Settling in to Istanbul

We are loving Istanbul.

We arrived Friday night from Ankara at shortly after 9 pm and took an Uber to our Airbnb, a two-bedroom apartment in the Beyoglu neighbourhood (pictured at top left of page 174 is a typical building in our hood). Hugh was especially hyper about being in a new place and had to sleep with us to fall asleep.

Yesterday morning Topher foraged for breakfast groceries and found a small market not far away, and came back with lots of fruit and pastries. After breakfast, we started walking towards our first sight seeing destination: the Blue Mosque, chosen by Hugh. One of the main shopping streets in Istanbul,

Istiklal (much like Bloor street but a pedestrian mall), is just a few blocks from us, so we walked down that, amazing at all the pastry and sweet shops. The Turks really like sugar! Within about 10 minutes we were buying candy from a beautiful little Turkish delight store in a small 19th century outdoor shopping mall.

We were so excited about eating the candy that we went the wrong way and ended up at busy Taksim Square, known as the heart of modern Istanbul. From there we took a funicular subway down to sea level, and then a tram to Sultanahmet Square (the heart of ancient Constantinople) and the Blue Mosque.

First, we checked out the nearby German Fountain (pictured below). It’s located at the end of the old Roman hippodrome, and was built in 1898 to commemorate the visit of an Austrian-Hungarian emperor.

We were unprepared for the hoards of people milling about the Blue Mosque (photos below). I had to wear a headscarf but otherwise we were all decent enough to enter. The interior of the mosque (photos opposite) was somewhat underwhelming as they are restoring the main dome, so we didn’t mind much being kicked out for prayer time.

By this point we were hungry enough for lunch and found ourselves wandering into a small market close to the mosque. We ate at an outdoor cafe in the sunshine (pictured top left of page 178) and then did a bit of shopping. I realized that we were in Arasta Bazaar, the market where the towel shop I wanted to visit was, and we ended up buying some very expensive but very beautiful hand loomed towels. Topher lugged them around for the rest of the day.

We also happened upon the Great Palace Mosaic Museum, which went under the same market, as many of the mosaics from the Byzantine imperial palace were preserved in situ. It was amazing to see them up close and in such good condition (photos opposite).

We were then planning to visit the Hagia Sophia (pictured above right), which is very close to the Blue Mosque, “to get it over with” as David said. The lineup was very long and slow looking so we decided instead to save it for another day and instead take a tram to the Grand Bazaar (pictured on following pages), which is all David wants to see in Istanbul.

The Turkish name is Kapali Çarsi, which literally means covered market. I found the quantity and variety of things for sale at the Grand Bazaar overwhelming, so having the kids badgering us with constant questions and pleas to buy things quickly got on my nerves. Topher agreed to take them so we split up for an hour and I had fun getting lost in the maze and sampling a

lot of Turkish delight. I didn’t buy anything but Topher and the boys bought some T-shirts and other small souvenirs. Without our phones I don’t think we’d ever have found each other or our way out for that matter, but we managed it eventually and took the tram/subway back to our neighbourhood.

It was too early to have supper so we went to an old hammam in our neighbourhood that Topher had spied earlier. It dates from 1481 and is one of the oldest in the city, although the interior is more mid 20th century. When I asked if kids were allowed, the man said of course and that they would be 50 lira instead of 95. Then he saw the boys and I showed our museum pass (which gave us a discount) and he decided that Hugh was free! That kid seems to instantly charm the Turks with his blonde hair and blue eyes. We gave the boys the option of having a professional bubble massage but they decided to just go for the Turkish bath. I went for the soap and bubble massage, which was well worth the extra $40.

The hammam itself was the biggest we’ve been in yet, and the hottest. Within

a few minutes I was sweating and could barely stand to lie down on the heated marble as the towel for lying down on was very thin. Another difference with this hammam was that they instructed us to wear only a towel, even though we had brought bathing suits. I thought I’d be taken to a women’s only section but we all were together in the same hammam. I also expected that the boys would be bored as it was just a big hot room and they didn’t have any bubbles to play with, just a bar of soap and the marble basins of water to cool themselves off with. But they got right into the experience and had a good time.

After a good sweat, the attendant took me into another room to have my soap and bubble massage, and when she took one look at my skin she insisted that I needed the exfoliating scrub as well. Since I’d had it done only a week ago I was surprised by how much dead skin she removed. She was much more thorough than my previous attendant and the massage was also excellent, although somewhat more intimate than I’m used to! When I came out wrapped in towels to drink tea and relax, as is customary at the end of a Turkish bath, the boys were dressed and waiting for me. Hugh was excited to tell me “the whole story” of his experience, which included his male attendant taking his wet towel away and giving him a new one. He said it was fine but a little awkward!

Feeling relaxed and rejuvenated we walked a short distance to the small outdoor shopping mall, Cicek Pasaji, at which we had bought the candy earlier and where there were some restaurants (pictured above). We ate outside next to a couple of Turkish people who had four packs of cigarettes between them! That’s the downside of eating outside here. I don’t think there was a table that wasn’t smoking. The food was good, not great, but the service was perfect. Every time we thought of something we wanted the waiter was already there. To cap off the evening we went home and watched some tv together on Netflix, and let the boys fall asleep on the sectional couch in the living room!