Istanbul

What a fantastic week we had! Jake and I made the decision to stay in Istanbul for our entire week-long Eid break, and we're happy we did. As Emrah, one of our new Turkish friends, told us, he's been there his whole life and he feels as though he hasn't scratched the surface. We did see many of the "greatest hits" from the guidebooks, but many of the best experiences we had were found elsewhere: finding a local teachers' bar and sharing a table and stories with some locals, chatting over tea with a carpet salesman, dancing to live Turkish music in a small restaurant, and lamenting Turkey's loss to Greece in football (soccer).

One thing that stuck out for us was the call to prayer. In Doha, the call is usually led by the most pious person, and it is quite solemn. In Istanbul, the best singers seem to compete from mosque to mosque! The call there is musical, loud, and joyous. A very different tone and feeling from one part of the Muslim world to another.



Even Jake, who hates shopping, loved the intense colors and scents of the 17th-century Spice Bazaar. (We both preferred it to the much larger and almost mall-like Grand Bazaar). In the Spice Bazaar, shopkeepers held up scoopfuls of aromatic teas (we bought some apple tea) and tempted us with morsels of Turkish Delight (we bought some, pistachio-flavored). Locals bought meats and cheeses, and we tourists blended in much more.


One "greatest hit" must be mentioned, though. To our eyes, by far the most amazing building in Istanbul is Aya Sophia. It was built in the year 537. More than a thousand years earlier than other domes of its size. It is an absolute architectural masterpiece and still the 4th largest dome in the world (after St Paul's in London, St Peter's in Rome, and Milan's Duomo). Those were all built a millennium later. From the inside even more than the outside, this place absolutely takes your breath away. It was built as a church, later converted to a mosque, and is now a museum. I spent over an hour just looking upwards before I even got out the camera.


We did lots of other stuff including two day trips by ferry (one up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea and an old castle up on a hill, one to the Marmara Sea and the Princes Islands). We met some wonderful people (an American couple, a doctor and a lawyer who have been everywhere and had tons of great stories, a group of Turkish grad students who we'll definitely keep in touch with, and Jake's cousin's fiance's friend (!) and her boyfriend, who teach in Istanbul and who we are trying to convince to move to Doha).

I am definitely going to buy a book on the history of Istanbul. I'd like to get a better idea of what it must have been like, 1600 years ago, walking into Aya Sophia for the first time. Jake pointed out that for many people, it was probably scary because there was no comprehension of how this massive dome would stay up there and not come crashing down. But what an amazing feeling as well.