Day 3: "Take it Easy"

My eyes popped open at 4:43 am. The imam's prayer broke out over the city at 4:44 am. My body was adapting to life in this city. After writing about the day prior, we broke fast at our hostel for the first time. The offerings were on point for what we'd read were traditional Turkish breakfast foods.  Soft goat cheese, bread, cucumber, tomato, olives, watermelon, cherries, a choice of butter, jam, or hazelnut-chocolate spread for the bread and tea to wash it all down. On the walk into town after, Becca openly longed for a future of starting every day off with goat cheese.

Shortly after eating, we made our way to the company offering the lone Bosphorous Strait boat tour in English.  This would give us a view from the water of the three areas of the city--Old Europe and New Europe and the aspect on the Asian continent--as well as point out the historical landmarks in each.  

We were to be picked up by bus at the company's brick and mortar location in Sultanahmet and whisked over to the docks on the New Europe side of the city. We had some time to kill, though, so we walked down to the World Famous Pudding Shop and had Turkish coffees. The Pudding Shop is apparently world famous because of its inclusion in the movie Midnight Express.  It was also apparently a big hippie traveler hang back in the day. Since neither of us have seen Midnight Express, the significance of this locale was largely lost on us. We do plan to watch the film upon returning home and it will be fun to see it again.  The Turkish coffee was lovely even with the consistency of a wet-dust sludge at the finish. We walked out of there with eyes wide open to be sure--it was strong stuff.

Once we boarded the bus, I knew this would be a struggle for Becca. She  whiteknuckles whenever she rides shotgun while I'm driving back home. So, to see her aboard this mass of metal and glass as its young driver navigated narrow cobblestone streets and alleys made narrower by cars parked on both sides of the street was mostly fun. "Mostly" only because she was whiteknuckle gripping my arm tightly as the bus swung around blind corners and little cars darted past through seemingly too-narrow spaces.  I couldn't help but laugh to myself as I pointed out to her in the rear-view mirror the shirt the young driver was wearing. It said "Take it Easy".

On the boat, it was apparent we were among tourists from all walks.  There were two other American couples, one with two small children. We chatted among ourselves later about the amount of respect we had that the couple could pull a trip like this off and, at the same time, we thanked our lucky stars we'd chosen to do this trip our way before having little hellions along for the ride.

The boat tour was cool for a few reasons. It provided a nice perspective to the city and some context for its different parts and it was great to be outside on a beautiful day, etc. More than anything else, though, it was cool because of the dolphins. There were many that we saw swimming and jumping not terribly far from our boat as we churned through the strait. It was  as awesome as it was frustrating. Despite my best efforts and the many opportunities--I couldn't for the life of me catch a dolphin in the frame of a decent photo. Oh well.

After the boat tour, we combed the docks, searching for vendors of the famous stuffed mussels we'd heard so much about. Eventually we threw up our hands upon finding none, but I vowed under my breath not to leave Istanbul for good on July 30 without consuming at least one of those delights.

Instead we sought out our first döner kebab sandwiches of the trip. We ate many of these sandwiches throughout our time in Spain, so being here to try the real deal was something we highly anticipated. The sandwiches themselves held up and were really good, but they were dry. Those we are in Spain at döner shops were smothered in sauce--here there was none. I couldn't help but think maybe we missed something we should've asked for in ordering.

We next worked our way through the bazaar district. The Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar.  It was packed. Our favorite local barkeep Hassan from Kybele Cafe later pointed out that folks were likely unable to go the day before due to the severe storm and this was likely why we found ourselves packed like sardines in the alleys and walkways throughout the bazaar district. At any rate, it was a unique experience. We continued to get called out by determined shopkeepers. Eventually, I figured out that I could walk slightly behind Becca and throw up my hand toward her in dismay whenever a shopkeeper asked me to stop and I did not. One said to me, "Please. Yes. Stop and I show you my shop." So, I threw my hand up toward Becca and gave him a helpless look. "Ah, I see," he said. "I see who is the boss." I laughed and threw up my hands as I kept walking.

Later, though, we made the mistake of getting turned around and we made our way through the same walkway, passing the same shops a second time. The shopkeeper pounced, "Boss lady, boss lady," he pleaded as Becca powered past him. I simply laughed and threw up my hands as I kept walking slightly behind her.

We ended up buying a couple of art pieces at the Grand Bazaar. According to Our New Friend, who'd saved us from the storm the day before and whom we now know is named Omur, getting ripped off at the Grand Bazaar is a rite of passage in this city. We did not spend much, though, and--what we did buy--I haggled to get two items for what one would have cost.

After the bazaars excursion, we took our purchases back to the hostel and booked it over to the basilica cistern before it closed. It was cool. Essentially, it was an extension of the Aya Sofya--an intricately built underground water source to the palace.

Once we strolled through and returned to above ground, all we wanted was a quiet space and an Efes--so we headed for the rooftop of Kybele and Hassan provided what we needed.

After a few beers and many mezes, we strolled home in the early evening with plans to pack our backpacks for our domestic flight to Izmir and to prepare for the next leg of our trip along the Aegean coast. Those plans proved ambitious, though, because within two minutes of getting back to our room I was face down on the mattress and within one minute of that I was out for the night.