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| The Grand Bazaar |
Istanbul Turkey
Saturday 11th
October 2014
The
first thing I heard which pretty much woke me up in the morning was the call to
prayer at 6am in the morning. Everything seemed a lot louder; however it was a
great way to wake up without the use of an alarm. I took my time getting
prepared for the day ahead so I had a nice shower which made me feel relaxed
and fresh. I stood out onto the terrace and noticed that there were strong
winds with quite a bit of cloud cover but still warm enough to make it feel
like a holiday. I had a rough idea of my plans and at the top of my list was
the famous Grand bazaar. I was excited to lose myself in the bazaar and to see
its wonderful unique sights. My first priority was to get something for
breakfast so I left the apartment and headed up the steep cobbled hill yet
again and followed the tramline. I decided to take a different route than usual
and I ended up at a row of restaurants next to the tramline. I randomly picked
a restaurant and I ordered orange juice with what seemed to be potato fries in
a bun with tomato sauce and mayonnaise splashed on it. It filled my stomach
however and thankfully managed to eat it all without making a complete mess of
myself.
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| Turkish Shop |
It was now time to head to the Grand bazaar and I quickly arrived after
a short walk. The moment came when I entered the bazaar and I was speechless
with what I was seeing. Yet again I was welcomed with vibrant colours from the
silks, rugs, gold jewellery, mosaic plates and glass lights spread across the
area. The other spectacle was the layout, design and colours of the ceiling in the
bazaar. The outlines of the windows were covered in blue flowery patterns with
cream/yellow coloured ceiling with some areas flaking off exposing the
stonework underneath which was truly remarkable to behold. As I was there to
see the sights of the bazaar, I was not intending on buying anything yet. One
of my big concerns here was getting constantly approached by merchants trying
to sell what they had to offer claiming they would do great prices. However,
not one person approached me which shocked me but also a bit relieved as I was
focusing on the sights rather than purchase. I also thought I would end up lost
in the bazaar with its maze like layout but I always knew that whatever turn I
made there would be an exit around the corner which was a great relief. I spent
quite a bit of time in and around the bazaar before finally leaving to my next
destination.
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| The Grand Bazaar |
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| The Grand Bazaar |
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| The Grand Bazaar |
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| The Grand Bazaar |
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| The Grand Bazaar |
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| The Grand Bazaar |
I wanted to visit the surrounding imperial mosques in the area so
I decided to head to the Süleymaniye mosque. I used my map and my compass which
helped me a lot as in no time at all I arrived at the mosque. It was a very
large and beautifully made mosque just like the Blue mosque. However, there was
something different about this mosque I thought. Today was also a day where I
wanted to enter the mosques which made me excited and curious as to what was
waiting for me inside. Like any mosque, there were rules when entering them; I
had to wear long pants which covered my legs and also to take off my shoes
placing them either on a shelf or in a bag provided. I was suddenly amazed once
I entered through the main doors witnessing the beautiful artwork on the domes
and surrounding ceilings. The whole area was completely covered in colourful
floral patterns yet again with Arabic writing scattered around the building.
The whole floor was covered in a lovely looking carpet too with more floral
patterns all symmetrical to each other. The next thing that caught my eye was
the bright multicoloured window art which beamed beautiful colours onto the
carpet.
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| Suleymaniye Mosque |
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| Suleymaniye Mosque |
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| Suleymaniye Mosque |
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| Suleymaniye Mosque |
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| Suleymaniye Mosque |
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| Colourful Carpet |
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| Suleymaniye Mosque |
I left the mosque so full of wonder and focused on my next mosque to
see which was the ‘Princes’ mosque. Yet another short walk brought me to this
mosque which when I looked at it made me realise how different it was from the
previous mosque as this was not an imperial mosque at all. Around the garden
area were a number of smaller buildings though which held the bodies of old
sultans, offspring and other important people too. Some of the coffins were
draped with an emerald green fabric with what appeared to have white headwear
at the top. It was very different than what is at home which made this very
interesting to me. The small buildings which held the coffins were a sight of
there own as each one had its own design of mosaic art and Arabic writing. I
then entered the mosque and I soon realised that this mosque had a different
floral pattern and colour scheme to the previous mosque; it was yet another
remarkable sight to see though and I was glad I took the time to see this beautiful
area.
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| Princes Mosque |
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| Princes Mosque |
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| Princes Mosque |
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| Mosaic Art |
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| Mosaic Art |
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| Princes Mosque |
As I left I wanted to find the Valens aqueduct which I knew wouldn’t be
far from where I was but I would still need the help of my compass. However, I
walked North West
and looked to my right and there it was plain as day. It was a very large structure
and reminded me of the sites in Rome
again. The next mosque I wanted to see was a few hundred feet North West of
Valens aqueduct which was called the Fatih mosque. More floral patterns welcomed
me as I entered again with beautiful vibrant carpets. I spent a short while here
though as it was time for something to eat.
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| Valens Aqueduct |
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| Imperial Mosque |
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| Cemetery |
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| Imperial Mosque |
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| Imperial Mosque |
As I approached the Ataturk Bridge and came across a nice looking
restaurant, I decided to head towards it. After eyeing up the menu which had a
few peculiar dishes on such as the cooked head of a sheep, I finally sat down
and ordered a mixed grill of chicken sheesh, Turkish kebab and meatballs which
came with naan bread. It was absolutely beautiful to have and experience as I
admired the views of traffic going by rushing around as I sat at my table
relaxed. I finished it off with a Turkish tea becoming my favourite drink to
have on this trip.
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| Turkish Cuisine |
As I left I decided to wander around the spice bazaar again.
This time it was a lot more jam packed as hundreds of people were admiring and
buying items from countless unique stalls. There were several times I would get
knocked around trying to get passed but it didn’t bother me. There were also
times when I would have to give way to people who were transporting a lot of
goods to different shops. I eventually entered the spice bazaar welcomed by the
strong smells of the spices again. I spent along time looking upon all the
different stalls and then decided to head back out of the bazaar as the smell
was overpowering and slightly got to me so I decided to head back up to see the
inside of the Blue mosque.
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| Walk to Spice Bazaar |
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| Unique Blade |
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| Spice Bazaar |
After a bit of time walking, I eventually arrived
and I couldn’t get over the size of the queue to get in. Clearly I picked the
wrong time to get there as the queue stretched out almost around the whole
mosque. It felt miserable standing right at the back of the line but the queue
was moving quite quick for once. Time passed and I eventually made my way
inside the entrance corridor where I would have to take my shoes off again. I
immediately realised why it was named the Blue mosque. The majority of the
mosaic floral patterns were a pure vibrant blue and the glass windows were blue
as well which illuminated the room in a nice calming colour. As I looked up at
the ceiling I couldn’t help noticing that all the mosques I had seen had the
similar patterns as a spyrograph design which was amazingly symmetrical and eye
catching. As it was nearing prayer time, the mosque started to fill up with
people who were preparing to pray in front of us. It was a wonder to watch
along with the wonderful sights of the mosques domes and ceilings. However as
everyone had there shoes off the whole room smelt of feet which was very strong
and enough for me to take my leave plus I would have rather returned to the
overpowering smell of the Spice Bazaar than the smell of feet.
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| Blue Mosque |
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| Blue Mosque |
I decided to
head back to my apartment so I could take a very long rest watching TV before
heading back out. By the time I got to the end of my walk I was hungry so I
headed to the nearest restaurant which was at a small side road full of other
colourful restaurants. I ordered sirloin steaks, 3 beers, mocha coffee, Turkish
coffee and for dessert was a local delicacy called Baklava which was a Turkish
pastry with walnuts and pistachios which all melted in my mouth. Time passed
whilst admiring my food and drinks taking it all in until I eventually decided
to leave and see some sites in the dark.
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| Turkish Cuisine |
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| Turkish Baklava |
As I followed the tramlines towards
the golden horn, I bumped into two Turkish men who began chatting with me about
our experiences. Then they mentioned they were going for a drink and had asked
me if I wanted to come with them. So I joined them stating that I would only
have one drink not thinking at all about the consequences. All of a sudden we
got into a taxi heading to the outskirts of Istanbul. I thought we were just staying
within the old city area when I originally agreed to do this. The taxi
eventually stopped outside a high class club in which we all walked in to and
up the stairs. As I got upstairs the first site I saw were all the beautiful
women in the club dancing away. I felt happy as I sat down with the two men and
ordered my drink. I couldn’t help but notice that I was the only one dressed
like a traveller; everyone else was dressed to impress. A small time passed as
we chatted away admiring the view before 3 women came to us and sat down with
us. One was from China, one
was from Russia and the one
who sat with me was from Ukraine.
She was very pretty and she was impressed at the fact I came from England or maybe
it was because I had money with me who knows. We talked, laughed and danced
away really enjoying the night and we ordered a few drinks for the women too
without knowing the price of them. I headed downstairs with the two men to
settle the bill and then I went white as a sheet when I was told how much we
had to pay and nearly lost control. 7150 Turkish liras was the damage and all I
could feel was regret at the fact that I came out in the first place. However,
we managed to pay the bill by splitting it 3 ways which pretty much left me
with nothing and then we took our leave after saying goodbye to them all. I safely
returned back to the old city of Istanbul and the walk back to the apartment
was quick as I was constantly kicking myself thinking how stupid I was to do
this realising how gullible I was. But despite this setback, I never panicked
knowing I had more money in the bank which I would have to sort out the next
day. The only upside of this was I had a fantastic night which I would hardly
have done back home knowing I was safe and under control. I went to bed feeling
relaxed and safe but still couldn’t believe I did this; Learn from mistakes I
thought as I drifted off to sleep.
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