Built in 1973, (6 lanes) the first of 3 bridges over the Bosphorus between two continents is now called the July 15th Martyrs Bridge
Port of Call Istanbul, Turkey had been on TJ’s wishlist since we booked the cruise extension in Barcelona. I forgot to mention this city in the Rome story in the line up of European cities that warrant a week’s visit, simply because there is so much to visit, see and experience. Well Istanbul is one of those cities. Its cultural complexity equals that of Hong Kong, Singapore, Buenos Aires, New York or Rio de Janeiro. You can spend a week there and still feel you have only scratched the surface. Should you want to spend a good time discovering Istanbul, our advise is to purchase an Istanbul Tourist Pass which offers you up-to-50% discount on many attractions, as well as skip-the-line e-tickets options.
Istanbul is a former capital of several historical empires, spread over both Asian ad European sides of the Bosphorus, which connects the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea to the North. At times known as Byzantium and Constantinople, the Old City reflects cultural influences of the many empires that once ruled here. In the Sultanahmet district, the open-air, Roman-era Hippodrome was for centuries the site of chariot races, and Egyptian obelisks also remain. The iconic Byzantine Hagia Sophia features a soaring 6th-century dome and rare Christian mosaics. Once the capital of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, this city of 16 million people and 10,000 mosques, tells a story with every street and skyline view.
Cruise ships in Istanbul almost exclusively dock at Galataport, a modern, underground cruise terminal located in the Karaköy neighborhood on the European side of the Bosphorus. This central location is within walking distance of the Galata Bridge and a short tram ride from the historic Sultanahmet district. And for your information, the WIFI is superb.
The tourbus and tour guide taking us on a tour to the Grand Bazaar.
Since Han’s last trip to Istanbul was about 50 years previous, we decided that this city was too big for a walk that included several highlights and we also wanted to experience the cultural shopping experience that is called the Grand Bazaar. There are 4 ways to get to the Grand Bazaar: by tram, by taxi, by foot and by purchasing a ship tour. We did the last one, since we did not want to get late back to the boat and find our way to Athens ourselves.
The Grand Bazaar tour was a blast, with a tour guide who should be crowned the Ambassador of Istanbul.
We were quickly loaded onto a beautiful tourbus and drove into the Old Town via stories of ancient Byzantine and its straddled position in Asia Minor and Europe. But by the time he was done giving the specifics of the Grand Bazaar, we knew that a day spent just there, would not be enough to see it all.
Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar with 30,700 sq mtr (330,300 sq.ft) of total area is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops. It attracts between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. The tour guide, in order not to loose one of his guests in the mayhem of the bazaar, had cleverly designed a competitive shopping game whereby we all were divided into 2 groups. So instead of 25 individual participants, we were now looking at 2 groups of people who would keep an eye on each other. He gave every group a same amount of Turkish dinars and a list of products to buy at the best price possible. The group that would come back with all of the best products listed and most money saved from the budget, would win the game.
Having fun wheeling and dealing in the Bazaar
Well guess what, TJ was elected the leader of one group, which traded their “last” born child for the best product at the lowest price. Her group won of course and the local merchants got so excited that some of them even gave product away for free. By the time the guided tour part was over, everyone knew their way around the Grand Bazaar and we took of for a delicious lunch on the outskirts of the bazaar (inside of the old city walls) and some required people watching.
Close to the end of our lunch, bells started ringing and singing came from the surrounding towers calling for prayer time, which was an impressive ceremony. TJ went for some more explorations and I went for some more photography here in the heart of more than 2,000 years of merchant interaction.
We Bought a Rug
We had already learned that the Russian war in Ukraine had created a lot of battle field pain and economic pain in these areas. Possibly the reason for us buying a Turkish Rug, far beyond our financial plans. Here is the story of how that happened: a famous rug merchant had his store just outside the entrance to the Grand Bazaar. TJ had ended up talking to the owner outside of his establishment and he had offered her some tea. They were sitting in front oft of the store talking when I came up. The owner then invited us to the display room where his sales people spread rugs on the center of the floor. They pulled them from 6 foot high stacks of rugs around the sidewalls of the room. Well there were maybe already 30 to 40 rugs spread on to of each other in the center of the room, before one came out that caught TJ’s attention. Very different from the most darkly themed rugs that were displayed before, this one was colorful, with exceptionally playful detail. It felt like optimism and light.
The rug we bought.
TJ got up and started giving the rug a closer look and the details were mesmerizing. She asked the owner “How much”? Th owner calmly replied: “In normal times, this one would go for about $8,000, but since the war started we have not sold one rug of this size. I’ll sell it to you for $5,500.”
TJ looked at me and whispered: “I don’t think we can afford that, do we?” I said: “Not as an expense, but as an investment it would be fine.” The conversation went back and forth a bit, while all the sales people stood silently back. The we said: “How about $5,000?” The owner countered $5,200 and we shook on the deal.
In the preparation of the paperwork and shipping instruction, TJ was asked to sign the back of the rug as a verification of authenticity that this was the rug she bought. The shipping of the rug to Beaver Island was going to take about 6 weeks, no charge, as this is a promotion program offered by the Turkish export program. All sales people thanked us prolifically, so much actually that I started believing the story of economic despair because of the Russian war. (I need to learn to be less sarcastic.)
Soon the tour wrapped up, but before we got back onto the bus, our tour guide used the remaining money, left over from our shopping game to buy all of us a Simit, a sesame-crusted street bread often enjoyed for breakfast and often described as a “Turkish bagel” due to its circular shape, but distinctly different in texture and flavor. It was a very nice gesture, very much in line with Turkish hospitality and friendliness. There were obviously moments we felt a little uneasy because Turkey is so cheap for us Westerners.
On the way back to the ship we learned quite a few facts about this fascinating city. Especially the fact that the city made a substantial budget available to feed a large free roaming animal population, with special paid caretakers and medical providers looking after the city’s pets. Istanbul has more than 500 city workers on payroll to take care of these animals.
I guess at one point we’ll need to go back to this city to discover more of its brilliant past, its very friendly people and its fabulous cuisine.
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