Istanbul
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Istanbul,
Turkey
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Istanbul was fun. It is the only city that spans both Asia and Europe, and you can tell. It has a very mixed culture, and feels like an Asian city and a European city, both at once. There is also the Islamic influence. It makes for a very diverse, unique culture. The people are very friendly, saying they love Australians, always wanting to help and get to know you, though it is hard to tell whether they are like that because they are genuine, or just trying to sell something or scam you in some way. It is unfortunate that you have to stay on the side of caution and not speak to them for too long. Most of the people who spoke to us were very nice and friendly, though a few were obviously freaky, sleazy people...people who wanted to take photos of us with their phone cameras for instance, or just wanted to stare at us, or get us to go somewhere with them. Men like this often tried to follow us (very obviously), and we had to be careful to get away from them.
When we were walking through a backstreet on Istanbul, a clearly evil, gnarled Turkish woman with bushy hair caught sight of us and suddenly burst into loud, hysterical laughter, pointing at us and yelling something in Turkish to some men across the street, cackling in a very alarming, evil manner. A witch, perhaps. I am worried she put a curse on us.
I went shopping with Melanie at the Grand Bazaar and spent a lot of money on Turkish apple tea, a silver Turkish tea pot and tea cups, a tiny Hookah, Turkish delight with pistachio (so good) and amber jewellery. All the salesmen there seemed to know that we were Australian - when I asked one how he knew; he said he could tell because 'all Australians have freckles'. We did a hop on/hop off tour of Istanbul the next day, and drove around checking out the sights - the Blue Mosque, Sofya and the Underground Cistern. The cistern was cool and creepy, with statues of Medusa inside. The water was filled with pale fish, of various shapes and sizes, swimming in the dark.
I know I was warned against Turkish food, but I had to try a kebab (or kebap as it is called here). It was about $2 and was not the best (*awaits food poisoning*). Not many ingredients. It was just in a dry bread roll rather than a wrap. Melanie got a lamb kebap later on, in a less touristy area, and it was delicious. I only got a bite, but I wanted the whole thing. It was the sort of kebab I'm used to in Sydney - in a wrap, and very tasty.
At the end of our stay, we found a little side street by the harbour, filled with bars. They didn't serve alcohol, but everyone was sitting around on squashy, colourful bean bags or elaborate, Turkish couches, smoking flavoured tobacco in huge Hookahs, drinking Turkish tea in little glass cups and playing backgammon. Every table had a backgammon set, but unfortunately I'd forgotten how to play. No one was eating or drinking alcohol, as it is Ramadan at the moment. The air was misty and smoky, and everyone looked very cool and bohemian. Definitely the place to be. I couldn't see many tourists. I was disappointed that I was not staying in Istanbul for longer.
The cruise isn't bad - though I am very worried that I will be enormous at the end of it. Every meal is about 6 courses, and it is very hard to refuse all the different courses, because the food is quite good. There is a gym, but I don't feel that the 45 min or so I have been doing there each day is enough to balance out the feasting. I feel bad that there are so many people who are hungry right now, and I am eating enough for 2 days, just in one meal. It is going to be hard having to get back to the real world, when I'm no longer waited on by friendly servants all day, my room cleaned for me twice a day, and three 6 course meals a day brought to me. The focus is just on having a great time, which is fantastic, though it would be nice to have some more friends here to share it with. There aren't really any people my age here, even the girl I am travelling with is 10 years older, but I don't mind. It's good to socialise with people of all ages and backgrounds. I am still getting people who very annoyingly assume I am too young to be travelling by myself or to be drinking alcohol; or that the girl I am travelling with is my mother. I think I am just as capable of getting around alone as any other adult.
The staff are so lovely - a lot of the waiters know me by my first name, despite there being about 1400 people on board. There are some interesting shows and games and classes on board too - always something to do. Moussaka making classes, latin dance classes, bingo, trivia, exercise classes, cabaret shows...all sorts of things. I'm trying to get the most out of my money by doing as much as possible. The Captain's cocktail party was last night - we got to meet the Captain and have free cocktails and canapés. There were two sessions, and we went to both. I ended up getting about 6 free cocktails.
I'm sort of disappointed that there aren't any people my age...it is basically a retirement village, for Americans. Everyone is very old. One old American lady from a small town in Louisiana told me that I 'speak English real good'. I think she was trying to compliment me - I am quite sure that she didn't realise that English is my native language. I just thanked her politely. The Kumuka tour I booked with had an age range of 18-45, so I feel a bit misled. I think the island hop option would have been better, but I didn't know about that until now. The cruise only stops for a few hours on some of the islands, and it would have been nice with the island hop to stay a few nights at each place at least. The cruise has on shore excursions, but the prices are ridiculous. $150 just to look at about 4 things in Istanbul and get a commentary. We passed on that and got a hop on/off tour and a few taxis and saw a lot more, but for about $100 less.
