Day 138 - Istanbul, Sultanahmet
Sunday 18, 2018.
We were going to wake up early to do the free walking tour today. By early, I mean 8:00am so really not that early but when the alarm went off and I didn’t hear any sign of life, I went back to bed. I told Gregory that maybe we should take it easy since it was Sunday, it was rainy, and we were all tired. We slept in until 10:00am. We had a late breakfast and hung around the house until 2ish, then we went to the Sultanahmet area to cover at least the two most popular buildings in the country: the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. First, we took the funicular which was interesting because we thought funicular meant "in the air" and this one was underground. But it was very fun to take the tram with all the locals. Once again, a lady approached me to ask me a question in Turkish.
We got off at the Sultanahmet stop where all the tourist attractions are but it is definitely a nice neighborhood and clean. [Gregory's note: it is certainly clean. They clean it for the tourists. Nice? Well, if nice means clean and touristy, then yes, it's nice. There are no local businesses here, only souvenir stands and restaurants with menus in English. But it's clean.]
We first walked to the blue mosque. Before we got in, we passed the door to the mausoleum where we went in to the see the tombs of several members of the royal family. Daniel's comment: "it smells like dirty feet." It did stink. Who knows how many people have to take off their shoes to visit these tombs? We then made a line to enter the mosque. It was long but it moved fast. We barely made it in before they closed for prayers.
Unfortunately, it was under restoration and we really couldn't see much. I was disappointed. Even if I had seen it, I wanted the kids to see it and appreciate it. It was a quick visit since they were rushing us out for the midafternoon prayer. After that, we walked to the Hagia Sophia but it was already closed. Another disappointment because it was only 4:00.
Finally, we decided to stand in line to see the basilica cistern. The line was long and while we were waiting, a shopkeeper advised someone else to come back in morning, early, to avoid crowds. We left the big line and decided to wake up early tomorrow.
Sunshine was dying to see the water, so Gregory led us down the hill to the sea. It was cold, windy and rainy, but the kids stood on the rocks and watched the sea as it got darker. We looked for a cafe or someplace to sit and warm up and finally found one. It was empty except for 1 other guy. They turned on the lights upstairs and made us feel welcome. Finally, we hailed a taxi after Gregory checked that there were no Uber cars available.
We wanted to go to the supermarket to buy dinner. The taxi driver had no idea where that was, so he followed Gregory's GPS. Surprisingly (or maybe not since he was following our GPS) the ride turned out to be only 15 TL, about $3. However, he didn't drop us at the supermarket since the streets were closed for the night market! We got out there and walked through about 6 or 7 blocks, all full of people buying and selling at the market. The streets were covered with tarps to keep the rain out, which helped.
We were going to wake up early to do the free walking tour today. By early, I mean 8:00am so really not that early but when the alarm went off and I didn’t hear any sign of life, I went back to bed. I told Gregory that maybe we should take it easy since it was Sunday, it was rainy, and we were all tired. We slept in until 10:00am. We had a late breakfast and hung around the house until 2ish, then we went to the Sultanahmet area to cover at least the two most popular buildings in the country: the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. First, we took the funicular which was interesting because we thought funicular meant "in the air" and this one was underground. But it was very fun to take the tram with all the locals. Once again, a lady approached me to ask me a question in Turkish.
We got off at the Sultanahmet stop where all the tourist attractions are but it is definitely a nice neighborhood and clean. [Gregory's note: it is certainly clean. They clean it for the tourists. Nice? Well, if nice means clean and touristy, then yes, it's nice. There are no local businesses here, only souvenir stands and restaurants with menus in English. But it's clean.]
We first walked to the blue mosque. Before we got in, we passed the door to the mausoleum where we went in to the see the tombs of several members of the royal family. Daniel's comment: "it smells like dirty feet." It did stink. Who knows how many people have to take off their shoes to visit these tombs? We then made a line to enter the mosque. It was long but it moved fast. We barely made it in before they closed for prayers.
Unfortunately, it was under restoration and we really couldn't see much. I was disappointed. Even if I had seen it, I wanted the kids to see it and appreciate it. It was a quick visit since they were rushing us out for the midafternoon prayer. After that, we walked to the Hagia Sophia but it was already closed. Another disappointment because it was only 4:00.
Finally, we decided to stand in line to see the basilica cistern. The line was long and while we were waiting, a shopkeeper advised someone else to come back in morning, early, to avoid crowds. We left the big line and decided to wake up early tomorrow.
Sunshine was dying to see the water, so Gregory led us down the hill to the sea. It was cold, windy and rainy, but the kids stood on the rocks and watched the sea as it got darker. We looked for a cafe or someplace to sit and warm up and finally found one. It was empty except for 1 other guy. They turned on the lights upstairs and made us feel welcome. Finally, we hailed a taxi after Gregory checked that there were no Uber cars available.
We wanted to go to the supermarket to buy dinner. The taxi driver had no idea where that was, so he followed Gregory's GPS. Surprisingly (or maybe not since he was following our GPS) the ride turned out to be only 15 TL, about $3. However, he didn't drop us at the supermarket since the streets were closed for the night market! We got out there and walked through about 6 or 7 blocks, all full of people buying and selling at the market. The streets were covered with tarps to keep the rain out, which helped.
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| Public transportation, a great way to see the city! T1 Tram. |
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| The German fountain, where you can still drink the water |
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| Ceiling of the German fountain |
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| Big lines to enter |
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| Sultan Ahmed and his wives' tombs are found here together with other royal family members. [Gregory's note: looks like a high infant mortality rate!] |
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| Daniel's comment: "it smells like stinky feet." |
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| Going to visit the Blue Mosque |
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| We had to wait about 20 minutes to get in. Luckily we made it before prayer time. |
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| Disappointed faces after seeing that most of the mosque is under restoration so we couldn't see its splendor! |
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| You still can get an idea of how beautiful the tile is! |
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| At all times, we saw men praying. The women pray in the back in a covered area. |
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| Next, Hagia Sophia |
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| Hagia Sophia was closed but we still enjoyed ourselves walking around. |
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| We are still trying to decide if we should make a silly face as a characteristic of our Harris World Tour. Not approved by my mom |
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| At the Sea of Marmara. It was so cold and rainy but Sunshine needed to see the water! |
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| Warming up in a cozy cafe! |
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| Another similarity with Mexico, lots of markets! This was a huge night market down the street from our place. It covered several blocks. They had everything for sale! |
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| No wonder why grocery stores are not that popular, everything was cheap in this market, despite the rain and the cold, it was boiling with people doing their shopping! |
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| Cheap socks stand but good luck finding the pair! |
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| Despite the rain, the women were selecting their lettuce and organic cabbages! This was right in front of the supermarket! |
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