Haggling in Constantinople

The Blue Mosque

Agia Sofia


Inside the Agia Sofia



The wishing column

Agia Sofia

The interrior of the Blue Mosque - the blue tiles gave it it's nickname

The gentlemen inside the Blue Mosque

The Spice Bazaar

The Bridge to Asia

Chase, Matt, and Matt crossing the border to Asia

Relaxing on the Bridge

Grand Bazaar

Agia Sofia at night

Blue Mosque at night

The view from the top of our hostel

The 500 year old Turkish bath

Adorned in Towels at the Turkish bath

The underground Cistern Cathedral

The Grand Bazaar

Turkish light shop

The light house at night

Sunrise on the last day

“Grand Bazaar Gate 20” – that was what the marble archway said. However, what it didn’t tell me was that after crossing that threshold, into the oldest market in Istanbul that I would be walking into a whole other world. There was just about everything you could imagine, from touristy merchandise to tea sets to water pipes to meats to spices, all strewn about the shops inside the Grand Bazaar. These shops, rows up rows of shops, all presenting their finest merchandise in either their front window or hanging on ropes outside, waiting for the closest buyer to walk by and then:
“What are you looking at? You like this? How much? 45 Lire! How much you want to spend? 35! No? 25… 20!”

Last weekend, the gentlemen of the Loyola International Nachbahrnhuis took a private gentleman’s trip to the capital of the eastern Roman Empire Constantinople, which has since been renamed Istanbul. Wandering out of Belgium, out of the Schengen, and in this case out of Europe, the 7 Americanos took our sightseeing skills to the city on the eastern edge of Europe.

Being our first trip to an Arab and Muslim state, our journey to Istanbul was a step not only into a new city, but into a new culture and society entirely. The spires of gothic cathedrals were replaced with the tips of mosque minarets. The sound of church bells on the hour was replaced with the call to prayer (which occurred 5 times a day). And the typical transaction between a store owner and a customer, was replaced with haggling and prices changes. These were just a few of the many transitions we noticed over the course of our time walking the streets of Istanbul.

Istanbul was a gorgeous city and we spent a majority of our time there just walking around appreciating the culture and beauty of the Turkish lifestyle and architecture. Our first night in Istanbul, we arrived late, grabbed some food as we walked, and found our way over to our hostel which was in the Sultanahmet region of the city. It was then that we caught our first sight of the Agia Sofia and the Sultanahmet Mosque (The Blue Mosque). These two major religious structures were lit up in bright spotlights and stood out like large white stones among the otherwise dark hillside. After taking in our fair share, we wandered to the hostel and crashed for the evening.

The next morning we were up early and toured the Agia Sofia. The Agia Sofia was completed in 537 by The Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was one of the first churches built in the Eastern Roman Empire. It served as the Cathedral of Constantinople until the 1500’s when the Ottoman empire took over and then converted it into a Mosque, adding the signature minarets. It then served as the main mosque in Constantinople until the 1930’s when it was officially made into a museum. Today the building full of 1500 years of history is a hodgepodge of historical and religious relics of both the Christian and Muslim faiths.

After we toured the Agia Sofia, we headed across the garden in front of the Agia Sofia and into the Blue Mosque. The Sultanahmet Mosque was built by the Sultan Ahmet (buried inside) in 1423 and now serves as the largest Mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is also known as the Blue Mosque because of its ornate interior tiles. Its signature six minarets are the main symbol’s of the mosque (the most minarets outside of Mecca’s 7). We stood for a while inside the Blue Mosque, walking around in our socks, just appreciating the Muslim faith and way of worship. Even as we toured the interior of the building, there were people bowing, kneeling, and standing praying toward Mecca.

It was really a sight to behold and an experience that any person of the non-Muslim faith should undertake. To say it brings a greater appreciation for a religion that in reality I knew very little about would be an understatement. I spent most of my time inside the mosque just in awe, trying to take in as much as I could. There is a reason that the Blue Mosque is hailed as one of the major attractions in Istanbul, and I think the 7 of us all understood that thoroughly after the hour we spent just admiring its interior.

Once we finished touring around Sultanahmet we began to wander the narrow and often times confusing streets of the city toward the Spice Bazaar. The Spice Bazaar was in the olden days where the people of Istanbul would gather to buy spices from all over the world. Because of its unique location, Istanbul was often the center of spice trade between the Orient and Europe. As a result, the spice market has been a long standing tradition. Most of the shops were true to its reputation, with piles and piles of different spices – reds, oranges, and yellows – casting an equally colorful scent through the air. The spice market was also a place to find relatively cheap food (1.50 Lire or .75 Euros for a Kebab) and inexpensive touristy gifts (as a result did most of our eating and shopping around the Spice Market).

Once we got through the spice market, we headed toward the bridge to cross over into Asia (that’s right my 3rd ever continent). Unfortunately there wasn’t much going on in the Great Orient, so we wandered back across and found our way over to the Grand Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar (described above) was a spectacle like nothing else I’ve ever seen, and we returned to it a number of times over the course of our trip. That night we caught some traditional Turkish cuisine at a restaurant next to our hostel and then spent the evening with 2 water pipes, just relaxing and enjoying the simple lifestyle in Istanbul.

Our second day in Istanbul began a little bit earlier, as we were up early for our trip to a 500 year old Turkish bath. The experience was definitely something new for us as a Traditional Turkish bath involves a sauna, a pool, and being soaped up and massaged by a rather large Turkish man – it was every bit as weird and relaxing as I just made it sound.

Though we had a car that picked us up at our hostel to take us to the bath, we were left on our own to find our way back. After wandering the street for a bit, getting lost in the oldest and narrowest parts of Istanbul, we eventually (with help from an Irishman) found our way back to the Blue Mosque and back to our hostel. Once we got back and changed, we headed back out to see the city again. We wandered around the grounds of the Topkapi Palace, and then made our way back toward the Grand Bazaar for some souvenir shopping, stopping first to tour the large underground Cistern, which was used to supply water to the city nearly 1500 years ago. The Cistern is known as “the Basilica” because it is said to be as large as a Basilica, and the water that still currently runs through the cistern comes from an old Roman aqueduct that beings nearly 15 miles outside the city.

We spent our last night in Istanbul wandering through the Grand Bazaar and the streets of the old city, eating Kebaps (roughly 5 of them) for both lunch and dinner. Our time in Istanbul had been relaxing to say the least, but most of all was an awesome trip for the gentlemen in the group to just hang out and enjoy each other’s company.

The next morning we were up with the morning call to prayer (roughly 4:30 am) and out of bed by 6:30. We had an early flight back to Brussels by 10am. As we drove along the waterfront, watching the rising sun over the Mediterranean Sea, we had finished our time in Turkey, and headed back home to Belgium.

In Love in the Island City

Gondolier at sunset

Our first site in Venice

Punto Della Dogana

One of the back alley views

Excited to take pictures

Impatient Gondoliers

In St. Mark's square

The many boats on the Grand Canal

The water was high near St. Mark's square (there is a constant problem with flooding)

Gondolas

The Bridge of Sighs (and it's inappropriate scaffolding)

Another alley view

Me and Monique in front of the Rialto

Murano

A large Murano glass sculpture

The colorful houses on Murano

Blue skies for once

Glass blowing exhibit

The Gondola station

Monique and I in St. Mark's square at night

The Grand Canal

St. Mark's square from above

Gondola ride

Our gondolier

Just fitting under the bridge

In front of the Rialto on the water

Napoleon's house

Near the Rialto

Last night in the city

St. Mark's in the distance

Last picture in Venice

“Excuse me please, notice on right,” the Gondolier said through good but accented English. “Notice the house with the two points on top,” he pointed out as he navigated us with just one oar (the Gondolier tradition) through the Grand Canal, a little choppier than the narrow back canals we had just come out of – the water lapping against the side of the narrow black boat, which came to two distinct points on either end and was ornately decorated in gold and silver.

“That is the house of Napoleon.” The sun sat split between the two obelisks which sat atop the building, like a field goal through the uprights, and was creating a shadow on the waves of water created by the multitude of boats coming through the harbor – water taxi’s, the vapretto, Gondola’s, and personal boats – all darting this way and that, emphasizing the point that for Venetians, boats are the mode of transportation. Our gondolier laughed, “He came first time to Venice as visitor, second time, not so friendly, as ruler.”

However, the tour of the Grand Canal was not the most impressive part of our 80 euro (average cost) gondola ride, rather it was the small back alley canals where the gondolier truly showed his skills. The ship slowly glided through the water so smooth and untouched it seemed like we were floating on ice. The gondolier – occasionally putting his foot against a wall the help navigate – rowed us slowly through some gorgeous views of the famous city, cutting at 90 degree angels at some points and even going backward for the finale. The gondola ride was truly a magical experience, and though expensive, worth the price.

Our tour included the old town of Venice. The narrow canals in the center of the oldest part of Venice, created the original need for a one oared boat – hence, as with most modern delicacies, the gondola was created initially for a very practical purpose. The Venetians needed a way to navigate the canals with only one oar and with a very narrow boat. Thus the birth of the Gondola came about. As we finished our tour and teetered off the boat, Monique and I had finished our time in Venice, however, I suppose for the purpose of the blog, I should inform you of our other Venetian endeavors.

We arrived at Treviso Airport late on Tuesday night and caught a shuttle into Piazza Romano on the very edge of the city. Not knowing where we were, or where to go, we headed out of the square in hopes of finding a street name to try and locate ourselves. As we wandered out of the main piazza, we immediately hit a major canal and just like that I muttered to myself “this can’t be real.” We had wandered onto a section of the Grand Canal and just like that we hit our first batch of gondolas. The colors of the ornamented buildings around us were only exemplified by the lights on the waterfront and the moon in the background. I was hit almost instantly with how amazing a situation we were in and it was the first of many times where I’d mutter to myself “this is so cool!”

That night we tried our best to navigate the city and find our hostel – I’d like to take the time now to thank God, the lady at Il Nuovo Ristorante, and Google Maps application for my blackberry, for getting us safely to the hostel that night. Venice is confusing and narrow enough as it is (some of its main streets on maps can’t even fit two people across [even if one is really tiny!]) but if you throw in our hunger, exhaustion, and the darkness of the night, we were in for a bit of a challenge. However, nonetheless, we were able to find our place – a cute little spot off the beaten path in the Dorsoduro section – and some food before we retired for the evening.

Our second day in Venice was about as magical a time as I’ve ever had with my time in Europe. We decided to spend the day exploring the city – no agenda in mind, and that’s exactly what we did. Venice is technically a city of over 150 islands and 420 different bridges that link it together. We spent that first day crossing maybe half of them. We started out by our hostel visiting Punto Della Dogana (a boy holding a frog), and then headed in to the main touristy part of the city. We wandered through Piazza San Marco, ventured into Saint Mark’s basilica, saw the Bridge of Sighs, navigated some narrow back streets, headed up to the Rialto (famous shop covered bridge in the oldest section of the city), and basically wandered hand in hand enjoying the various Campo’s that the city had to offer.

Venice originated as group of separate settlements which all had their own patron saints and individuals town squares – as a result the city is made up of a myriad of “Campo’s” all designated to different patrons saints, and the easiest way to navigate the city is to point yourself in the direction of one Campo and keep walking that way until you hit it (trying to navigate street by street on a map is nearly impossible).

On day three of our trip to the northeastern Italian coastal city, Monique and I headed out on a vapretto (water metro) to Murano – an island off the island on the coast – which is famous for its particular type of glass making. The sun had finally decided to show its face for a small part of the afternoon and we were actually granted some blue skies to enjoy the distinct orange, yellow, and red houses on the island. We wandered the island for a bit, and then toured the history of glass blowing museum, which has Venetian glass that dates as far back as 500 B.C. (though I suppose it wasn’t all Venetian back then). Afterward, we found a glass blowing exhibit and got to witness first hand a glass plate, jar, and snail being made by one of the Venetian artisans. Monique fell in love with Murano glass and as a result came home with several souvenirs.

That night we came back to the hostel and decided to dress up to go out for dinner. We grabbed some food in a small family restaurant off the beaten path between two of the Piazza’s. After we finished enjoying the homemade pasta, we wandered around the city for a bit, admiring the sites at nightfall. Before we ended the night we grabbed some gelato (we were at a 2 a day minimum at that point) and headed back to the hostel for the night.

Our final day in Venice, Monique and I were up a little bit earlier than usual and headed out to grab breakfast while we walked. The beauty of Venice lies in the fact that some of the most beautiful sights are only found when you’re either lost or wandering with no intention of heading anywhere. That morning we spent a lot of time taking pictures in the narrow back-alley canals of Venice. After a quick lunch where Monique finally (and regrettably) had spaghetti and meatballs, we headed back to St. Mark’s. After scaling the large lighthouse turned clock tower, we admired the views of the city from Venice’s highest point.

It was at this point in our trip that Monique and I looked at our pocket change and decided that it would probably be worth it to take a trip on a gondola (described above). Our friendly gondolier took us on an hour tour through the back canals of Venice, pointing out historical landmarks, humming in the background, and even occasionally singing in Italian – in words that if I understood them correctly were more or less translated to: “I’m improvising, I’m improvising, they can’t understand so I’m improvising.” On the other hand, if you drowned out the words, the tour on the gondola was well worth its cost. We saw the oldest section of Venice, the narrowest street, the first water hotel, the house of Mozart, the house of Napoleon, the post office and the court house (both of which are only accessible by water). It was truly a magical afternoon.

However, with the finishing of our gondola tour, Monique and I were also just about done with our time in Venice. We spent our last remaining hour’s site seeing and tourist shopping, wandering around the Rialto, and then slowly making our way back to Piazza Romano. As we boarded the bus to the airport I was immediately hit with the dread of realizing that one of the most amazing experiences in my short life was now finished. But perhaps that is the beauty of the best times in your life, the fact that they have to end to be complete, or more importantly, that they have to end to open the door for the next one.