AixPatriots: Our Semester in Aix en Provence: Turkish Delight (and no, I do not mean the candy)

This weekend I went to Istanbul and it was amazing and unlike any other place I have been.

I went with a large group (6 people total - don't worry, safety first!) - but Emily and Sara stayed in Aix.

Friday:

After only 3 hours of fitful/anxiety ridden sleep (confession: I am an anxious traveler) I awoke around 4:40 (just call me Emily Gall). I had to catch the 5:30AM navette to the airport. We got there and boarded our plane sans issue. I slept the entire flight - which was wonderful - but sadly I missed breakfast. We arrived around 12 and went through passport control (bought a 15 euro 90 day "visa") and grabbed some cabs to our hostel. By some stroke of extreme luck our hostel ended up being a 5 minute walk from the Blue Mosque and a 7 minute jaunt to the Hagia Sofia. We grabbed lunch - I had a feta sandwich and trooped off to the Blue Mosque. When we arrived it was closed for prayer, but a nice mosque official offered to give us and another group of American students a short info session about the Mosque and Islam in general. We were given free tea and a nice primer on the Mosque. It was built from 1609 -1616 (a full 1300 years after its neighbor Hagia Sofia) under the watch of Sultan Ahmed. The mosque is filled with 20,000 had painted tiles. It was absolutely beautiful, one of the most breathtaking sights I have seen all semester. The mosque has six minarets - the only one in the region. We had to take our shoes off but we didn't have to wear head scarves. I wish I could describe it - but I can't, so look at my pictures, the are worth at least one thousand words! After being awed at the Blue Mosque we hopped over to Hagia Sofia. Hagia Sofia was originally a Eastern Orthodox Cathedral, then a Catholic Cathedral, then Eastern Orthodox again, and finally a mosque. Currently it is a museum. As I mentioned, it was dedicated in 360 - but hit its hayday as a church in the 6th century under Emperor Constantine. As much as I would like to continue with these awesome historical facts - I will stop (I don't want to induce narcolepsy) and refer you to my good friend, Wikipedia. Due to its multireligion background, the interior is very interesting. The walls are mostly painted with scrolls and patterns, but there are some old (read: ancient) murals of Christian figures. Mary and baby Jesus are on the ceiling above the altar area, and the four corners (if a dome/circle can have a corner) are decorated with Seraphim. It was a very interesting mix - apparently the Jesus and Mary bit was just uncovered in 2008! For dinner we took the tram (Istanbul uses the token system, the only city I have visited so far that does so - though Emily assures me that Russian has entered the 21st century in this respect) to a small restaurant for dinner. After some initial extreme confusion about how to order we ate a pretty good meal. I really enjoyed it. We were all exhausted - so we skipped the hookah lounge and slumped off to bed. Sleep!

Saturday:

We woke up refreshed and ready to seize the day! Our hostel offered a free breakfast (along with wifi towels - so it was awesome) on its rooftop terrace that overlooked the Bosphorus Strait. It was a tradition Turkish breakfast so I had feta cheese (skipped the meat), tomatoes, cucumbers, bread, hard boiled eggs, raisins, and tea (tried to squeeze the most out of that free meal!). It was very filling. Then we went off to the Grand Bazaar. It was HUGE!!!!!! I can't even describe it's size except to say that it covers over 58 streets and had over 4,000 shops. Wabam! Here are some things they have at the market: harem pants (I bought a pair for me and for Emily - get excited), lanterns, spices, tea, turkish delight (not that good - jelly like candy), jewelry, tiles, ceramics, scarves, carpets, bags (I got a shoulder bag made of an old carpet - tres chic!), a million other things... We wandered around for a few hours buying things. Like I mentioned I bought harem pants (ridiculously comfortable) and a cool bag. And I haggled, #comeatmenow. My friends bought scarves, turkish delight, lanterns, and some small jewelry pieces. Turkey interesting fact #1: people selling anything will try to call you into their store. Restaurants all have people standing outside trying to "entice" you in and all the bazaar merchants call out to you. Hint - if you talk to me, I will actually avoid your establishment. Aside from being unsettling, it was also funny at times. For instant in the bazaar we were called Spice Girls 3 times, Charlie's Angels twice, Destiny's Child once, and one time someone shouted "Kennedy!" at us. Interesting. After the bazaar we headed home to deposit our new booty and then we headed out to the Topkapi Palace. It was interesting, to say the least. The architecture was different from anything I've seen in Europe - lots of one floor rooms, outdoor squares, and gardens. While there we were able to look across the Bosphorus and see ASIA!!! It was super interesting. Also at the palace we saw several pieces of Muhammad's beard, Moses's staff, Joseph's turban, Muhammad's footprint, and some other religious relics. Also there were tons and tons of tiles - so I really enjoyed that. After the palace we hit up another bazaar. Interesting Istanbul fact #2: There are cats everywhere! Literally millions (if not hundreds) of cats. Apparently dogs are well tolerated, thus the EXPLOSION in cat population. We had a contest to see who could take the most pictures of cats. I think I won. We saw cats eating scraps, sleeping in mosques, stalking other cats, sleeping on pillows that were for sale outside, and just generally romping about. For dinner we went to a Turkish restaurant (shocker). I split lamb shish kabobs. They were really good. After dinner we went to a highly recommended (by our waiter) hookah (narghile) lounge. It didn't have any - somehow favored air/smoke didn't appeal to me... so I busied my self taking pictures of our new friends, the kitties. There were 2 kittens! They were so cute. The played with us, slept on our laps, romped around with each other, and were just generally break-your-heart adorable. After hookah we went to sleep.

Sunday: We got up, had an early Turkish breakfast and caught cabs to the Ataturk airport. We had been advised to get there with 2 hours to spare, which actually ended up being too much, so we hung out for a while. We boarded our flight and I took a quick nap. When I woke up an hour later however - we were still on the tarmac!! There was a long line, so we took off an hour later. I was a bit miffed. But then the heavens smiled upon me and the saintly Air France flight crew started handing our lunch. Apparently there are still airlines that serve lunch gratis! I ate salmon, tabbouleh, potato salad, camembert, and a strange fruit cake (not my fave). But it was wonderful!! After that I napped, listened to music, daydreamed and read. Delightful. We landed in Marseille, went through passport control and we nearly free when one of my travel companions realized she left her passport on the plane. Luckily a security person was able to grab it for her - but said security page took a long time. We chilled in the passport control area for about 45 minutes until our friend was reunited with her better half and then we began the trek home. To get from the airport to my auberge I have to take a 30 minutes bus ride and then complete a 30 minute death march home. Needless to say, it is the most daunting part of any trip. But I survived everything!

To conclude, Istanbul was wonderful! I was worried a bit - but it ended up being perfectly safe. The Blue Mosque was my favorite, but I really enjoyed the bazaar (and my newly discovered haggling skills) as well. The food was very delicious - but the Turkish Delight was grossly over hyped. In reality, it is not a very good - I much prefer desserts that are in cake form or at least have a large dose of chocolate. But as a world traveler, I understand that one often has to step outside of one's comforts to truly experience a new culture. But then upon returning home, one must reward oneself for one's adventurousness with a healthy portion of the delicious CHOCOLATE fudge that one finds in the fridge.