Some things I saw/did:
Hagia Sophia
The Blue Mosque
Rode the ferry from the european side of Istanbul to the Asian side lots of times
walked everywhere
took off my shoes when I went inside
ate lots of dried fruit and nuts
ate doner (!) and durum and drank fresh squeezed pomegranite juice
made lots of turkish friends
made lots of austrian friends
made lots of german friends
saw the sistern basillica (and undergroud basillica)
drank Raki (traditional turkish liquor that tastes like death)
went to the spice bazaar
went to the grand bazaar
went dancing
couchsurfed with Emre, Emre, and Samil.
Why Turks are nice than Romans:
one time a family squished onto a bench with me and didn't speak any english but kept smiling at me and then they got up and bought some sesame rolls from a cart nearby and specifically bought an extra one for me
anytime adam and I looked a little bit lost some turkish person would run up and ask if we needed help and where we were going and always pointed us in the right direction
another time i was sitting on a bench outside of the spice bazaar and a turkish man sat down next to me and we talked for almost an hour about lots of stuff and I found out he was vegetarian also (and I think he may have been the only one in the entire city!) and realizing how much trouble i had avoiding meat in Istanbul proceded to feed me dinner that he has just bought at the market!
there are a lot of blind people in Istanbul and every time one of them looked like they were having navigational trouble or headed for a deadly set of stairs one or many people would grab the blind persons arm and take him/her wherever she needed to go.
Istanbul was everything all at once: asian and european, modern and traditional, enormous but tiny. Walking around in Taksim felt almost like 5th Ave in New York but I could hear prayers being chanted in Arabic from all the mosques nearby next to the clicking of fashionable women's high heels on cobblestone.
And here are some pictures:
this is Zurich, not Istanbul... i went there for a few hours on my way home and it was kind of a ghost town but there were these people playing horns. very swiss.
This is outside the spice bazaar in Eminonou
also outside the spice bazaar
people preparing doner in Taksim square near Emre's house
Lots of spices inside the spice bazaar
dried fruit and "turkish delights" in the spice bazaar
view of the city from the european shore of the bosphorus
some lady selling pigeon feed in Eminonou
Fish market near Sirkeci
taken from the Ferry to the Asian side.
stray cat inside Hagia Sophia. stray cats were everywhere in istanbul.
byzantine mosaic from Hagia Sophia when Istnabul was Constantinople
Inside Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)
inside the Basillica Cistern (medusa beheaded)
Asia
Turkish couple in the park
the outside of Hagia Sophia
a rooster and some other fowl at an outdoor pet market
a man selling pigeon feed in Eminonou
fishermen on the golden horn
view from Karakoy
Islamic cemetary at some Camii (mosque)
the fountain and courtyard at a mosque in Eminonou
lady selling pigeon feed in Sulkhametet and a man carrying a cart of stuff.
Istanbul Unversity!
inside the Grand Bazaar
I guess I didn't really take that many pictues. And what I enjoyed most about this city was meeting lots of people. I don't have any pictures of them unfortunately.Ok write me emails please I want to know how your life is!!!!
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3 comments:
Yeah! I have been waiting to read/see this! Thanks for posting all of these details. I am thrilled that you had such a good experience!
Love,
Mom
Ciao Alismo!
Loved reading about your trip to Turkey. I would love to head there...to all of the places you've experienced. It's such rich culture...and the architecture: WOW.
Your photos are very telling. A picture paints 1000 words...and your paintings are also telling great stories. I hope you're finding inspiration around every corner. I so wish I could visit while you're there, but I'm staying home and waiting for all the votes to be counted fairly. You MUST tell us what Italians, and others, are saying about our presidential race. I bet it's going to amaze you. We're hosting a political cartoonist/art director from Hungary at our school next week. His lecture is about how the world views people/politics in the U.S. You can probably lecture on that subject just as well!
You'll want to share your picture of the spice market with our dear friends the Ockeys. Lou loves that kind of stuff. Tomorrow is the big Phillies celebration and parade down Broad St. Michael said one million people were downtown at midnight...and that it was outrageous. How cool would that be? Lots of vandalism and cops in riot gear though. Ahhh, do you miss America? We miss you. Learn lots. Sounds like your Italian is getting really good. Will you tutor me?
You take care, be safe and drink lots of wine and remember we love you! Ciao, Bella. Angela
Allison, You pics are amazing, so excited to see Istanbul through your eyes. We all miss you but this blog is a great way to stay connected. Take care. Luv, Aunt Peg
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