Istanbul

February 15, 16 and 17

“How many hotels in how many days?”

And we’re off… on another grand adventure to an area of the world that might not be considered by many as top of their bucket list. We are excited and certainly a bit nervous, but I think that is to be expected. There are lots of things we are looking forward to and of course there are the unknowns – which there are in all trips – but maybe more so in this part of the world.

Our first stop is a few days in Istanbul followed by ten days in Jordan and two nights in Budapest. We had lots of concerns about travels to this part of the world. When we heard of the demise of Suleimani we thought for sure our trip was done. As we sat and waited and watched the steps of all involved, we felt ok. When Trump’s new “peace plan” between Israel and Palestine was offered up, we sat and waited again. When the coronavirus started spreading, we sat yet again. Part of me thought there’s a message… but the rest of me knew that I couldn’t read into happenings that way. I read many reports from just returning Americans from Jordon, all proclaiming no issues for them, everyone was very friendly and welcoming. They don’t like Trump and his politics but they have no issues with Americans at all. Of course, we aren’t naive enough to realize that is the case for everybody and we certainly understand there is a risk for terrorism but we, as a family, like we always have, sat down and discussed it, concluding there really was no reason not to travel.

Our trip began with staying the night at JFK before our morning flight to London Heathrow. I had booked a room at the Marriott Courtyard but Billy suggested we should stay at the new TWA hotel – he thought it would be a neat experience and a fun way to start off our trip. We arrived at 6:30 and were immediately struck by just how cool this hotel is!

They have done a great job bringing the era of 1950s air travel back to life. It is an instagrammers dream and the people watching was far beyond entertaining. There are multiple areas to dine and drink but the highlight is an original 1957 Constellation airplane stationed outside that has been turned into a cocktail lounge.

My mom told me that when she left for Africa in 1956 from La Guardia airport, she flew on a TWA Super G Constellation. Her flight had to stop for refueling in Gandor, Newfoundland; Shannon, Ireland; Paris and finally Athens before she transferred to Ethiopian Airlines for the rest of the trip – can you imagine? It would be fun to bring her there to see it all again!

Our morning flight to Heathrow was uneventful but arrival at 10:00 pm threw us off a bit. We had an eleven hour layover and by the time we got to the hotel the kitchen had closed. Dinner ended up being Domino’s Pizza – something Billy and I haven’t “dined” on since college and Jenny had never had.

We woke Monday AM and found that I had an email from British Airways saying our onward flight to Istanbul had been cancelled – end of story, no alternative given. I called and spoke to an agent who asked me how flexible we were. Expecting perhaps he would suggest an alternate flight that left a bit later and required a stop, he instead offered up a flight that would get us to Istanbul on Thursday! Mind you that’s three days later and is the day we leave for Amman. I quickly let him know that was not an option and relayed the flights on Turkish Airlines that they could put us on instead if there was no British Airways flight until then. After some back and forth he agreed and so we were looking at almost twelve hours to kill before our new flight time. We all went back to sleep since we hadn’t had much the night before and decided after showering that we would go to Windsor Castle for a few hours.

We called an Uber, arrived in Windsor 20 minutes later, grabbed a quick bite and hit the castle running. I had been there when I was fifteen and remembered how grand it was but it was fun for Billy and Jenny to get to see it. We saw the lavish state apartments, the queen’s dollhouses which we all said Sib would love, and then St George’s Chapel where Harry and Megan were married (where we of course lit a candle for my dad).

(No pictures allowed inside).

In and out in record time thanks to low crowds, we made it back to Heathrow with three hours before our scheduled flight.

We went to check in at the ticket counter to get our boarding passes and discuss our luggage that we hadn’t seen since we checked in at JFK as it had been checked thru to Istanbul and the guy totally blindsided us. He said we didn’t have seats. We were standby because BA can’t just go giving away their seats. He said they were oversold and there were others in front of us in the same boat. I told him I had confirmed with Turkish myself this morning and I had a record locator number that Turkish Airlines had given me to confirm my booking. He replied, “I am Turkish Airways and I say no seats.” OK buddy… screw you…so we went to a kiosk and checked in there using the Record Locator number they had given me earlier and bingo – we got boarding passes. In a hurry to get thru security before he figured out what we had done ( although we were well aware we couldn’t count our turkeys until they hatched- he could always yank us off the plane) we went to check on our luggage situation at the international transfer desk only be told again they were oversold and we didn’t actually have seats. We acted dumb but this guy was very nice and helpful and somehow after twenty minutes of phone calls, confirmed our seats – phew!

When we boarded the plane we checked the app to see where our bags were and they were still sitting where they were this morning. Needless to say, we weren’t feeling positive nor thrilled with the idea of another day in the same clothes we had left CT in two days previous. As it turned out – no bags and no indication of when we might ever see them again.

There had been a cute family sitting in the row in front of us who we chatted with upon landing and complimented the children on their stellar behavior. They were so cute! The man saw us sitting in the baggage office and came in to speak to us. He lives in London, does a lot of business in the States but was born and raised in Turkey. He wanted to offer his telephone number in case we needed anything, had any questions or just wanted to meet up. His name was Hayati and it’s times like these that your faith in the kindness of others gets restored. It was perfect timing…

It was beautiful coming into Istanbul and seeing all the mosques lit up at night – there are so many of them!

But by the time we got checked in at the hotel it was 3:00 AM. The hotel is beautiful – a brand spanking new JW Marriott in an old renovated building with views of the nearby Galata Tower and clear across the Bosphorous to the Hagia Sophia -simply stunning.

We were welcomed with passion and appreciation by the staff and upon entering our room, there was two plates of lovely desserts waiting for us – the best baklava I have ever tasted!!!

I washed clothes until 4:00 AM, drank a glass of wine and then collapsed into bed to post this. I worry we will end up sleeping most of the day away but I’m determined to get up and get out of here to go out and explore. The weather is supposed to be stellar in a time when it is normally cold and rainy or even snowy. We are looking forward to checking it all out and soaking up the culture here.

February 18, 2020

Bazaar Istanbul

I set an alarm for 9:45 this AM in order not to sleep until dinner. It wasn’t easy waking up but we rallied to get to breakfast before they stopped serving. It was an incredible spread on the top floor with a beautiful view.

We were out the door by 12:00 walking in the crisp air of a beautiful sunny day. Walking along, it didn’t toke long to realize that we were in a predominantly Muslim country. The majority of women were wearing headscarves and clothing that covered all of their bodies while plenty dressed al in black with their faces covered as well.

Yesterday on the plane flight, Jenny pointed out that the seat back entertainment console had a channel that was the countdown for the next prayer as well as a screen that showed where Mecca was in relation to the plane – a first for us for sure.

Our destination was the old section of Istanbul to walk the ancient roads. I had originally had a plan for us but with the delay, I decided better to just let the day unfold as it may be instead of try and force something that should have been.

We immediately walked across the Galata Bridge that spans the Golden Horn. We loved watching the hundred or so fisherman lined up side by side tossing their lines into the waters below hoping to catch a puny fish. The dichotomy of people was an interesting statement.

The waters of the Bosphorous and the Goldon Horn are a beautiful cerulean color. There were thousands of clear jellies floating along that we could see from high above. We came across our first Mosque and Jenny said immediately that she wanted to go in. Since we had no baggage, we had no head wraps so we had to make a quick stop to buy some. Of course there was one next to the mosque and at $3 a piece, it was not an issue to purchase ourselves one since ours were who knows where!

The mosque had a sign for the tourist entry where a notice was posted to remove our shoes. Reminiscent of Myanmar we thought but there our socks too needed to be removed, here they could stay on but the females needed to cover their hair. This Mosque, the name I do not know, was as plain as and drab as any office building in middle America. We didn’t stay long, before setting our sights on the Egyptian Bazaar, also referred to as the spice market.

The spice market building was quite beautiful inside. It had one long middle street with all the shops open on the sides. It was busy but not so much so that you couldn’t see.

It didn’t take long for one of the sales guys to pull us in to his shop. His tactics were smooth yet humorous, not pushy nor overbearing, persistent yet respectful. Billy was quite active here, choosing some mint tea he had been given a sample of, as well as a peppercorn mix. He tried to persuade me to look at the other floors of Turkish rugs but that didn’t happen. He was a real affable guy and we enjoyed the entertaining time spent here.

Onward to the Sulaymaniyah Mosque I had read about as being lovely we stepped out into the packed streets of the shopping corridor where vendors stores were hawking everything from wedding dresses to silk flowers, scissors to traditional dress costumes, shoes to pashminas – each store specializing in only one item. We wondered how they stay afloat with so many of them competing selling the same stuff.

Istanbul is built on hills and we were encountering our first one as we climbed up towards the Mosque with the reward being an incredible view!

The Sulaymaniyah Mosque is 500 years old and has stood through turmoil and earthquakes. It was beautiful inside, not lavish like the great cathedrals but had an understated elegance with stained glass windows, tile inlay, arches and domes and chandeliers that appeared to almost be floating. We came in just at the end of prayer where the men pray in the great room and the women pray in separate enclosed rooms all the way in the back of the building whose glass windows are covered over with a very intricate wood lattice work. Certainly interesting.

There was a volunteer tour guide there who approached us and gave us a quick history on the mosque. He spoke of America as following that of the Ottoman Empire and ruling many lands. He asked us, referring to us as brother and sisters, if we were religious to which Billy replied, “No, but spiritual.” Jenny and I also replied no but told him we respect and welcome everyone’s beliefs – to which he quickly agreed and went on and in about tolerance and respect but then went on to explain how Judaism is incorrect in this way and that way – so much for his speech on tolerance and people respecting one another.

We enjoyed the peaceful grounds of the Mosque and decided to go see another one. The second mosque Sehzade Camii, was similar to the first but had no other people in it when we visited which was a nice surprise.

Walking through the neighborhoods was very enjoyable. We haven’t been stared at like I thought we would, though I’m sure it is coming in Jordan. I have heard very little English spoken, seen only one tour group and felt like there aren’t many Westerners here that aren’t of Turkish origin. It has been very pleasant and we have felt welcomed every place we have stepped into.

Scenes from around town:

We decided since we were in Istanbul, we should see the Grand Bazaar – a legendary sight that is known for being overwhelming to the senses. As it turned out it was quiet and pleasant and the much hyped touts trying to get you to buy their rugs weren’t out in force. The bazaar has over 4,000 shops in it, employing more than 30,000 people. It is an indoor labyrinth of alleys and walkways that leave one confused as to how to get out! It’s a good thing we still have no luggage because Jenny saw so many boho things she knew would look “just perfect” in her room!

We stopped for snacks of kebabs and then headed to the famous Hafiz Mustafa for a box of baklava and other Turkish pastries of which the names and ingredients are unknown to us but the taste is sublime.

As we were walking back across the Galata Bridge, Billy erupted with how much he was “digging Istanbul.” He likes the vibe here – go figure. Once at the hotel we had hoped to find our luggage awaiting for us but to no avail. We enjoyed a drink in the top floor lounge overlooking the Bosphorous and Asian side of Istanbul until we could no longer stand the cigarette smoke – crazy it is still allowed here.

Dinner was at Ahente Para way way way up on the top of a long steep climb – one that really worked the glutes! We ordered a few mezze plates but found ourselves exhausted from our travels and lack of sleep.

Billy decided to head back to the hotel and Jenny and I went clothes shopping for all three of us. Our travel insurance had kicked in now so we stocked up on some basic essentials to get us through a few more days .

Back at the hotel Billy ran into a colleague from – Alcon. I swear he runs into people he knows at the craziest of destinations!

By the time Jenny and I got back it was almost 11:00. We walked 10 miles today and were completely wiped. The front desk guy said that the airlines told him our bags were coming on the flight that landed at 11:00 pm – fingers crossed!

February 19, 2020

Misunderstood Understandings

We ended up with a late start this morning, mostly due to me trying to get the blog done. I had given it my best effort last night but after multiple times of nodding off and lines of random letters being recorded, I succumbed to the demands of the sleep god and rapidly hit REM. Around 2:30AM both Jenny and I woke up by chance and watched as a large fire burned across the Golden Horn in the area we had walked around in yesterday.

It was 12:30 before we headed out and wouldn’t you know just as we were leaving, we were informed our luggage had arrived! Yippee!!!

We wasted no time making our way to the ferry terminal where we planned to catch a boat across the Bosphorous to an area known as Kadikoy. Since Istanbul is the only city in the world that spans two continents, we figured we should partake in its uniqueness and visit Asia today as well!

We were having a heck of a time trying to figure out the ticket machines when a nice young guy came over and helped us out. Everyone we have encountered in Turkey has been very friendly so far, well everyone that is except that jerk Mr. I am Turkish Airlines. Yeah! But who’s laughing now? We made that flight didn’t we? HA! And really, he wasn’t even in Turkey; he was probably just a bitter Londoner!

There were two adorable girls at the ferry terminal, maybe late teens early twenties who were handing out samples of, go figure but, Oral-B toothpaste. They asked us where we were from, then from what state. Their English was exceptionally broken but the one managed to tell us that her boyfriend has spent two summers working as a bartender in Connecticut of all places! As we walked away they high fived each other and giggled with delight over their ability to have a conversation with a few Yanks.

It was too bad a heavy mist hung low this morning as the views were wonderful and on a clear bluebird day I’m sure they would be spectacular.

The first thing that struck me shortly after we disembarked was almost none of the women on this side wore head wraps and there were plenty of short skirts, tight clothes and colorful hair. In my totally unscientific estimate I would say 85% of the women yesterday were covered and less than 5% today were – quite interesting.

We enjoyed a nice walk through a very nondescript area that happened to follow along the coastline. Once we got into the lee, it was downright warm to the point we had to take off our jackets. We delighted in the feel of the sun, the quiet leisurely pace and the removed feel of the local neighborhood area.

Kadikoy is known as the boho area of Istanbul, hence why we ventured there and while there was a very small area with that vibe, we wouldn’t have recognized it as such had we not been told. We enjoyed the street of vintage stores, purchasing a few postcards and a couple of old coins with holes drilled in them for Jenny.

We stopped for lunch, which really turned out to be an early dinner because by the time we were finished it was 4:30. The food was fine, nothing worth describing in detail or photographing but it did its job, especially after we had waited a ridiculous amount of time for it, watching every table that came in after us receive their food and we still waited… Billy remarked that that seemed to be the theme of our trip so far – “misunderstood understandings.”

We thought we had ordered our food but apparently we hadn’t; we thought (because we were told) our luggage was coming yesterday at 5:00PM but apparently it wasn’t; we were told we had confirmed seats on the Turkish Airlines flight but apparently we didn’t; we asked if the lip balm Jenny was buying was clear, we were told emphatically it was, but apparently it isn’t because after application Jenny looked like Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Oh well c’est la vie!

As we walked along the bustling streets, we entered the market place area. It’s always so much fun seeing how the locals shop and what is clearly the important staples. There were your obligatory fruit and vegetable stalls, a few meat stalls, lots of fish stalls, olive and other brined items stalls and lots of delicious bread and pastry stalls. Billy was keen on going into the pastry stall when he saw the huge variety of cookies available. The guy behind the counter couldn’t have been cuter, insisting on giving us cookies to try before we bought some, and even asking to be in my picture. So fun and delicious and special.

We ended up running for the ferry back making it with exactly 8 seconds to spare (there’s a countdown clock as you board but don’t worry there was another one twenty minutes later but it seemed like a fun thing to do).

Back on the European side, we walked back across the Galata Bridge, this time on the lower level past the row of seafood restaurants on our left where the employees were standing waving their colorful, laminated picture menus, begging you to dine in their establishments. On our right were the lines and sinkers of the fisherman above. We had a good laugh about how much fun it would be to tug like hell on their lines leaving them to think they had caught a fish far larger than the seven-inchers their buckets were full of.

Walking into our room, we were all three giddy with excitement over the sight of our suitcases. We had made due just fine; none of us had complained. You can’t be a traveler and not be flexible. You can’t say you want to see the world and not be able to roll with the obstacles that inevitably accompany that desire. We could have missed out on two great days in Istanbul if we had focused on our missing suitcases. Instead, we dealt with the hand we were given and made the absolute best out of it – that’s the way we Merricks roll! But nonetheless, contact lenses, skincare products, and blue jeans were a welcome sight!

Jenny and I went out for a quick “photo shoot,” leaving wiped out Billy relaxing in bed. There was a cool area we had seen from the breakfast room above and so we went to go find it even though the sun was pretty much set.

We found some other street art while we were out too.

By 7:30 Billy was asleep, and Jenny wasn’t far behind. I, on the other hand, was nowhere near ready for bedtime. I cancelled our dinner reservation and decided to go for a walk to get some better, closer nighttime pictures of the mosques. I ventured to just the other side of the Galata Bridge, enjoying the walk and vibrancy of this city. The fisherman were still out, though not in the numbers we saw in the daytime and loads of people were walking every which way.

It was a great day in Istanbul. We were on two continents in a matter of four hours – how could you not love that? Because of our delay, our itinerary of planned visits got messed up. The sights I had originally planned to see on Monday are best seen early in the AM before the crowds arrive – that wasn’t an option for us jet lagged fools on Monday. And those same sights were closed today on Tuesday. We have tomorrow, most of the day as our flight to Amman isn’t until 9:15PM, so that’s our plan for tomorrow. Up and out early but… I know how that goes… so we will see!

And a few more random photos from our walk about today:

That’s a Cat on Top of the Vine-Covered Tree

February 20, 2020

The Biggies

It was an early morning for us today- out the door just before 9:00. We used the leftover money on our travel card from the ferry to grab the tram to Sultanahmet; what a nice and convenient way to travel.

Today was going to be a day of Istanbul biggies- the famous landmarks everyone says you must see. The weather was chilly with overcast skies and rain forecast in the near future but we figured we could knock most of the sights out before the skies opened up.

Our first of four stops was the Blue Mosque built in the early 1600s for Sultan Ahmed I. It has six minarets and five main domes. The inside was similar in design to the mosques we went to on the first day but on a much grander scale with more mosaic tile work. It is difficult to appreciate the full beauty of the inside of the mosques because as visitors, we are relegated to the very back and can’t walk around much of the inside.

It’s interesting how many mosques there are in Istanbul- 3,113 according to my research! It seems everywhere you look, there’s a mosque. It kind of reminded us of all the churches on Santorini.

Our next stop was the Hagia Sophia whose name means “holy wisdom.” It was originally built as a cathedral in Constantinople (now Istanbul) in the sixth century A.D. but has also served as a mosque and is now a museum. When it was first constructed, Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire. This state, officially Christian, originally formed the eastern half of the Roman Empire and carried on after the fall of Rome. It only became predominantly Muslim after 1925.

Unfortunately, the inside is undergoing extensive renovation with half of its interior covered in scaffolding and cloth covers but what we could see was simply stunning. The stone floors with their 1400 years of history have been worn smooth, especially the marble thresholds that have depressions in them now. The stained glass windows, iron work and intricately painted tiles were a real sight to behold. The beauty of it all was there were very few people to contend with – a real treat for sure!

From there we walked across the street to the Basilica Cistern, an underground chamber that more often than not is filled with water, but this time it was almost dry. The cistern was dark and very damp as one might expect with the constant dripping of water from the ceilings above. There are hundreds of stone columns and arches holding up the earth above that have been lit in a delicate way giving the place an almost romantic feel.

On our way to our final stop we passed this gal wearing a vest that said “Security” on it. We were cracking up that she was probably imported from the States and someone thought they were getting themselves some ferocious pit bull but instead ended up with this precious beast who was desperate for Jenny to pet her and who was just as desperate to climb the gate and love on her…

Our fourth stop on the Istanbul biggies tour was Topkapi Palace. We were very pleasantly surprised to see no lines at all to buy tickets. I had read to get there early, before all the tour groups, and you could have the place to yourselves so we didn’t dilly dally this morning!

I had also read to make your way to the Harem first so as to also not contend with all of the tour groups. As it turned out not only did we not have to contend with any tour groups, we didn’t have to contend with anybody else at all. Us and one other family of three were the only ones we saw – a super duper treat!

The harem is a large complex made up of baths and chambers, courtyards and passageways, with a few large “meeting” rooms interspersed. While only a few pieces of furniture are in here the highlight is the simply gorgeous mosaic tile work, intricate mother of pearl inlay and gold leaf accents all making a lavish feast for the eyes.

We wandered the rest of the grounds of the palace, popping our heads into some of the various buildings – housing the likes of antique armors, clocks and watches as well as artifacts and relics sacred to the Islamic faith, including a gold cast of a footprint of the prophet Mohammed.

By this time the forecasted rain began to fall and the thought of wandering the streets, getting drenched and being cold, did not appeal. We were relieved to see that our early plan was a good idea because upon exiting the serpentine of ropes for purchasing tickets were completely full now! Yeah us!

The fun thing about Istanbul, for Billy especially and today’s stops in particular are that James Bond “From Russia with Love” was partially filmed here. He was so excited when Jenny told him about the filming locations. He is a huge 007 fan and watching the movies is one of his and Jenny’s favorite pastimes.

We used up the last of the money on our travel card for a tram ride back, deciding to just go back to the hotel where we could relax and enjoy lunch upstairs overlooking the Bosphorous, Golden Horn and the Hagia Sofia before heading to the airport for our flight to Amman. We had a delicious meal, excellent service and really enjoyed having the entire dining room to ourselves.

Back in the room, we decided a nap was in order as we were all beyond tired. The room has been too warm for us every night and none of us have had our best sleep. Couple that with days of travel, a change of eight time zones, miles of walking, and keeping some crazy hours and voilà, we all passed out.

Once at the airport we marveled again at just how enormous this building is. Billy said he doesn’t think he’s ever been in a space that’s as big as this. It was interesting because security is right when you walk in the door, the first security checkpoint that is. I am assuming that is in response to the terrorist bombing that took place at the old Istanbul airport lobby a few years ago. Of course something in Billy’s bags got flagged and they spent quite some time determining if he could fly with a lighter or not – ever the boy scout he is. What I can’t believe they didn’t take was his rather large pocketknife. They seemed more interested in his nail kit. I suppose if it had been in his carryon, he would have lost it at the second x-ray screening.

On the car ride up to the airport, Billy reiterated how much he liked Istanbul. He said the lay out of the city, the history and the culture made for a really fascinating few days. Of all the places my maternal grandparents traveled to, Istanbul had been their favorite. Funny that it seems to be one of Billy’s too. Jenny and I both really liked it as well. For a quick visit we got a good taste and experienced things we have never before, especially the mosques and heavily muslim culture. We never once felt the least bit unsafe or unwelcome nor did we feel like we were intruders in their world. Istanbul sits at the crossroads of not only two continents but two very different cultures. It really is a captivating city and one we would all gladly return to to explore in more depth.