Sept. 15 – 16…..Our last two days in Istanbul

When we were in Istanbul five years earlier, we didn't get a chance to see the Spice Market so Bill was anxious to go so he could purchase some Turkish spices that he uses in some of the dishes he makes . We had a day left on our discount Metro passes so, after a nice breakfast in the apartment, we hopped on the train and got off in the old town and walked the few blocks to the outskirts of the Spice Bazarre.

Before arriving at the huge, enclosed Spice Bazarre, we had to wind through some narrow streets, lined with vendors selling all kinds of spices, nuts, Turkish sweets and other things we didn’t recognize. Well, as soon as we entered the first street, we were hit with a mass of humanity as people had poured into the city for the holiday. Bill and I are both claustrophobic and, as we inched along the narrow street, the crowd increased and we got a little panicky. I couldn’t help but think about what would happen if something triggered the crowd and everyone started trying to get out. We had no choice but to keep moving, while we tried to hold on to each other, until there was a side street that we could take. After what seemed like hours, we finally spotted one up ahead and made a quick exit . This narrow street was still crowded but nothing like what we had just experienced. I think this was the only time since we started our trip that I felt scared.

There was no shortage of vendors to pick from and Bill easily found the spices he wanted. We also purchased some delicious Turkish sweets and an assortment of nuts. Considering the crowds, we decided to pass on going to the actual Spice Bizarre…perhaps we’ll get there when we come back to see the newly excavated underground city in Cappadocia.

We had several hours until we needed to be at the meeting point for the Bosphorus Dinner Cruise so, we stopped at a little Coffee House close by for a pastry and coffee and then roamed the area, popping in and out of all the interesting shops. As we were walking along, a young man came running up to me to admire my shoes….wild, multi-color fabric baby dolls that I had bought in the States. He lured us in to his family carpet shop where we met Rana, the owner’s daughter, who had spent most of her life in Australia, with her divorced Australian mother, but had recently returned to Istanbul to work in the family business . We, immediately, hit it off and spent over an hour visiting and learning all about Turkish carpets. The family business consisted of several large retail shops but, they were mainly wholesalers, with a number of warehouses in the States. They were considering setting something up in Mexico and we shared some information with her that she thought might be helpful. It was really nice to not feel like we were being hustled and to just spend a pleasant few hours looking at beautiful carpets without the hard sell. She wanted us to meet her father and invited us to the shop for a typical Turkish breakfast the next morning.

After our panic attack earlier in the day, we ended up having a really pleasant afternoon and, then, it was time to board the boat for the dinner cruise. There was quite a crowd, with rows of tables where we would have our dinner before going up to the top deck for the show. We ended up sitting next to a gorgeous woman, Rania, and her young daughter, Alina, who were from Eqypt, but lived in Dubai . The people on the other side of us were Aussie Muslims, living in Beirut….a brother and sister and their elderly mother, and a sister-in-law, whose husband was at home with the kids. The old woman was sitting next to Bill and the rest of her family were very raucous and were poking fun at their mother in an attempt to get her to smile. What a contrast between the beautiful Rania from Alexandria, who looked like Cleopatra, and this old, grouchy woman. Much to Bill’s dismay, I got to sit next to Rania and he got the grump.

The food on the dinner cruise, which seems to always be the case in these kinds of events, was moderate, but the festive mood made up for it. The show was a little amateurish but a lot of fun, particularly when the belly dancer plucked Bill from the crowd to come up and belly dance with her. It was hysterical. If Bill thought he had any chance with the gorgeous Rania, he blew it with his dance performance.

The route of the cruise was, basically, the same route that we had taken on the day cruise, and the bridges and palaces, that we had seen during the day, were magical, all lit up at night . All in all, it was a wonderful evening, meeting interesting people, watching the crazy show and listening to loud music. We didn’t get home until after midnight and tumbled into bed, exhausted.

Sept. 16….Last day in Istanbul

We took the metro back down to the carpet shop to meet Rana and her father at 10. They had quite a spread for us……hard boiled eggs, different kinds of olives, tomatoes and cucumbers, yogurt, wonderful bread , cream cheese and jams, and fruit. We really enjoyed spending time with them and it felt like we had made some new friends and…who knows…maybe we’ll buy a carpet from them one of these days. They certainly had a huge and incredibly gorgeous selection of all kinds and sizes of carpets.

After our leisurely late breakfast with Rana and her father, Ali, we went to see the Basilica Cistern, the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, and Istanbul’s most unusual tourist attraction . This cistern was built in the 6^th century during the reign of Emperor Justinian I to meet the water needs of the Great Palace. This immense and fascinating water container is 143 meters long and 65 meters wide. The ceiling is supported by a forest of 336 marble columns, mostly in Ionic or Corinthian styles, each measuring 9 meters high, and are spaced at four-meter intervals and arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns each. There is one column that stands out and is engraved with raised pictures of a Hen's Eye, slanted braches, and tears. Historical texts claim that 7,000 slaves were involved in building the Basilica Cistern and that the tears on this column pay tribute to the hundreds of slaves who died during the construction.

The water to fill the cistern came from the Egrikapi Water Distribution Center in the Belgrade Forest, 19 kilometers from the city and transported to the city center via two aqueducts. The cistern has the capacity to store 100,000 tons of water, despite being virtually empty today with only a few feet of water lining the bottom

The cistern was forgotten for centuries and only accidently rediscovered by the Frenchman, Peter Gylius in 1545 . The story goes that, while researching Byzantine antiquities in the city, he noticed that people in the neighborhood were not only able to get water, by simply lowering buckets through holes in their basement, they were also, miraculously, catching fish in this manner.

After undergoing numerous restorations throughout the years, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality opened the Basilica Cistern to the public in its current condition in September of 1987. We descended a flight of fifty-two stone steps to the entrance and strolled on the concrete walkways, enjoying the cool temperatures and somewhat eerie subdued lighting while marveling at this amazing piece of engineering.

Upon the advice of several friends who had been to the cistern, we made sure we walked to the very end of the left-hand corner to see the two Medusa heads. Both are used as column bases with one positioned upside down and the other tilted to the side. Both their positioning as well as their origin remain a mystery to this day, although rumor has it that they were recycled from an antique building of the late Roman period.

After our visit to the Basilica Cistern, we took the metro back to the apartment and had dinner at a little restaurant in the neighborhood. Then we tidied up Zeynep’s apartment and got all our bags packed and ready for our flight to Cairo the next day. Eqypt is one of Bill’s favorite places, having been there twice before, and he was excited about going there, again, with me so that I, too, could experience seeing the vast amount of antiquities that are synonymous with Egypt.

The next morning, we took a taxi to the airport and flew off to the next leg of our adventure.