the best of turkey trek 2009

14Apr09

After blazing (synonym for “quick”… geez) through Amsterdam, I hopped on a Lufthansa flight to Istanbul, Turkey.  I think it’s worth it to mention that airlines in the US are absolutely terrible compared to, well, just about any other airline.  Did you know that US Airways now charges for freakin’ blankets??  $7 to rent a blanket for a few hours.  That same shitty cotton, thin, itchy blanket could be purchased in cashmere for cheaper than that!

Plus, Lufthansa really has an e-checkin system.  My entire trip happened without ever holding a piece of paper.  You check in online and a boarding pass is emailed to you with one of those 2-D icons.  Then, you can walk through security (eat it TSA) and board the plane by just flashing the icon.  Heck, you board the plane without needing a lazy, overpaid, unionized gate attendant to slow down the process.

Before this post becomes a rant about airlines.  Let’s talk about TURKEY!

In a nutshell, an absolutely fantastic place to visit.  A must-do if you’re in the area.  Take a few days in Istanbul and a few days in Cappadocia for the full experience.  Istanbul is a bustling city with a deep and complex history.  It’s filled with churches, mosques that were churches, and museums that were mosques that were churches.

The Blue Mosque

While most mosques have one, two or four minarets based on the stature of the individual that commissioned it, the Blue Mosque has a grand total of six minarets.  The story goes (and it changes based on the tour guide ) that the Sultan (who would normally demand four minarets) instructed the architect to build gold minarets.  However, the architect heard wrong since:

gold = altın
six = altı

Whoops!

Hagia Sofia

Now one of the New Wonders of the World, the Hagia (Aya) Sofia is a phenomenal piece of architecture.  It’s also one of the Churches-then-Mosque-then-Museum.  Built as a Church in the fifth century, it was the largest cathedral for about a millennium, until the Ottoman’s converted it into a Mosque in the 14th century.  In line with the Ottoman’s acceptance of others’ religions, they chose not to destroy the Christian relics but rather cover over the paintings and mosaics with plaster and large circular wooden coverings (pictured below).

It’s dome is massive with few structural supports, staying up by virtue of its spherical design.  Scary thing is… half the dome is under construction to repair cracks created by earthquakes.  These same earthquakes have also changed the spherical dome into an uh… egg… of sorts.  If I were an MIT engineer, I’m sure I’d know the name of the shape.

Grand Bazaar

Naturally, we had to hit up the Grand Bazaar to flex our bargaining skills / line the pockets of the locals.  Much like many Asian markets, the shop keepers are aggressive and there are only 5 types of shops repeated throughout the thousand or so stalls.

The Locals

I ran into this couple as we were leaving the Grand Bazaar.  I can’t actually read the sign, but I’ll pretend it has to do with the action.  There was a mosque next door and I can only assume they were cleaning up before praying.

Tea Time at a Turkish Cafe

When we weren’t having lamb, or thinking we were eating lamb when we weren’t, you could find us at a cafe looking for anything but lamb.  We stumbled across this cafe after negotiating for the 10% off “student discount”.  I dare you to try negotiating with a hostess before sitting down…

Cappadocia

After Istanbul, we took a short two hour flight to Cappadocia to experience life outside of the hustle and bustle.  The views were beautiful, with ranges of rocky mountains and hills drizzled with snow.  If travelling this area, do look for a tour guide.  There isn’t much to do here unless you know where to go.  I get the sense that trying this on your own would be next to impossible.  There aren’t any cabs nor public transport.

Oh… but take everything you hear from the guides with a handful of salt.  They contradict the guide books and claim that the guide books are bullshit.  That’s until they end their story by saying… “by the way, this is the way I think it was, he (pointing at another guide) thinks I’m wrong.”

Cappadocia Pottery

We stopped a tourist trap to check out a local master potter….er?  No.. potter.  Guy looked exactly like Albert Einstein and loved to advertise that fact with his picture beside a photograph of good ol’ Al.  Now, apparently he’s world famous and I have to say his work is good.  That is, until I saw the price.  Imagine buying a painted tile for… $250 USD!!!!  No thanks!

Friends

The best part of the trip?  The company of course!  She re fe!!! (Cheers!)

Filed under: Student Life, Traveling   |  2 Comments
Tags: 2009, aya sofia, blue mosque, cappadocia, hagia sofia, istanbul, mit, Sloan, turkey, turkey trek