Everything Else (Istanbul part 7 of 7)

Ok, so I'm getting impatient and want to get on to other things. So here's a quick wrap up of Everything Else that I did in Istanbul and is worth a mention. Prepare for picture spammage.

I stayed in the Kumkapi area of Fatih. While Fatih itself is mostly known as a fairly traditional/conservative area, Kumkapi is mostly nice (read: expensive) restaurants, serving up fresh seafood to all the tourists who come in for the evening. In the background you can make out a little fish fountain as well as the site of the one attempt at purse snatching I had in Istanbul. But the guy was so completely obvious and bad about it that I hesitate to even credit it as an attempt. Although, I do have lightning fast reflexes when I sense something coming at my side after years of people attempting to poke my side and elicit squeaks, so maybe I should give the guy more credit. And really, even if he'd gotten my bag, all he'dve wound up with was a sweater, bottle of water, and a notebook. My momma didn't raise no fool ;)

Sirkeci Station, once the eastern-most end point for the Orient Express and now serves as both a train station and a stop on the little Metro-esque light rail that connects the 'burbs with the Old City. The main entrance to the station used to be through those doors, and now a little Orient Express Museum (free!) and a snack shop can be found here. The Museum is kind of neat, with photos from the hay day of the Orient Express, as well as parts from the trains, schematics, plans, etc etc. Not very big, but worth a look through if you're passing through the station.

Not much is left of the glamorous old-time Orient Express; the route shortened to just Paris to Vienna in the 1970s and then Strasbourg to Vienna in 2007 before finally ceasing altogether in 2009. But this guy still sits outside the station as a reminder of a bygone era.

Dondurma! That's ice cream for us English speakers. Sold seriously EVERYWHERE and delicious but unlike any ice cream I've ever had before. I can't even really explain it. It's sort of... stickier. Biting off a bit is much more effective than licking; licking just kind of moves it around rather than getting any into your mouth if that makes any sense. The guys selling it put on a little show and everything, tossing cones and scopes.

In between the Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque, there's a big open plaza (with ATM if you need one in the area, and they can be tricky to find) and a little park area with loads of food stalls (hence the dondurma) and some grass and shade to enjoy. I liked the fountain. :)

Istiklal Caddesi in Beyoglu, across the Golden Horn on the northern side of European Istanbul is a main shopping thoroughfare. Shops are open late, and there are tons of shops, restaurants and bars in the area. I love that they still have Christmas decorations up. In May.

Hey look! I'm on the set of a Turkish soap opera! No really! They were filming Omre Bedel, a soap opera on Fox at one of the aforementioned Kumkapi area restaurants and the friend I was staying with was buddies with the restaurant owner, who insisted we come in and observe while he plied us with tea and some sort of pumpkin/cake/honey deliciousness.

I was attempting to be stealthy with my paparazzi photo taking, and not to worry, these weren't taken of the actual scenes, these are just the actors hanging out. But see the guy on the left? You can also see him at the 10 second mark in this promo for the show- proof that I'm not making this all up! Omre Bedel promo over at YouTube

That's my water and dessert, but totally prop wine and salad. Probably the most surreal experience of my life to date.

And you really can't go to Istanbul and not see the Grand Bazaar, right? Well, I probably could have lived without the experience, but I can say I've been. I'm told you aren't going to get much of a great deal there (and I'd believe it), and if you aren't terrible confrontational and occasionally have trouble saying no, this is probably not the best place for you to shop. Especially since prices are jacked up with the expectation that you'll try to haggle them down. But there is all kinds of stuff you probably don't need, all for sale under one roof. One very large, confusing, maze-like roof. Ok, the roof isn't maze-like, but you get the idea. I of course got completely turned around, thought I went out a door that I clearly did not go out of and then proceeded to get sort-of majorly lost in the narrow, shop-lined streets surrounding the bazaar. Luckily the dome of Istanbul University makes for a handy landmark and I was able to get myself turned the right way around.

Near the Blue Mosque just outside of the Arasta Bazaar area is the Mosaic Museum. It isn't very big, and isn't very well known perhaps, but it is well marked, so it's easy enough to find. I highly recommend a visit. They have all of the excavated mosaics from a peristyle courtyard of Constantine's Great Palace found under the Arasta Bazaar.

These are pretty much one of a kind mosaics- there aren't any other high status surviving Byzantine mosaic works of this kind [EDIT: Ok, so there are plenty of Byzantine mosaics from the Hagia Sophia, but those date to the 11th-12th centuries mostly, while these are more like 6th century. So I guess I should say these are the earliest of their kind that we know of], so scholars have no other examples to compare them to in order to do any kind of stylistic comparison. While the museum is little more than a large warehouse with bare bones curatorial work, it does include really interesting signs discussing the discovery, recovery, and preservation of the mosaics. If you're so inclined, you can find more pictures of the mosaics over on my flickr page in the Istanbul set.

Taking a stroll along the bank of the Golden Horn, I stopped and grabbed a grilled fish sandwich, of course I can't think of what they're called now, but it was delicious. And then grabbed a twister ice cream and sighed, thinking the same thing costs me about double in the UK. And then sighed again thinking that it is a shame that the US doesn't have Twister pops at all, because they are marvelous.

And because one bazaar isn't enough, head on over to the Egyptian Bazaar (or Spice Bazaar as it is also known) to get your fill of teas, spices, herbs, more tourist trinkets, etc. According to my Rough Guide, you aren't getting a bargain at most of these stalls, but there are apparently one or two that do charge realistic prices. But the smell alone is almost worth stopping by for, especially around the tea stalls. Yum.

And thus, I bid you adieu Istanbul. You were fantastic. And so was I. Cookies if you get the reference. But seriously, it was an amazing trip and I'm glad I got the chance to go. I'd like to be able to go back and see some of the rest of Turkey. But Istanbul is a fantastic city, where you really do literally see East meet West in an explosion of colours, tastes, textures, smells, and tiny, unmarked streets, usually running uphill. Go if you get the chance, and if you go, eat the manti!