear a room was still available. After packing our bags, we went down to the lobby. I explained to the hotel clerk that the room was unsuitable. A discussion about the bill ensued. The clerk wanted me to pay for the night. I refused, but offered to pay 50% for the time we spent there, per Turkish law. Since we couldn't agree, I suggested calling the police. At the mention of police, the manager decided not to charge us anything. We quickly left the hotel. Fortunately, there was a taxi just outside.
The Taxi took the Galata Bridge east across the Golden Horn to the precinct called Pera in Ottoman times, but now known as Beyoglu. The Pera Palace is located near Taksim square next to the American Embassy. It was built in 1894 for passengers of the Orient Express railroad. Many famous people have stayed here; Greta Garbo, Agatha Christe, Mata Hari, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Turkey's favorite son, Mustafa Kemal also known as Ataturk. It has a faded elegance with original Persian carpets throughout. The hotel looks old, but is fairly clean. The bathrooms have all the modern conveniences.
Our suite, room 523, consisted of two bedrooms. One may have been meant for a servant. One room had a window overlooking the Golden Horn. Across the bay, countless minarets doted the Istanbul skyline. The American flag could also be seen waving from the flag pole next door at the U.S. embassy. I was able to see most of the rooms on our floor when the maids were cleaning, we had the best.
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