In playing the role of dutiful ignorant American tourist, it was suggested to me by some friends that I had no capacity to truly experience the wonders of Istanbul. That's probably true, so I'll save any well-considered travel tips. I will say, however, that as a mere tourist, I found Istanbul to be an exhausting and stressful place.
That doesn't take away from the feeling of awe I felt walking into the Hagia Sophia or the sheer vibrancy of a city bursting with some twelve million people. And it's amusing experience to chase off scammers looking for dopey Americans by barking at them in German. And I will never ever forget walking four miles uphill to watch a sunset from the Asian side of town, walking four miles back to find the boat home gone and spending 50 TL on a taksi ride back to Europe. But I'd be remiss if I didn't say going to Istanbul by oneself is less than fun.
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A few final thoughts:
- My friend chastised me for suggesting Istanbul was simultaneously a "Middle Eastern New York City" and a farmer's market, but I'm not sure why that's so far off base. The city is a mess of contradictions. Girls in head scarves dancing to raunchy American pop music. Roosters to wake you up in the morning and techno to drone you to sleep. I saw a "Playstation 3 Cafe" full of gamers next to a bunch of old men, smoking and playing tavla.
- As excited as I was to see the Hagia Sophia, another friend told me the Blue Mosque was more spectacular. First, this is a stupid debate: both structures are gorgeous, true testaments to religions' desire to awe human beings. That said, blame my love of Byzantium, I thought the Hagia Sophia was more impressive. The outside of the structure looks rather ghastly--and the subsequent addition of four minarets looks off, as well. But inside? One understands why Constantinople was the envy of the surrounding Christian and Muslim domains for a thousand years. Yes, the building is run down. Yes, the church was looted by Latin Crusaders and much of its wonders taken to Venice. (Enrico Dandalo, Doge of Venice and mastermind of this destruction, got his just deserts. He was buried in the Hagia Sophia and when the Ottomans converted the church into a mosque, his bones were dug up and fed to the dogs.) And yes, the church's conversion into a mosque feels somehow wrong, the mishmash of Christian and Islamic stylings utterly bizarre. But the stunning openness of the building and its immense dome is just astounding when one considers it was built almost 1500 years ago.
- Topkapı Palace was...meh. Walking through the Sultan's Harem was admittedly cool, but there wasn't much else to see. The selection of jewels and weapons on display were no more impressive than a similar exhibit I saw at the Smithsonian last year. Yes, these treasures were in their native habitat rather than on loan, but the "native habitat" was dark, non-airconditioned rooms stuffed with people while guards barked at everyone to move along. Hard to appreciate craftsmanship when you can't see and you're on a 15-second per item time limit.
- The Basilica Cistern was incredible. Constructed in the Age of Justinian, the cistern served as a water filtration system underneath the city. It was subsequently forgotten about until Turks started randomly uncovering fish and fresh water from an unknown source. I pretty much just stumbled into the entrance and was floored--it was gorgeous and creepy at the same time, with Medusa heads randomly lying around. Also, when walking around Istanbul on a ninety degree day, going into a deep dark underground cavern full of water is a really solid idea.
- The scammers are just...frustrating. One common scam has shoe shiners dropping their tools in front of unsuspecting tourists to lure them in. I stupidly picked up one shoe shiners' brush, only to have him start profusely thanking me and asking me to come with him, sensing something was up I walked away only to have him start yelling at me. Subsequently, my patience exhausted, I started trying to get roped into the shoe shine scheme, only to walk past the dropped brush or stare blankly at it until the shoe shiner turned to give me a dirty/quizzical stare. Yes, I felt a bit bad about this later.
- I expected Istanbul to be full of stray dogs, but I never expected to see the sheer number of stray cats. Cats were walking around inside the Hagia Sophia, tourists were petting them on the Metro, and at one point I saw a good dozen of them huddled down a dark alley. I suppose tons of cats are better than tons of rats on the whole, but cats are just lethal for my allergies. I woke up the first night, my nose clogged and gagging from some post-nasal drip. Fortunately, I was able to suck down on an inhaler while simultaneously snorting some Nasacort.
- I really like Istanbul Metro's tokens/jetons. They feel like little poker chips, and I almost bought one just to keep. Next time anyone is in Istanbul and wants to spend 1.50 TL on me, buy me a jeton!
- And lest people think I did nothing but "touristy stuff," I did take in a cello concert in a park. Not only was it nice to sit, but one of the celloists was quite cute.
So that's
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