Weekend Trip to Istanbul

This past Thursday evening a group of about thirty of us study abroad students took buses to Istanbul, Turkey. We left at around 10pm and arrived in Istanbul at 9am, which was a very long and tiring trip that included stops at the border and customs. Getting a Turkish visa isn't nearly as difficult as getting a Greek visa luckily. We took cabs to our hostels, checked in, and immediately started walking around. Our hostel, the Big Apple, is right by the Blue Mosque, so we started our sightseeing there. 

The Blue Mosque was built in the 17th century and is mostly a tourist attraction now, but we did see some people praying while we were there. Because Friday is the Muslim holy day, we went right before the services started and were out just in time. Here are some pictures- 

I'm pretty sure this is the first time that I've been in a mosque, or at least that I can recall. I found it totally fascinating. Apparently the Blue Mosque held one of two papal visits to a mosque ever a few years ago, which is pretty cool. After that we walked over to the Hagia Sofia, which was right across the street. Here are some more pictures-

After some sightseeing we ate lunch at a really good middle eastern style restaurant. I was a little surprised by the food in Istanbul because I found it more similar to Greek food than the middle eastern food that I was expecting. It was really good though, we ate a good amount of hummus, dolmas and syrian bread during the weekend. After lunch, we all hopped on the ferry that took us across the Bosphorus to the part of Istanbul that is in Asia. So now I can say that I've been to Asia! It was pretty anticlimactic because it dropped us off in a not so great part of town so we hopped right back on and went back to Europe. But the ferry ride was nice, and we got some good pictures. People were feeding the seagulls so they would fly right next to the boat.

This was all on the first day, so we were pretty tired by the end of it. We went to dinner at a restaurant that overlooks the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, and then we went back to the htotel. Some of us attempted to go to Taksim, the area with all the bars, but between dead phones, miscommunications and cold weather, we ended up going home pretty early.

Day 2


The second day, we all met up for breakfast and then went straight to the Grand Bazaar. With over 4,500 shops it was overwhelmingly huge and a little intimidating. The Turks are some pretty pushy people. Every shop that we passed, the owners would call to us. Some would say the items they were selling, and some were pretty blunt. One actually told us to come in and spend all our money. They were feeding us lines right and left- I don't think I've heard so many cheesy pick up lines. I have to admit they're pretty good salesmen. I bought a few scarves and some gifts to bring home. Next we went to the Spice Bazaar, which was all food and livestock. I liked it better than the Grand Bazaar because they give you samples. We got to try different kinds of Turkish delight, cheeses, nuts and fruit. We snacked all afternoon, saving us money on a meal.

When we finished shopping, it was late afternoon and lack of sleep was catching up with some of us. We went back to the hostel and took a quick nap, and then woke up for dinner. After dinner we went back to the hostels, and the owners took us on a pub crawl in Taksim. The first bar we went to was mostly locals and the band played Turkish songs that we didn't know, as well as "I Will Survive" in Turkish, which was pretty entertaining. The second bar was more fun because the band played all American songs that we recognized. We caught a taxi at the end of the night and headed back to the hostel.

Day 3


Our last day in Istanbul was chilly and rainy. We were all a little tired, but we powered through to see Topkapi palace, where the sultans used to live. We went through the exhibits, which featured jewels, clothing and household items dating back to the 12th century. The last exhibit featured Moses' rod, Muhammad's footprint, Abraham's saucepan and the prophet Joseph's turban. I'm a little skeptical of all these, considering how old all of these items would be. We joked that the only thing missing was the apple that Eve bit out of. After this, we sat in a cafe and enjoyed some apple tea. Then we split up, and I went to the Turkish baths with a few other people. I can honestly say that I have never experienced quite like it- you are scrubbed down from head to toe and given a full body massage. It was a little shocking and uncomfortable at first, because you aren't wearing much clothing and neither are the elderly Turkish women massaging you. I'm really glad that I did it though, it was a really cool thing to do.

I don't have any pictures from Sunday because it was too cold to take my hands out of my pockets, but we didn't do much after the baths. The bus left at 10 pm so we all took a shuttle to the bus station. I'd say that my Turkish experience was pretty amazing and I had a really great time. I really found myself out of my comfort zone though, this being my first time in a Muslim country. There were a few times when I felt really intimidated by how different the culture was. I don't know if I could have spent a semester in Turkey, but I had a really great time in three days.

My next trip is this upcoming weekend- the school is taking us to Meteora and Ioannina to see monasteries and caves. I'm really looking forward to it, everyone says both places are beautiful. I'll keep you posed on my adventures!