Today Reuben and I dragged ourselves out of bed at around 11:00am. It might be the biggest understatement of the year to say that we were exhausted. After getting home from La Rambla last night we both reflected on the fact that we have no idea when we’ll return to this incredible city that we’ve both fallen completely in love with. Haha some how that turned into not wanting to sleep away any of our time here even if it was just spend in the apartment. We chatted and opened the floor to ceiling windows in our room to just let the city in. I know, how completely pretentious of me! But it really is a beautiful city and I’m sad that in a few weeks if I’m feeling antsy again there’s no jetting off to Spain for the weekend. Oh well, back to the normality of living in Chapel Hill, NC. Don’t get me wrong. I love North Carolina but it’s nice to live in Europe and have so many places accessible and affordable.
Anyway we headed to an internet café to check out a list of restaurants, bars, and cool places that Reuben’s friend Chesleigh, who studied abroad here last semester, sent us. We settled on going to La Champagneria, a champagne bar near Barceloneta Beach. I expected a dive-ish bar from Chesleigh’s comments but I figured it would be pretty dead during the day. We thought we’d go grab a plate of tapas and relax. Nope not at all; it was packed out! I could barley fit my pinky toe in the door. We finally stepped inside, read all the signs and decided to go have a real lunch and regroup!
We went to La Cala for lunch, it was near the harbor just off Carrer Reina Cristina. I don’t recommend it. The wait staff was not very friendly and the food wasn’t great (which for some reason didn’t stop us from eating most of it anyway)but oh well you win some you loose some. We headed back to La Champagneria and had a game plan. This isn’t a get fucked up and throw up kind of place, there were a ton of tourists there with families and lots of college kids just grabbing a bite to eat. The rules are: they don’t sell full bottles after 5:00pm and if you buy a full bottle you have to buy at least two sandwiches or tapas plates to eat. I think it’s a great idea, especially since the most expensive bottle of champagne they had was 5 euro! We got a bottle of their classic champagne and two chicken sandwiches. It was a really cool experience other than the fact that the only place available to stand was right by the entrance so people entering and exiting were constantly pushing us. But who’s complaining, when Reuben went to pay at the counter they only charged us 5.50 euro!
After that we decided that the best and most efficient way to see as much of the city as possible in the only day that we had left (we’re on a 11:00am flight tomorrow) was the hop on hop off city tour. So we bought tickets for the Barcelona Turista Route. The price was a little steep, 23 euro per person, but it included an audio guide and we definitely made the most of it. I wish that we had bought tickets yesterday because then we definitely would have made sure to ride all of the three routes. I mean we walked most of the green line because it’s around the area where we are staying but I really like to hear the history and descriptions of what I’m seeing.
We rode most of the Red line and all of the Blue line which took us to the Sagrada Familia, Parc Güel, FC Barcelona Stadium and lots of other beautiful Gaudi houses. I had never even heard of Gaudi architecture before this semester but I’m really into it now. It’s so cool it reminds me of like a child’s mind. I felt like I was looking at houses and buildings out of Alice in Wonderland or something. It was really beautiful and I’m so glad I got to see it. We rode all up and down the 5th avenue of Barcelona, saw the Gothic neighborhood again by bus and pretty much rode around the entire city other than the Olympic Complex. I wanted to see it but getting there and then getting back to the city center on the red line would have taken almost an hour and we weren’t up to it. Today the weather was definitely not as good as yesterday, it was overcast all day and the clouds were definitely getting to us.
So we hopped off the bus and walked from Plaça Catalunya to Jaume I where the Gothic quarter is. We stopped at one bar to have 3.5 margaritas and mohitos and some nachos con queso but the drinks weren’t that great and once we found what we were really looking for it was annoying that we had already spent money. So I had read online about these tapas bars where they lay out trays and trays of tapas that are all on these massive toothpicks and at the end of your time there they charge you per toothpick. Well we saw a couple places that had food on toothpicks but they were different prices and more like a menu that you pick from. So of course Reuben started to doubt that these places exist, when low and behold we found Bilbao Beria! A small bar tucked inside the street across from the Jaume metro stop where we had dinner last night. They had wine for 1.80 euro a glass and a huge bar filled with tapas for 1.65 a toothpick! I wish I was more hungry so I could have tried more foods but unfortunately all (haha all, I got a good amount down, running will be necessary when I get back to Istanbul!) I could eat was: a mini crossaint with crab and shrimp salad, two Chinese chicken samosas (good but weird and a tad too oily), and a salmon pie thing, it was salmon, cheese, a tartar like sauce, and a small amount of greens in a small pie crust the size of two quarters. Needless to say it was delicious and exactly what we were looking for even though I could barely breathe I was so full!
After that we were both exhausted and we headed back to the apartment to rest and shower, I mean it was 9:00pm. Jesus the days in Spain last so long, I finally understand why an afternoon siesta is necessary. So here we are resting and trying to decide whether to head to University Plaza to find the 2 euro shot bar or to head back to the beach (as long as it doesn’t rain) for 9 euro drinks to chill with. Either way is fine with me! This has been such a great vacation I can really say that we did everything I wanted to do in Barcelona, though I wish we could stay longer in this incredible city I feel good about cramming my crazy list of things to do in two full days! Side note: being here has made me realize that my Spanish is still pretty ok, I enrolled in Conversational Spanish for next semester. It will be interesting since I haven’t actually taken Spanish since freshman year and I’ll be taking Turkish at the same time but what the hell! I only have one year left in college and if being abroad has taught me anything it’s that you need to take advantage of every opportunity you have to learn and experience new things, so here I go!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
May 6: Barcelona- Beaches, Bottles, and Prostitutes?
Today we got a semi late start but considering we didn’t even finish dinner until after midnight I’d say that noon was quite early. While Reuben got ready I ran around the neighborhood trying to get out cash only to find out that my bank had blocked my atm. Oh great. Our only source of cash gone and to top things off the Internet in the apartment stopped working. So I finally found an internet café owned by two Indian/Pakistani guys who were nice enough to let me use the internet for free, since I didn’t have any cash and all. All to find out that my bank only deals with issues like this during ‘normal US Eastern time’ business hours, excellent. Thankfully Reuben realized he brought his Wachovia card and I had my credit card so for the day we just sucked it up and took the international fees. Hopefully all this mess is sorted out by tomorrow.
We wandered around the neighborhood for about another half hour and then headed to beach kinda near us, Nov Mar Bel? First of all, if this beach is indicative of how beaches look in Barcelona, I’m blown away. It was absolutely gorgeous, the Mediterranean (I think) was sparkling and greenish blue and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Since this is less of a touristy area the beach wasn’t packed out but there were still a lot of people hanging out. The cool thing for me was that every hundred meters or so there was a beach bar with a huge patio. How convieniet! We looked at a few menus before finally settling on one that we though was reasonable (ish- you can’t really get too reasonable in Western Europe). In any case we got a great view and enjoyed flavor Mohitos and delicious lunches.
In the afternoon we went to another beach, walked around and just chilled out with a great bottle of wine. Did I mention how cheap alcohol is here? Maybe it’s just because I’m coming from Istanbul where the works cheap and alcohol used in a sentence very well might be illegal, but getting a great bottle of wine for 1.60 euro is just unheard of. Literally none of the wines in the grocery store were more than 6 euro!! What in the world?!?!?
After a full day of day drinking and sunbathing we were ready for showers and a quick nap. Little did I know after all that waking up from my nap would be painful to say the least. We wanted to go out and enjoy this city, even though both of us were exhausted the thought of staying in all night when we only had another full day left in Barcelona was just unheard of. So we woke up and headed out around 10:00pm. Since our internet was still down we just hopped on the subway and decided to get off at the Jaume I stop. It looked cool and had the Gothic quarter so we figured it couldn’t be too bad.
Once we got off the metro there was about a 70% chance that I was going to fall asleep standing up so we stopped at a Cappuccino café and caffeinated. It was actually a really cool café that had many different types of cappuccinos and desserts! I got a cappuccino and an espresso shot. I was determined not to let my sleepiness ruin the night!
Then we wandered down a random street that was bustling with people only to find a really cool area. It was centered around this really Gothic looking church, the whole street was beautiful and had a ton of restaurants. We finally settled on a place called, Cheese Me. It was so modern and cool inside I didn’t even care that my meal wasn’t too great. And truth be told I wasn’t even really that hungry. But the restaurant had a 15 euro menu so I got a warm goat cheese salad (this was delicious) , a beef burger patty with greens (not so good, it tasted like unseasoned ground beef), and a piece of cheesecake (too dry?). Reuben definitely won with his last two courses. He got a Caesar salad (it was ok too much anchovy dressing), duck confit with a side of greens (I don’t think I’ve ever had duck but it was really good!) and chocolate ice cream (another case where simplicity wins, it was really good ice cream!)
Afterwards we wandered around for a while finding more cool side streets filled with people then we headed to the infamous La Rambla. Now I’m sure that it is very exciting and awesome but coming from Istanbul, the biggest city in Europe, and being used to walking down Istiklal Street where no matter what time it is you are always in a sea of people La Rambla was kind of a let down. I mean it was cool and all but I couldn’t really spot any bars, I guess they were all down side streets but literally all you saw on the main street where prostitutes. Side note: I just came from Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria pretty much the Disney Worlds of the sex trade but I have literally never seen anything like the prostitutes on La Rambla. First of all most of them are Spanish or African? Then they are all wearing normal clothes, barely any make up, and like slipper shoes. To top it all of they are (excuse my language) fucking aggressive. They rub themselves and smack their asses and like ugh I don’t know the kind of man that would pay for sex in the first place but the kind of men that would buy that kind of prostitute is a whole other category. Like when men walk by they maul them and I know that sounds harsh but if you’ve been there you know it’s pretty accurate. Reuben kept saying thank god you’re with me. I was like his little prostitute shield!
Then we decided to take a long walk. Our long nap earlier energized us and we were both not quite ready to go back so we walked along the waterfront from La Rambla to the Barceloneta metro stop. It was cool and we covered a lot of the southern part of the city. Today was a great relaxing day. I can’t wait to see the rest of the city tomorrow!
We wandered around the neighborhood for about another half hour and then headed to beach kinda near us, Nov Mar Bel? First of all, if this beach is indicative of how beaches look in Barcelona, I’m blown away. It was absolutely gorgeous, the Mediterranean (I think) was sparkling and greenish blue and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Since this is less of a touristy area the beach wasn’t packed out but there were still a lot of people hanging out. The cool thing for me was that every hundred meters or so there was a beach bar with a huge patio. How convieniet! We looked at a few menus before finally settling on one that we though was reasonable (ish- you can’t really get too reasonable in Western Europe). In any case we got a great view and enjoyed flavor Mohitos and delicious lunches.
In the afternoon we went to another beach, walked around and just chilled out with a great bottle of wine. Did I mention how cheap alcohol is here? Maybe it’s just because I’m coming from Istanbul where the works cheap and alcohol used in a sentence very well might be illegal, but getting a great bottle of wine for 1.60 euro is just unheard of. Literally none of the wines in the grocery store were more than 6 euro!! What in the world?!?!?
After a full day of day drinking and sunbathing we were ready for showers and a quick nap. Little did I know after all that waking up from my nap would be painful to say the least. We wanted to go out and enjoy this city, even though both of us were exhausted the thought of staying in all night when we only had another full day left in Barcelona was just unheard of. So we woke up and headed out around 10:00pm. Since our internet was still down we just hopped on the subway and decided to get off at the Jaume I stop. It looked cool and had the Gothic quarter so we figured it couldn’t be too bad.
Once we got off the metro there was about a 70% chance that I was going to fall asleep standing up so we stopped at a Cappuccino café and caffeinated. It was actually a really cool café that had many different types of cappuccinos and desserts! I got a cappuccino and an espresso shot. I was determined not to let my sleepiness ruin the night!
Then we wandered down a random street that was bustling with people only to find a really cool area. It was centered around this really Gothic looking church, the whole street was beautiful and had a ton of restaurants. We finally settled on a place called, Cheese Me. It was so modern and cool inside I didn’t even care that my meal wasn’t too great. And truth be told I wasn’t even really that hungry. But the restaurant had a 15 euro menu so I got a warm goat cheese salad (this was delicious) , a beef burger patty with greens (not so good, it tasted like unseasoned ground beef), and a piece of cheesecake (too dry?). Reuben definitely won with his last two courses. He got a Caesar salad (it was ok too much anchovy dressing), duck confit with a side of greens (I don’t think I’ve ever had duck but it was really good!) and chocolate ice cream (another case where simplicity wins, it was really good ice cream!)
Afterwards we wandered around for a while finding more cool side streets filled with people then we headed to the infamous La Rambla. Now I’m sure that it is very exciting and awesome but coming from Istanbul, the biggest city in Europe, and being used to walking down Istiklal Street where no matter what time it is you are always in a sea of people La Rambla was kind of a let down. I mean it was cool and all but I couldn’t really spot any bars, I guess they were all down side streets but literally all you saw on the main street where prostitutes. Side note: I just came from Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria pretty much the Disney Worlds of the sex trade but I have literally never seen anything like the prostitutes on La Rambla. First of all most of them are Spanish or African? Then they are all wearing normal clothes, barely any make up, and like slipper shoes. To top it all of they are (excuse my language) fucking aggressive. They rub themselves and smack their asses and like ugh I don’t know the kind of man that would pay for sex in the first place but the kind of men that would buy that kind of prostitute is a whole other category. Like when men walk by they maul them and I know that sounds harsh but if you’ve been there you know it’s pretty accurate. Reuben kept saying thank god you’re with me. I was like his little prostitute shield!
Then we decided to take a long walk. Our long nap earlier energized us and we were both not quite ready to go back so we walked along the waterfront from La Rambla to the Barceloneta metro stop. It was cool and we covered a lot of the southern part of the city. Today was a great relaxing day. I can’t wait to see the rest of the city tomorrow!
May 5: Barcelona- First Stop Paella!
International flights are really falling off. We flew Spainair here which was a nice enough airline, the lady at the counter gave us exit row seating and we had a great flight time. But what kind of international flight do you have to buy water on? I just don’t understand! Also all the prices were in Euro, all we had was lira…just a weird experience I guess. Anyway once we landed we exchanged money and hopped on the Aerobus to Plaça Catalunya. I love traveling to European cities. The public transportation is always (usually) so great that you can look at a map and figure out where to go with no help at all. We had the address of the apartment we were looking for so from the bus stop we hopped on the L4 metro, got off at the right stop and then walked to the apartment. Granted we walked in circles for a while, we still got there!
After numerous attempts to find descent hotel either near the city center or near the beach we ended up just getting on www.airbnb.com and renting a room. I know this sounds semi risky but when Mom and Dad came to Istanbul we used the site to rent them an apartment and it worked out lovely. In any case we picked a place that was close to the metro, beach, and had good reviews. But really it was Wednesday morning and we were supposed to leave on Thursday afternoon so we really just needed a place to stay.
When we finally found the apartment both of us were shocked at how lucky we got. Honestly we looked at so many photos and read so many reviews that I had no idea which one we were actually going to. But the apartment in the Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona, a quieter more residential area with no shortage of great restaurants! The owner of the apartment, Ivan, a nice Colombian man greeted us and gave us recommendations for places to eat and bars to go to. Staying in someone’s apartment turned out to be perfect. We got advice from a local while still having way more than enough privacy. We had our own section of the apartment with a private bathroom and huge room. Ivan and Reuben were fast friends, while I unpacked they shared a glass of Dalwhinne, Reuben’s new best frind from Duty Free!
By the time we finally checked our emails and settled in we looked at our watches and it was already 11:00! Thankfully Spain is really the country that never sleeps. Now we had heard from a few people that the food in Spain isn’t great but I refuse to believe that. The food all over Europe is amazing and I figure, Spanish wine is great, so worst case I live off bread and wine for a few days! But Rohan told us that the paella he had in Barcelona was amazing, so of course our goal for the weekend was to find incredible paella! We went outside to tons of restaurants that were still open and settled on a nice place that had a great daily menu. We got an order of Catalan bread, an appetizer, paella, and a huge glass of Sangria for only 15 euro each! I had garlic shrimp and meat paella and Reuben had a massive bowl of mussles and seafood paella. It was delicious and the perfect meal to start of what I think will be a vacation we never forget.
After numerous attempts to find descent hotel either near the city center or near the beach we ended up just getting on www.airbnb.com and renting a room. I know this sounds semi risky but when Mom and Dad came to Istanbul we used the site to rent them an apartment and it worked out lovely. In any case we picked a place that was close to the metro, beach, and had good reviews. But really it was Wednesday morning and we were supposed to leave on Thursday afternoon so we really just needed a place to stay.
When we finally found the apartment both of us were shocked at how lucky we got. Honestly we looked at so many photos and read so many reviews that I had no idea which one we were actually going to. But the apartment in the Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona, a quieter more residential area with no shortage of great restaurants! The owner of the apartment, Ivan, a nice Colombian man greeted us and gave us recommendations for places to eat and bars to go to. Staying in someone’s apartment turned out to be perfect. We got advice from a local while still having way more than enough privacy. We had our own section of the apartment with a private bathroom and huge room. Ivan and Reuben were fast friends, while I unpacked they shared a glass of Dalwhinne, Reuben’s new best frind from Duty Free!
By the time we finally checked our emails and settled in we looked at our watches and it was already 11:00! Thankfully Spain is really the country that never sleeps. Now we had heard from a few people that the food in Spain isn’t great but I refuse to believe that. The food all over Europe is amazing and I figure, Spanish wine is great, so worst case I live off bread and wine for a few days! But Rohan told us that the paella he had in Barcelona was amazing, so of course our goal for the weekend was to find incredible paella! We went outside to tons of restaurants that were still open and settled on a nice place that had a great daily menu. We got an order of Catalan bread, an appetizer, paella, and a huge glass of Sangria for only 15 euro each! I had garlic shrimp and meat paella and Reuben had a massive bowl of mussles and seafood paella. It was delicious and the perfect meal to start of what I think will be a vacation we never forget.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Bosphorus Cruise!!
So today was my family’s last day here ☹ It makes me really sad. I knew that I had to go back to my apartment, sleep, and wake up early for my History of Christianity midterm tomorrow but I really just wanted to go back with them and chill for the rest of the week. Unfortunately I didn’t have that luxury. But I bullshitted and studied at Starbucks because surprise surprise my two morning classes were cancelled without any notice. This is becoming a trend that I’m not a huge fan of. Anyway I decided since I had so much free time and was already on South Campus I might as well walk all the way down the hill to Bebek to take advantage of what an absolutely gorgeous day it was. It actually worked out really well I ‘studied’ for about a half hour before Dad text me and said they were headed my way.
I took them to Bebek Waffle where Mom, Dad, and I split absolutely delicious waffles filled with chocolate, strawberries, banana, kiwi, and hazelnut paste and Uncle Kam had a huge kumpir (Turkish baked potato with a million toppings). After that I took them to the café that Reuben’s ta took us to the first week, I actually still don’t remember the name of it but it’s the last café in Bebek before you hit the park? Anyway I left them there to enjoy their tea while I headed to my midterm.
So the midterm was easy like Professor Katz had promised but my family was here and my grades are pass/fail so the incentive to study wasn’t that great! I still knew the answers to all but two questions so I’m not complaining.
Afterwards all of us headed to Ortaköy to catch a Bosphorus cruise but unfortunately they only run every few hours on weekdays. So we just caught a cab to Eminönü for times sake and took the cruise from there. It was a really nice water cruise and takes you from Sultanahmet all the way to Rumeli Hisar near school, unfortunately it doesn’t point out any landmarks or give you any history along the way.
Then we all just chilled out, I did a little prep for a State Dept interview I have tomorrow and everyone else packed ☹ I can’t believe their trip is over already, 10 days seemed like such long trip but I really feel like it wasn’t enough time. Regardless I’m grateful that so many members of my family made it all the way to Istanbul to come see me. I wish all of them would just move here so I wouldn’t have to leave!
I took them to Bebek Waffle where Mom, Dad, and I split absolutely delicious waffles filled with chocolate, strawberries, banana, kiwi, and hazelnut paste and Uncle Kam had a huge kumpir (Turkish baked potato with a million toppings). After that I took them to the café that Reuben’s ta took us to the first week, I actually still don’t remember the name of it but it’s the last café in Bebek before you hit the park? Anyway I left them there to enjoy their tea while I headed to my midterm.
So the midterm was easy like Professor Katz had promised but my family was here and my grades are pass/fail so the incentive to study wasn’t that great! I still knew the answers to all but two questions so I’m not complaining.
Afterwards all of us headed to Ortaköy to catch a Bosphorus cruise but unfortunately they only run every few hours on weekdays. So we just caught a cab to Eminönü for times sake and took the cruise from there. It was a really nice water cruise and takes you from Sultanahmet all the way to Rumeli Hisar near school, unfortunately it doesn’t point out any landmarks or give you any history along the way.
Then we all just chilled out, I did a little prep for a State Dept interview I have tomorrow and everyone else packed ☹ I can’t believe their trip is over already, 10 days seemed like such long trip but I really feel like it wasn’t enough time. Regardless I’m grateful that so many members of my family made it all the way to Istanbul to come see me. I wish all of them would just move here so I wouldn’t have to leave!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
April 27: Turkish Night
Last night after the Turkish Bath we had dinner at Wonderland Café this delicious amazing place in Rumeli Hisarüstü. Everyone was pretty tired and Mom and Titia’s stomachs were still iffy because of their sickness so a place with American, Chinese, Italian, Indian, French, and Turkish food would be perfect. Wonderland is designed after Alice in Wonderland; it’s a cool concept, sort of this place where you can have whatever you want from all over the world! The inside of course is very Turkish, in that it has huge couches and lush seats!
Today I took them to Ağac Ev (Tree house in Turkish), a great restaurant on Hisar Campus of my university. It’s cheap, has delicious food, the best cappuccinos outside of Italy and small portions, pretty much exactly what we needed. After lunch I showed Dad around my dorm. He’s so cute with his little video camera he took videos of everything. I’m sure that I’m going to be so happy that those videos exist in two months when I’m missing Istanbul like crazy and wishing I could be back in these moments.
In the evening we headed to the Southern part of the city to visit Istanbul University and the Galata Tower. Istanbul University is one of the oldest in the country other than that I don’t know much about it. But we walked around the main part of campus and took pictures in front of the beautiful Ottoman gate they have.
The Turkish Night show at the Galata Tower was just absolutely incredible. First of all the views from up there are INSANE. I thought I loved Istanbul before, but on a clear night from the tower, this city is just completely mesmerizing. I took a thousand pictures and I still don’t think the beauty of this city was covered.
After we walked around the outer terrace we headed to our table and were greeted with not only unlimited local alcoholic drinks (!!!!!!) but a HUGE plate of meze, which are Turkish tapas. After that we were brought a huge green salad, more drinks, and the show started with instrumental pieces from all over Turkey. Then we were brought our entrees, we all ordered mixed grille plates oh and more drinks. So it came with a piece of grilled chicken, steak, beef patty, and a lamb chop. Jesus I have never eaten and drank more in my entire life. This was when the real show started. A Sultan came and sat on stage with his two ladies. They were all dressed very Ottoman like and he kept feeding the ladies fruit on these ridiculously long toothpicks, really a sight to see! Of course like any good dinner show they started dragging audience members on state to participate and of course they picked Mom to go on stage to be a lady for the Sultan!! Ahaha he fed her tons of fruit while a 90lbs belly dancer strut her stuff on stage. We were all speechless, especially Reuben!
Then of course they grabbed Mom to belly dance, she didn’t disappoint, those Manipuri days are still paying off! After that they had male dancers come on who were awesome, they threw daggers, did backflips, jumped around, oh and called Reuben and Cevdet on stage!! Reuben, as you all know is a born show-man! He was a great sport and even tried to upstage the dancer…what a fool! Cevdet go the short end of the stick and had to lie on the ground while they covered his ‘man area’ with a wooden board so they could throw daggers at it ahh! After that they gave the audience a break so we could eat our huge dessert towers and drink more. Ah the food here, we got a huge tower included: fresh fruit, nuts, dried fruit, cream, and traditional Turkish desserts. Needless to say it was incredible!
The closing act of the night was a cute little old Turkish singer. To preface this, Turkish night at the Galata Tower is usually something done by tourists, so at each table they put the flags of the people sitting at the table. Our multicultural table got: USA, India, Nigeria, and Turkey!! So this incredibly talented man sang a song for every language in the room. How does one learn to sing in that many languages?? Other than anything African that is. Horribly offensive and incredibly funny at the same time; when he came to our table he sang in English and Hindi (Turkish he did at another table) we reminded him of Nigeria and so he put his hands on the small of his back and flapped his arms. Actually that’s pretty accurate; most women in Uganda did dance like that. But the bad part was that instead of just playing African sounding music, he literally opened his mouth and said “Aye- yai-yai-aye!!” Oh geez. Haha all in good humor though, and we’re great sports. At the end of course he pulled all the couples on stage and we all got out little solo dances. Overall it was a great night. I went home with a full belly, great pictures, and oh yeah I was pretty drunk after all that unlimited alcohol!
Today I took them to Ağac Ev (Tree house in Turkish), a great restaurant on Hisar Campus of my university. It’s cheap, has delicious food, the best cappuccinos outside of Italy and small portions, pretty much exactly what we needed. After lunch I showed Dad around my dorm. He’s so cute with his little video camera he took videos of everything. I’m sure that I’m going to be so happy that those videos exist in two months when I’m missing Istanbul like crazy and wishing I could be back in these moments.
In the evening we headed to the Southern part of the city to visit Istanbul University and the Galata Tower. Istanbul University is one of the oldest in the country other than that I don’t know much about it. But we walked around the main part of campus and took pictures in front of the beautiful Ottoman gate they have.
The Turkish Night show at the Galata Tower was just absolutely incredible. First of all the views from up there are INSANE. I thought I loved Istanbul before, but on a clear night from the tower, this city is just completely mesmerizing. I took a thousand pictures and I still don’t think the beauty of this city was covered.
After we walked around the outer terrace we headed to our table and were greeted with not only unlimited local alcoholic drinks (!!!!!!) but a HUGE plate of meze, which are Turkish tapas. After that we were brought a huge green salad, more drinks, and the show started with instrumental pieces from all over Turkey. Then we were brought our entrees, we all ordered mixed grille plates oh and more drinks. So it came with a piece of grilled chicken, steak, beef patty, and a lamb chop. Jesus I have never eaten and drank more in my entire life. This was when the real show started. A Sultan came and sat on stage with his two ladies. They were all dressed very Ottoman like and he kept feeding the ladies fruit on these ridiculously long toothpicks, really a sight to see! Of course like any good dinner show they started dragging audience members on state to participate and of course they picked Mom to go on stage to be a lady for the Sultan!! Ahaha he fed her tons of fruit while a 90lbs belly dancer strut her stuff on stage. We were all speechless, especially Reuben!
Then of course they grabbed Mom to belly dance, she didn’t disappoint, those Manipuri days are still paying off! After that they had male dancers come on who were awesome, they threw daggers, did backflips, jumped around, oh and called Reuben and Cevdet on stage!! Reuben, as you all know is a born show-man! He was a great sport and even tried to upstage the dancer…what a fool! Cevdet go the short end of the stick and had to lie on the ground while they covered his ‘man area’ with a wooden board so they could throw daggers at it ahh! After that they gave the audience a break so we could eat our huge dessert towers and drink more. Ah the food here, we got a huge tower included: fresh fruit, nuts, dried fruit, cream, and traditional Turkish desserts. Needless to say it was incredible!
The closing act of the night was a cute little old Turkish singer. To preface this, Turkish night at the Galata Tower is usually something done by tourists, so at each table they put the flags of the people sitting at the table. Our multicultural table got: USA, India, Nigeria, and Turkey!! So this incredibly talented man sang a song for every language in the room. How does one learn to sing in that many languages?? Other than anything African that is. Horribly offensive and incredibly funny at the same time; when he came to our table he sang in English and Hindi (Turkish he did at another table) we reminded him of Nigeria and so he put his hands on the small of his back and flapped his arms. Actually that’s pretty accurate; most women in Uganda did dance like that. But the bad part was that instead of just playing African sounding music, he literally opened his mouth and said “Aye- yai-yai-aye!!” Oh geez. Haha all in good humor though, and we’re great sports. At the end of course he pulled all the couples on stage and we all got out little solo dances. Overall it was a great night. I went home with a full belly, great pictures, and oh yeah I was pretty drunk after all that unlimited alcohol!
April 25-26: Topkapi and Cemberlitas with the Fam!
Monday
Even though we were exhausted after getting back from our epic Bodrum weekend, we just took a few hours to rest and then headed back out! The weather was absolutely awful. Why Istanbul?? Why do you always insist on having the shittiest weather when my family is in town? Oh well we made the best of it and headed to
Topkapı Place.
I had never been there before I was waiting to have my family here to see it. I know it’s weird but even though this has been such an independent experience it’s still so weird for me to see things like this without my family. I’ve been lucky enough to travel all over the world with my family from a very young age so usually seeing palaces, museums, and beaches have always been with them. Anyway long story short I wanted to wait for them to see Topkapı.
Anyway the palace is absolutely beautiful and the largest grounds I think I have ever seen. I love going to places like that just to imagine how life was like when Sultans and their families walked around here. I’m such a geek but I bought the book Harem by Aslı Sancar (website), and even though it’s set in Dolmabahçe Palace it’s still cool to have the stories of Princesses and Sultans running through my mind while walking around. The only thing that sucked was that it was so absolutely cold that the palace pretty much turned into a refrigerator. It was still gorgeous the whole palace is filled with old Sultan’s clothing, gifts and jewelry from other empires, and rooms perfectly preserved from Ottoman times. Islamic art and architecture is just so beautiful, I was in awe most of my time there. The only thing we didn’t get to see was the Harem, we got there at 3:30 and by the time the palace closed at 5:00 we had barely seen all of the palace oh well I’m sure I’ll be back soon!
Tuesday
Unfortunately, I had to go to class today so I stayed in my apartment overnight and met my family in Sultanahmet. Everyone saw the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and the Cisterns in the morning and thankfully my directions were sufficient to get them around! I met up with them and after having a quick lunch the boys and girls split! Dad and Uncle Kam headed to the Grand Bazaar. Admittedly I’m not a huge fan, it’s very touristy, crowded, and the vendors are pushy. Like I’ve said before I think the Spice Bazaar is a million times better. That being said it’s still worth seeing, plus it’s like 550 years old so why not! Mom, Titia, and I headed to the Turkish Bath, çemberlitaş, of course.
I enjoyed it just as much if not more than last time! But being there with my Mom and my Aunt made me realize how different modesty is across not only culture but ages. People my age, well 20ish year old girls aren’t always thrilled about being topless in front of other women but mostly we’re kinda eh about it. My sister has seen me naked, so have a few cousins, friends, and pretty much anyone who has stayed at my apartment after a drunken night out. I sleep naked when I’m drunk ok? But Mom and Titia are so different about it. They have been sister-in-laws and best friends for more than 25 years but they’ve never seen each other naked? I know it’s not like a normal thing to regularly see family members naked but please I’ve seen Rene and Tara when we’re all changing or going to the pool? I guess modesty went out the window with my generation? In any case they had a great time and since the two of them were so sick and stuffy the sauna made them both feel a lot better!
Even though we were exhausted after getting back from our epic Bodrum weekend, we just took a few hours to rest and then headed back out! The weather was absolutely awful. Why Istanbul?? Why do you always insist on having the shittiest weather when my family is in town? Oh well we made the best of it and headed to
Topkapı Place.
I had never been there before I was waiting to have my family here to see it. I know it’s weird but even though this has been such an independent experience it’s still so weird for me to see things like this without my family. I’ve been lucky enough to travel all over the world with my family from a very young age so usually seeing palaces, museums, and beaches have always been with them. Anyway long story short I wanted to wait for them to see Topkapı.
Anyway the palace is absolutely beautiful and the largest grounds I think I have ever seen. I love going to places like that just to imagine how life was like when Sultans and their families walked around here. I’m such a geek but I bought the book Harem by Aslı Sancar (website), and even though it’s set in Dolmabahçe Palace it’s still cool to have the stories of Princesses and Sultans running through my mind while walking around. The only thing that sucked was that it was so absolutely cold that the palace pretty much turned into a refrigerator. It was still gorgeous the whole palace is filled with old Sultan’s clothing, gifts and jewelry from other empires, and rooms perfectly preserved from Ottoman times. Islamic art and architecture is just so beautiful, I was in awe most of my time there. The only thing we didn’t get to see was the Harem, we got there at 3:30 and by the time the palace closed at 5:00 we had barely seen all of the palace oh well I’m sure I’ll be back soon!
Tuesday
Unfortunately, I had to go to class today so I stayed in my apartment overnight and met my family in Sultanahmet. Everyone saw the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and the Cisterns in the morning and thankfully my directions were sufficient to get them around! I met up with them and after having a quick lunch the boys and girls split! Dad and Uncle Kam headed to the Grand Bazaar. Admittedly I’m not a huge fan, it’s very touristy, crowded, and the vendors are pushy. Like I’ve said before I think the Spice Bazaar is a million times better. That being said it’s still worth seeing, plus it’s like 550 years old so why not! Mom, Titia, and I headed to the Turkish Bath, çemberlitaş, of course.
I enjoyed it just as much if not more than last time! But being there with my Mom and my Aunt made me realize how different modesty is across not only culture but ages. People my age, well 20ish year old girls aren’t always thrilled about being topless in front of other women but mostly we’re kinda eh about it. My sister has seen me naked, so have a few cousins, friends, and pretty much anyone who has stayed at my apartment after a drunken night out. I sleep naked when I’m drunk ok? But Mom and Titia are so different about it. They have been sister-in-laws and best friends for more than 25 years but they’ve never seen each other naked? I know it’s not like a normal thing to regularly see family members naked but please I’ve seen Rene and Tara when we’re all changing or going to the pool? I guess modesty went out the window with my generation? In any case they had a great time and since the two of them were so sick and stuffy the sauna made them both feel a lot better!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
April 17: Pamukkale
Another early early day! Looks like sleep is going to happen after my family goes home! We got up at 6:00am after going to sleep at 1:00am to get ready and head to Pamukkale. The six of us hired a driver to take us, since the season hasn’t started a group tour wasn’t available and all of my friends who had been told me that a guide was completely unnecessary. The drive from Bodrum was about three and half hours but it was SO worth it and everyone slept most of the way!
When we arrived I was literally speechless. The ‘cotton castle’ as it’s referred to stands out so much. It’s in the middle of a mountain range which is completely normal, so you’re looking at just regular average sized, green mountains and all of a sudden you see this huge White Mountain that looks like it’s covered in snow! We stopped to have gözleme (Turkish pancakes) which are more like really thin salty wraps filled with either spinach, meat, cheese, or potatoes. Dad really liked it because it was so authentic. You sit on the floor and it was connected to this old couple’s home; the old lady even made the gözleme right in front of us! After that we headed up the mountain.
You have to take your shoes off to climb the travertines because 1. It would be really slippery with shoes 2. All the mud and dirt from everyone’s shoes would just ruin the gorgeous whiteness of the place. Anyway we climbed all the way up, of course making sure to stop in every hot springs possible. It was actually the perfect day to come here. The morning when we first got here was rainy but by the time we finished eating and started climbing it was just cloudy and cool which was perfect; the few times it got really sunny my eyes hurt from all the white reflecting. At the top we visited Cleopatra’s hot spring, rumored to be Marc Anthony’s wedding gift to her, the theater, and the tomb of St. Phillip. This was my favorite place we’ve been to so far. It’s really hard to describe but I felt like I was seeing something from a fantasy the whole time I was there. Overall it was such a cool day; I’m really glad that we decided to suck it up and come see this place. It was just so unique there’s nothing anywhere else in the world that can compare to Pamukkale. Turkey should really work on marketing it better, which the right ad campaign this place could be the next pyramids or something!
When we arrived I was literally speechless. The ‘cotton castle’ as it’s referred to stands out so much. It’s in the middle of a mountain range which is completely normal, so you’re looking at just regular average sized, green mountains and all of a sudden you see this huge White Mountain that looks like it’s covered in snow! We stopped to have gözleme (Turkish pancakes) which are more like really thin salty wraps filled with either spinach, meat, cheese, or potatoes. Dad really liked it because it was so authentic. You sit on the floor and it was connected to this old couple’s home; the old lady even made the gözleme right in front of us! After that we headed up the mountain.
You have to take your shoes off to climb the travertines because 1. It would be really slippery with shoes 2. All the mud and dirt from everyone’s shoes would just ruin the gorgeous whiteness of the place. Anyway we climbed all the way up, of course making sure to stop in every hot springs possible. It was actually the perfect day to come here. The morning when we first got here was rainy but by the time we finished eating and started climbing it was just cloudy and cool which was perfect; the few times it got really sunny my eyes hurt from all the white reflecting. At the top we visited Cleopatra’s hot spring, rumored to be Marc Anthony’s wedding gift to her, the theater, and the tomb of St. Phillip. This was my favorite place we’ve been to so far. It’s really hard to describe but I felt like I was seeing something from a fantasy the whole time I was there. Overall it was such a cool day; I’m really glad that we decided to suck it up and come see this place. It was just so unique there’s nothing anywhere else in the world that can compare to Pamukkale. Turkey should really work on marketing it better, which the right ad campaign this place could be the next pyramids or something!
April 16: Bodrum!
So we woke up at 4am after sleeping for about 2 or three hours and were picked up by an airport shuttle that literally drove at 90 mph the entire time. I’ve never been one to get motion sickness but I was pretty sure I was going to throw up the entire ride there. Seriously I’ve never been so happy to arrive at Ataturk’s domestic terminal. Well that glee wore off as soon as we stepped inside. So many things in Turkey are far superior and a million times better than in India or any other developing country but the airport is not one of them. Surprisingly the airport on the Asian side, the smaller and newer one, is much more organized and cleaner. Take it from me, fly out of Sabiha Gökçen if you can. Ataturk was pushy and crowded with people skipping the line and shoving in front of you the whole time. I was thrilled to get on the plane and get in another hour of sleep before arriving in Bodrum.
Bodrum is absolutely beautiful. Like I thought that Antalya would be my favorite beach town but Bodrum was better by far. Antalya is much more of a European beach town, it’s designed for tourists, crowded, has a lot of chains and is what you think of when you think of a beach town. Bodrum on the other hand was small and quiet and had a lot of Turkish tourists. All of the buildings are white washed and nothing is higher than two stories, mayor’s orders of course. After driving down the absolutely gorgeous and untouched coast of the Aegean Sea we arrived at our the hotel, Hotel Istanköy. This hotel was fabulous, anyone who goes to Bodrum MUST stay here. They had a very cute area with a pool, sun deck, bar and a delicious restaurant on site. We had complimentary breakfast and then decided on a whim to do the boat tour that the hotel offered. The season doesn’t start for another two weeks or so, so the whole yacht was empty other than the six of us and it was fabulous. We paid 25 Turkish lira each and got: the entire boat for 7 hours, a full lunch, tea and biscuits, and transport to a hot springs and three bays. It was the perfect thing to do after having to wake up at 4 am to get on a plane. We all just ate, relaxed, read our books and chilled.
Our own private boat!
P. Smurf, Pups, and I outside the hot springs!
Lunch on the boat
Have you ever seen water this clear?? Ah the Aegean Sea!
In the evening we all went to dinner at a waterfront fish restaurant. It was good but not as good as the place we went in Arnavutköy, Adem Baba. Afterwards Reuben and I checked out some of the the local bars. Damn I wish we had brought our cameras because one of the bars we went to was literally on the beach. Like you walk in from the street side and through the bar to tables and chairs outside that are a foot from the water. Luckily the Aegean is calm so there wasn't a lot of splashing just a still sea to look out over! Needless to say it was an amazing day. I’m so happy that my family is here to enjoy it with me. I’m so happy that they’re enjoying themselves and that I have been able to plan things that they liked!
Monday, April 18, 2011
April 13-16: Family Time...Again!
Wednesday
Thursday
The start of an insane night
When did this happen? What? What is wrong with them??
Besties at Maytai!
Friday
These past few days have been absolutely amazing! I get so complacent in life here that I forget life at home goes along without me. Mom, Dad, Uncle Kam, and Titia have been here since last Wednesday and I have been in heaven! Their flight landed at 4:00pm, unfortunately that means they were caught in the best of Istanbul rush hour on the way to the apartment. I was going crazy waiting for them at the apartment, but they finally made it there!!!!
Reuben and I helped them unload and then we all took a shot of Coffee Patron (of course). Uncle Kam insisted that shots were necessary for a proper welcome to the city and really who am I to argue with that?? Anyway I let them get settled and then we headed to Rumeli Hisarüstü to have dinner at our favorite restaurant in all of Turkey, Hazal Ana. I mean if Reuben can say that they have the best chicken he's had in his entire life, and his family is from Southern Louisiana, that's saying a lot! Needless to say they loved the food! The owners and waiters at that place are so fabulous. Even if they didn't have spectacular food, which they do, I probably would still go back just because they are some of the nicest people I have ever met. As usual the food was amazing and on top of that they brought us free appetizers, tea, and dessert. I'm glad that my family was able to see that I do have people taking care of me here! And that they were able to experience some real Turkish hospitality as soon as they landed.
More food than anyone should ever eat! Who cares though? Hazal Ana= Heaven!
After that we took everyone to Cafe Tetto. Dad and Uncle Kam were pretty tired, and rightfully so! They came on a direct flight from DC so they had been awake for almost a whole day without sleep. Mom and Titia of course were not about to go home early so we had a few drinks and I got to show them how to smoke nargile. It was epic. First of all if you know my Mom and Titia it's no surprise that they would be willing to try but not only did they try, Titia was blowing smoke out of her nose and mouth at the same time like a Turk and Mom tried to make rings of smoke! Success!!
Then it was really time to turn in. I quickly showed them mine and Reuben's apartments and put them in a cab back to their apartment. I was so excited that they were really here it was hard to fall asleep, but since I had class at 9:00am the next day and a paper to write before that it was time to get back to work!
Thursday
Today was a dreadful day! I hate that the days with the worst weather have somehow always been when one of my family members is visiting. All day it was cold and dreary but worse than that it was pouring rain, which is so weird because it has never rained like that here. At least not while I've been here! It's always just misted. In any case my family made the best of it. They met me after class and I took them for lahmacun (Turkish bread with lamb, tomato paste, and peppers rolled with lettuce, tomato, and lemon) and soup. They loved it! So far so good. That's the one constant fall back about this city, no matter how shitty weather or traffic is, the food here is so good that it really does fix everything!
Lunch at Urfam Lahmacun and Pide
After lunch I took them to the Spice Bazaar. Of course they loved it, how can you not? Even the non shoppers (Dad and Uncle Kam) enjoyed the experience of the bazaar and everyone was able to find something of their linking. After shopping for what felt like hours we headed to the restaurant overlooking the bazaar for Türk Kavesi and some good ole Turkish Balkava.
Rooftop views!
In the evening Reuben, Kalyah and I took Mom and Titia to Taksim. I've been anticipating this night for months! I just knew that going out with the two of them in Istanbul would be epic. Of course I wasn't disappointed! We went to Maytai, Eski Beyrut and of course ate tons and tons of stuffed mussels on the street! Overall it was a success we got home at 5:00am where Mom and Titia ate late night Pirzola and I passed out on the couch!
The start of an insane night
When did this happen? What? What is wrong with them??
Besties at Maytai!
Friday
I was exhausted when I woke up today but I already feel like time is flying by and there aren't that many days left in Mom and Dad's trip so we all go up guzzled glasses of water and headed out. Their apartment is in Kuruçeşme which is south of where I live. So since it was a nice day, we decided to walk to the bottom of the hill where I live from there. We walked for about an hour on the waterfront through Kuruçeşme, Arnavutköy, and finally Bebek. After that we caught a cab up the hill (don't judge it's literally straight up hill). Then we had lunch at Namli Kebap and explored the areas around campus.
We tried to go to Rumeli Hisar and climb the fort. We walked all the way down through South Campus to Bebek and kept walking north until we reached the fort but unfortunately by the time we got there it was closed :( So we found a nice cafe had some çay and börek and just chilled.
We decided to keep being healthy trekkers and walked about a mile to dinner from the apartment. We went to Adem Baba an INCREDIBLE fish restaurant in Arnavutköy. This place wasn't the fanciest but it was very neighborhood style and did I mention that it was amazing food? The waiters didn't speak much English and Reuben and I don't know the Turkish names for fish so instead of a menu they brought us out a tray of the raw fish they had and we picked from that!! We had delicious fish, calamari, stuffed mussels, salad and çay for only $20 per person! Gosh it's going to be impossible for me to eat out when I get home food is so delicious and cheap here! Anyway after that we dragged our full bellies all the way up the hill back to the apartment and passed out. Well only for about 2 and a half hours since we had to leave for the airport at 5:00am tomorrow! Oh well I'll sleep when I'm home...for now off to Bodrum, Turkey it is!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Reflections
These past few weeks since Rene left have just completely flown by. I can’t believe that my parents and Titia and Uncle Kame are going to be here on Wednesday! I can’t wait for them to come but honestly it makes me kind of sad because their trip was supposed to be at the end of my semester. They planned it so I could have time to settle and really show them around but the thought of my time here being over is really sad and overwhelming. I’m made such great friends and in a few months we’ll be scattered all over the world again. And I’ve really come to love my life in this city. Reuben and I were talking about this the other day, how Istanbul has greatly helped create balance in our lives. Life at home is just so stressful. Between working and school and all the headaches of daily life you barely get a minute to breathe. But here I enjoy my classes and they aren’t so demanding that they take over my entire life. I have enough time to go for a run through a gorgeous neighborhood every day. And I take time to just do nothing. And I don’t mean sit in front of a tv, but I mean sitting in Bebek and looking out on the Bosphorus. Or sitting in a café and having some türk kavhesi and nargile. I mean don’t get me wrong I definitely miss my family and some aspects of American life, I’m just not ready to leave Istanbul and my Turkish life.
Anyway life has been great. Yesterday Reuben and I went to the Istanbul Film Festival's showing of The Whistleblower (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0896872/). It was an excellent film, and a really cool experience. I've never been to a film festival before but it was really cheap (only 6 lira a ticket) and a great atmosphere. The festival is huge here they have 5 or 6 theaters all over the city showing different movies and some of them even have the producers and cast here for Q&A after the showing. They have a ton more movies playing until the festival's over next Sunday. I think next time I'll be super cultured and go to see a Turkish or French film!
General Update: We haven't killed each other yet! We love it here!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
March 18-21: Antalya!
After experiencing the constant ups and downs of weather in Istanbul I was thrilled to get away to Southern Turkey for the weekend! My friends Kalyah, Max, Reuben, Rene and I headed to Antalya! We arrived to our hotel around midnight and we starving, so of course we went to the restaurant in our B&B and ordered börek and lots of wine. My friend Molly who had to stay behind in Istanbul was constantly checking the UNC site to see if Rene got in. Since we wouldn’t have access to computers all weekend we were thrilled to find out that SHE GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG next year we’ll be in school together ahh I can’t wait :). Anyway we were all exhausted after that so we turned in early!
Day 2
We woke up lateeee all of us were exhausted but it was an absolutely gorgeous day! I have to say, getting to Antalya at midnight when the whole town was boarded up and it was pretty cold outside was scary, I was convinced that this was the wrong place to come…but during the day! Ah it was just amazing! The weather was perfect and the town completely came alive! We wandered around and found a beautiful waterfront restaurant. The food was eh but we were all so excited to be able to see the sea with mountains in the back ground and still be warm that we just didn’t care! Afterwards we went on a boat tour of the Aegean Sea. It’s funny when you walk around the harbor the boat owners can immediately sense that you’re a tourist and they literally jump off their boats and yell at you to get on! We walked around the whole harbor until we found one guy who chased us down. Originally he said 50 lira for all 5 of us but we used our Indian/African/Jewish bartering skills and got him down to 20 lira total for 5 people! What a steal! It was a beautiful hour boat cruise around the coast and they even had 4 lira beer and wine on board. Really what else could you ask for?
View from the boat
Waterfall
After the boat tour we hit up the local market and did some shopping. It was similar to a fusion of the Spice Bazaar and markets in all beach towns. Rene and Kalyah really enjoyed it (with the help of a lot of Efes!) We really wanted to go to Dürden Falls so we hopped on a bus and hoped it would take us there. OMG it was the longest bus ride every, well not really. It was an hour but we were not expecting it to be that long and the road was just so bumpy and dusty. It’s funny how quickly I forgot that we were in Asia, the main town looked so European that it completely slipped my mind but as soon as we drove out of town I was quickly reminded! The landscape other than the beautifully preserved waterfall area looked like rural India or Africa. It was very dusty, unpaved clay roads, and lots of run down or unfinished homes. Regardless the waterfall was gorgeous and I’m really happy that I got to see it.
Haman Café
Day three in Antalya and the weather sucked! When we woke up and had lunch it was cloudy and then we stopped in a café to smoke nargile and it started POURING! We huddled our table under outdoor umbrellas waiting for the rain until finally the waiter thought to tell us that there was an inside to the café. It was SO cool. The café used to be the town’s Hamam (bath house) so now it’s a very chill place for nargile and good food. It still looked exactly like a hamam inside, just there was no water everywhere. Instead there were beanbag chairs and tables! We sat there for about 3 hours just watching tv and sitting on beanbag chairs chillin! Overall an excellent day!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
March 18: Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and Haman!
Today Rene and I woke up at 9:00am after being out until after 3:00am and ran around the whole city! We were exhausted by the end but whole day was so amazing it was totally worth it!
Entrance to the Hagia Sophia
First we went to the Hagia Sophia or Ayasofia (Turkish spelling). It is the perfect example of the cross between the Eastern and Western world. Actually it’s a perfect monument to represent Istanbul; this city has such an interesting blend of Asian and European cultures cultivated through all aspects of life. I mean you can sit at a French chocolate café and hear the call to prayer in the background, interesting fusion. Anyway the Hagia Sophia was a church during Byzantine times and once the empire fell to the Ottomans they turned the church into a mosque. It has little quirks about it like the prayer area doesn’t face Mecca because it was originally designed to be a church and the materials are a fusion of the original ones used to build the church and more traditional Ottoman building materials. With current restorations half of the material covering the walls and ceilings has been ripped down to show how the Islamic art was just painted over the Christian art. It’s a really cool place to see.
Getting from the lower to upper gallery is done via ramps. Rene and I thought it was cool...until the 8th or 9th ramp!
"Judgement Day" Displayed in the Upper Gallery. It was covered after this building was converted to a mosque.
Inside View
The Blue Mosque was really cool but I guess I don’t know enough about Islamic architecture to recognize subtle differences. The mosque was huge and I’m glad that I got to see it but honestly I can’t really see much of a difference between the Blue and New mosques. Haha Rene will probably kill me for saying that! Regardless it’s a beautiful mosque.
Rene outside the Blue Mosque!
The Turkish bath was INCREDIBLE we went to the Çemberlitaş bath. It’s the historic bath which was used by Ottoman elite during the 1800s. It was literally the best bath/spa experience I’ve ever had. Rene and I got the Luxury package which was 99 lira or around $60. Kinda steep for things in Turkey but for what it included (regular Turkish bath service, scrub down and hot oil massage) it is a steal! First you are taken to a luxury locker room where you change out of all of your clothes other than a black pair of bikini bottoms and a thin traditional Turkish towel. You lock your clothes and belongings in a locker and grab a pair of shower shoes to walk down to the traditional bath area. This area is a huge room covered from floor to ceiling in marble. The room is basically a sauna but with less heat than the traditional one. In the middle of the room there’s a three foot high marble counter which has 20 sides and one person lies on each side. So men and women are separated, the men’s bath looks exactly the same but it’s on the other side of the building. But everyone in the bath is topless. I thought it would be a big deal and embarrassing but it really wasn’t. It was just a bunch of normal women hanging out no one really looked at anyone else and it was a very comfortable environment.
Anyway once you lay on the counter for a while an older woman with saggy boobs wearing a black bra and undies comes to bathe you. Again, this was something I thought was going to be very weird but nope not at all. It’s so humid and there’s water everywhere, if they were clothed their outfits would just be soaked. But they pour warm water on you and then scrub your entire body with a special scrubber which gets all the dead skin off of you. It’s kinda gross you can actually see the dead skin rubbing off of your body in little black rolls. I promise I shower regularly and exfoliate well! It just goes to show how much dirt we all carry around, too bad I can’t afford a Turkish bath every day! Anyway the massage you for a while after the scrub down and then take you to an enclave off the main dome area to shampoo your hair and massage your scalp. After that you go to cool down in a room temperature pool/ Jacuzzi. This is the end of the traditional Turkish bath, that service would have been 65 lira but I wanted the whole 9 yards! So I waited in a warm room to be taken to my hot oil massage. It was amazing. There are no words. Like it was so relaxing I fell asleep towards the end! Even here there is no real privacy which just felt normal. You are lying on a table with your own masseuse in a room with ten or twelve tables. Being here and having it be normal to be not so paranoid about being naked or obsessed with privacy makes it seem unnatural to be so modest and private for massages at home. Anyway after all that I took a quick warm shower to wash the oil off and blow dried my hair and Rene and I headed back. Both of us were so relaxed we almost fell asleep on the bus! Overall a great day, I’m so glad I got to do all these things with Rene!
View from the outside of the bath. For obvious reasons you can't take pictures inside. You can see two identical domes, one is for men and the other is for women.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
March 15: Nargile, Chocolate, Cisterns, and Nargile
RENE IS HERE! Omg I have never been so happy to see her! Well that’s not really true but I’m so happy that she’s here. Normally we talk every day so it’s weird being seven hours ahead here and only being able to talk over email and skyping once a week.
Reuben was so excited to see her that he started calling her Nin...weird
Anyway she was a big girl and took a cab from the airport by herself so of course as soon as she got here I screamed, ran across the street to squeeze her, and fed her! We got lahmacuns and soup. I was determined to keep her from being jetlagged so I took her to the park overlooking the bridge and we took pictures and walked around the park! After that I took her to her hotel to check her in and then we stopped at this amazing Chocolate Café. Who knew those even existed?? But we got a delicious fondue platter and Turkish çay. I don't know if it's being in Istanbul that makes me so happy or what but that was literally the best chocolate I've ever had!
Fondue platter!!
I <3 chocolate
In the evening Rene got to experience her first of many growing up experiences, nargile!! We took her to Esmer, a hookah café near the apartment and my friends and I spent the whole time trying to teach Rene how to get a head rush! Oh geez what a fail, I don’t think she got it but I’m pretty sure she charred her lungs. Anyway after all that she was exhausted so I took her back to the hotel to crash.
This is real life.
Lucky for Rene she got to sleep in until noon while I on the other hand had to wake up at 7:30 for class ughhhh. Class is going well by the way. My Turkish class as usual is kicking my ass but the other ones are good. International Law is so interesting, even though she kills me with the 75+ pages of reading a week it kinda makes me want to go to law school? Foreign Policy well he’s cancelled so many classes that I’ve only had 2 the entire semester oh and guess what? Class is cancelled next week! Finally, my History of Christianity class is amazing! My professor is a visiting professor from England/Israel/US and he’s so entertaining and smart. I have learned so much and I actually really enjoy his lectures.
In the afternoon Reuben and I took Rene to the Basilica Cistern. It’s an underground structure from the 6th century, it was established and built during the Byzantine Empire and it is one of the coolest things I’ve seen here. My friend Molly described it best, being inside the Cistern is a lot like being in the Chamber of Secrets from Harry Potter! Then of course we took her to the Spice Bazaar where a vendor made her eat a spoonful of curry powder because she’s Indian haahah! I love going there, it still feels like a truly authentic experience and in a world where there is a Starbucks or McDonalds on every corner it’s a nice feeling.
Inside of the Cistern. I felt like I was in the Chamber of Secrets hehe!
In front of Medusa's Chamber.
Of course Rene wanted to take a picture with Medusa
Anyway we took Rene to Taksim to RAGE!!It was St Patty's Day so def a wild night. And of course more nargile afterwards!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
March 12: Snow in Istanbul
Yayayay Rohan and Tara are here this week!! I literally could not be more excited to have family visit. Let’s be real, everyone who knows me knows that I am OBSESSED with my cousins. Also it makes me feel so loved that they want to come all the way to Istanbul to see me!! Unfortunately Istanbul decided to be pissy this week and snow?!?!? WTF. Like it’s been cloudy and cold but snow? And I’m not talking dust the ground. I’m talking whirl winds of snow slapping the shit out of you. At least nothing stuck to the ground so getting around was still really easy! The only thing that sucks is that when it’s this cold outside all you want to do is download an episode of Jersey Shore, order in, and stay in bed. But Rohan is only here for three days so we made the best of it!
Rohan, Tara, and Snow??
On Wednesday he met me after class and we went to lunch where I introduced him to the love of my life named lahmacun (pronounced lah-mah-jjun) it’s Turkish flatbread covered with ground beef/lamb and spices. You spray lemon all over it and roll it up like a burrito with lettuce and tomato inside. It is delicious!! And only 2.25 lira, you cannot beat that! Anyway after that we walked around Rumeli Hisarüstü, the neighborhood near South Campus, looking for winter clothes. Unfortunately Rohan’s bag was lost by the airline so all he has for the blizzard in Istanbul is a fleece jacket! No worries though, he’s a trooper and we found a good hat! We walked to the park that usually has gorgeous panoramic views of the city, of course today it was so cloudy you could barely see the Bosphorous eh oh well.
Usually the view is much better. But oh well cousins pic anyway!
We did what everyone does in the Middle East when you’re unsure of what to do next…NARGILE!!! We found a cool café in Bebek where Tara and Marium met us for drinks and Nargile.
When in doubt, just grab an Efes and smoke some nargile!
Tara and Marium needed lots of Turkish Coffee to stay warm :)
Of course I had to take Rohan to Cevahir. I know I know, malls aren't everyone's thing. But he needed to buy winter clothes so why not go to the biggest mall in Europe?
My favorite place in the whole world...Cevahir!
Yup that's a full sized roller coaster in the mall.
My friend Molly took Rohan to see Taksim (the downtown area) and the Spice Bazaar when I was trapped in class all day Thursday and for the rest of his trip we just chilled. He got to meet all of my great friends here and eat a TON of Turkish food. So while I’m disappointed he didn’t get to see the Istanbul I know and love (sunny and warm-ish) or the Hagia Sophia or Blue Mosque, I know Rohan doesn’t care! He probably would have been bored if I dragged him to all the Mosques and Palaces here anyway. In any case I’m thrilled he visited and I miss him tons and tons already wahhhh.
I didn’t get to see as much of Tara as I wanted wahhh (not her fault her hotel was super far :( ). But when I did see her we had a great time! The beginning of her week the weather was a little better so I was able to take her to my favorite restaurant, introduce her to my friends that work in the laundry room, and show her around campus! We even made it to the biggest mall in Europe! (Of course we did!) On her last night her, my friend Molly and I met her and Marium’s family in Taksim. Surprisingly they have a French Quarter here. I know random right? But it’s gorgeous, like the rest of Istanbul it’s on a huge downhill. The street looks exactly like a street from Paris, time warp much?? I felt like I had been teleported to Western Europe! We found an adorable French restaurant and enjoyed some AMAZING French food literally in the middle of Istanbul! Haha it was really nice, I can’t wait to go back when Mom and Dad come :D I’m so sad that my cousins are gone but now I have three days to catch up on sleep and get as much work done as possible before RENE GETS HERE OMG I MIGHT JUST DIE!!!
Monday, March 14, 2011
(3/3) February 27: Rain in Rome
Final post about my incredible weekend in Rome...
The food in Italy is ridiculously good.
Today we woke up bright and early. At six am! I knew that we had to get to the Vatican before 9:00 or there would be no hope of getting in/seeing as much as I wanted to. Even though we got there at 8:30 in the morning the line was around the building. We waited for 2 hours in the freezing weather! Yes, all of a sudden Rome got cold and cloudy...grr Istanbul you couldn't let us enjoy the warmth for just another day? Anyway once we got inside we needed a coffee break because Reuben's feet were frozen and asleep and I'm ADDICTED to cappucino!
We ended up not getting a tour guide and just buying the audio guide. I liked that much better the descriptions were short and sweet and you got to pick what you wanted to stop and learn about. The nice thing about coming on the last Sunday of the month is that it is free but it closes at 1:30pm so you don't really get that much time there. And to see all of the Vatican truly is an all day thing. We made our way through most of the museum and saw some incredible rooms designed by Rafaelo. I forgot how much I liked Italian art. Truthfully I didn't remember much from my trip here in high school.
Ancient Roman Statues
I <3 Rafaelo.
Of course the final stop in the tour was the Sistine Chapel and like I remembered it was breathtaking. It doesn't even matter that you're not allowed to take pictures there just because no picture could capture the beauty and grandeur of that room. There are just no words.
We left the Vatican as the were closing and headed back to the Flaminio metro station and got an obscene amount of food for lunch! It was all incredible though, thank god I'm not studying abroad in Italy. I would be middle school 145 lb Rhea again!
The food in Italy is ridiculously good.
We were pretty tired for the rest of the day and it started raining really really hard so of course I still dragged Reuben to the Spanish steps to take a picture there :)
Thanks for being such a good sport Reuben!
But we just got a nice quiet dinner at the restaurant near our hotel, which like all the other food in Italy was delicious. We gorged ourselves. AH I will miss the food here. Anyway tomorrow morning we wake up and leave Rome :( but we got back to Istanbul! Geez could the study abroad life get any better?
(2/3) February 26: Running Around in Roma…no I won’t stop with the alliterations ☺
The plan was to wake up at 8:00am today and make the most of our first full day here. But I didn’t realized that our phones were still set to Turkish time (an hour ahead) so we ended up getting up at 7:00! I was thrilled, Reuben not so much :/ but we headed down to an amazing breakfast spread! And the cappuccino! I felt like I had died and gone to heaven! Breakfast is the one meal in Turkey that isn’t that great, I mean unless you’re going to get a börek, but those are too unhealthy to be a daily thing.
Peace, Love and Cappuccino.
Grappa and Trevi
Anyway we quickly headed to the Trevi Fountain! Again my second time here but it was even more beautiful and breath taking than I remembered. I guess the wish thing is true…does that mean I have one more trip to Rome in store?? This trip was especially memorable because today was the day of the Italy-Wales rugby match and for some reason all the Wales fans dress up in crazy Halloween costumes for the game! We saw some at breakfast but didn’t realize who they were until we got to the Trevi Fountain and saw like twenty of them! The fountain was even more beautiful than I remembered it. I have to keep pinching myself, I feel so lucky to be able to see all of these things and do all of this unbelievable stuff in such a short period of time!
Bellisima!
We had to take the cheesy throwing the coin in picture!
<3
Coloseo, Palantino and Forum Romana
This is where our Roma pass really came in handy. If I haven’t said this already that was probably the best 25 euro I spent while I was here. It includes free and unlimited public transportation for 3 days, and free entry into two museums or archaeological sites. Lucky for me the Coloseo, Palantino and Forum Romana were all grouped into one so they only counted as one entry. I’m not too sure why or how that worked but hey, I’m not complaining! So the pass allowed us to skip the ridiculous line! I guess because it was a Saturday it was even worse but the line just to buy tickets was two hours long…with the Roma pass we got in the coliseum in about 5 minutes.
It was incredible, even bigger than I remembered! Reuben really liked it too, of course the most he got out of all the history was that gladiators used to fight to the death. Now he’s obsessed with Russell Crowe.
Reuben's new goal = Become a Gladiator
Afterwards we were stopped by some “gladiators” who were dying to have their picture taken with us! They were really funny and Reuben got some great shots…even though they haggled us for 5 euro afterwards ☹
"Princess you have juicy melons. Let the prince enjoy!"
The Palantino was cool but without a tour guide/audio guide it was hard to enjoy. All of the ruins were literally 5-6 feet tall so you couldn’t really tell what anything was. But seeing the ruins of Augustus Caesar’s house was really cool!
The Roman Forum was AMAZING! I might even like it more than the coliseum but then again I’m a huge poli nerd ☺ It’s just so incredible to see a place that has withstood thousands of years. Before we got to Rome I was reading a blog about the Roman Forum and the guy who wrote it talked about walking around there wondering if Caesar walked on the same bricks and I couldn’t help but thinking the same thing. It’s one thing to see these places in movies and learn about them in school but being there and witnessing everything on your own is so different.
View from the new level ground. It blows my mind how the entire city was build above all this.
My attempt at being artsy. Look at little Reuben in the corner!
Cristo Salvatore
After those sights we were exhausted and really just wanted to wander into a non-touristy part of town and get some cappuccino. We ended up hopping on a random bus and getting off a random stop hoping for the best and when we got off the bus we were in front of a HUGE church. And it had massive statues of all the apostles on top of it. I hadn’t read anything about this church but I figured it was worth checking out. So we wandered in and found out that this church was given to Rome in the 1300s from Constantinople (Yeah Turks!) and is considered the mother of all other churches in Rome…why? Well I’m not exactly sure but that’s what the inscription says in Latin. The coolest part of this church was all the statues they had inside and a gold plated sculpture of the Last Supper. It was absolutely beautiful!
Outside view of the Church
This has to be one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen
Hallway with marble statues of all the Apostles and some Saints
Pizza and Bira
After seeing the church we were exhausted. Like for real. So we headed back to Flaminio to go to the hotel to nap. Little did we know (silly Americans!) the time we were trying to get on the tram was the same time that the Rugby match let out eeeek! The tram was packed packed packed, so we decided to walk, simple solution right? But no. The street was packed too I got checked so many times we decided to wait it out for a while and stumbled upon a small restaurant that had a 5 euro deal for a massive slice of pizza and a huge Italian beer yum! Well after that we were pretty much out of commission for the rest of the night and just went to the hotel and chilled/ went to bed early! Long day ahead at the Vatican tomorrow anyway ☺
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