Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Why did Constantinople get the works...that`s nobody`s bussiness but the Turks!



I am in love with Istanbul!!! The food, the history, the people are all wonderful and a welcome change from Tanzania.
Our first day in Turkey was something out of a Turkish guidebook induced dream. Fırst we had to spend a night in the overprıced Doha airport where I sprung for a nine dollar TCBY yogurt for dinner and found some cozy benches to be my bed for the evening.
We arrıved ın Istanbul around 11am and easily went through customs and found our way to the metro. It took some time and patience but we figured out our stop and how to get there and through trial how to get tokens at the Jetson kiosk. We found our Hotel, Hotel Peninsula (great recommendation Morgan!), and dropped our stuff and hit cobblestone Sultahnmet streets looking for food. We made our fırst frıend before we even got a few meters from our hotel, Arman. We spoke briefly about his upcomimg trip to the US to show carpets. Onto food and on every corner and block someone will help you find it, they come running out the minute you walk by with menu in hand and prices written, though as you walk away the prices start to fall. We found a little Döner cafe and had some local bites including a yogurt drink that is pretty much the liquid whey and some strong Turkish coffee. We walked around and enjoyed the cool weather and dropped into a local tea house outside the Grand Bazaar area behind an old cemetary and had our fırst Turkish tea for the day. We made our way back to the hotel and enjoyed HOT showers, the fırst of our trip.
After some rest we ventured out for nıghttime shots of the Aye Sofia and Blue Mosque and dinner. Around 9pm we started back to our hotel and ran into Arman, it was time for our first carpet lesson. We tried to tell Arman that his shop is well out of our price range but he wanted to visit with us all the same and so we downstairs. Time for our second Turkish Tea for the day, this time Apple tea, so far my favorite.
Arman and the manager, Edwin, schooled us in the details that make Turkish carpets art and seperate them from others that are meerly single knot carpets. Then came the display of all of the carpets from varıous regıons and of course the second he shows us is amazing. 70 years old, done by Dervishes with amazıng colors and softness and pattern. After our hour and a half lesson we are hooked, though we haven`t given in just yet...only time will tell.

4 comments:

don said...

Ara, has anyone told you not to mention your first name in 'Stambul? The Turks have great antipathy for Armenians. You might suddenly find yourself about 10 inches shorter. Pat

don said...

i hadn't even thot of your name in relation to the turks; i believe it's a prison offense to even mention musa dagh - oh, well.

glad you like it there. i did, too. nice hotel and three cafe meals was a dollar a day - tip not included in the 60's. guess prices are up...

i recall going down to the water one day and having a guy in a rowboat take us across. the islands are supposed to be neat, too. never went to them. a great walking city and i always felt safe. i trust it remains so.

and a month without hot showers? not your style at all. later, love, us on the micro farm.

Katy and Ken said...

Hi you guys - sounds like a great trip and you have found a place to chill out a bit - wait - I though that was supposed to Zanzabar - oh well never enough chill'n. Zoe has left returned to NY and I am doing better. went to doc today and I am off work until the middle of March. House Bound-help, I hang on your every word and do back flips for pictures! love mom

Unknown said...

i don't know if your still there, but i wanted to suggest that you take the ferry to the stop nearest to the Black Sea and then you take a 45 min bus ride to the north and theres a quaint little fishing village with a huge ruined castle on the top of a steep hill, no biggie for you both after Kili, haha, but you can look down and see the emormous Black sea below. It's windy and beautiful... take a picnic. But the bus is super easy, just across the street from where you exit ferry.... the LAST ferry stop. and hop off at any of the little fishing villages you stop at for and ice cream and a little stroll, ....nice way to spend the day. xox zoe