Easy, easy like Sundaymorning.
Door: Claudia
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Claudia
19 Maart 2007 | Turkije, Istanbul
Friday, 16 March
Promises are there to be kept, especially when you make them to yourself. So, as promised, nothing happened today. Well, nothing....
The day started with a nice lie in, then I had walk around, to get my barrings a bit. By chance, I walk into a guy I met briefly the night beforeand he's on his way to work, at the Grand Bazaar. Great, he can show me the way. I have a walk around in this ridiculously large covered bazaar, but it can't hold my attention very long. There is just so many carpets, leather jackets and jewellerly you can look it, before you get bored.
I have a coffee, have lunch and say "Merhaba" (hello), "No, I'm from Holland" and "No, thank you" about a million times.
I go back to relax a bit, on my bed I have a look through my guidebook and listen to the soft music from Andrea's guitar in the hallway.
When I've build up an appetite with doing all this nothing, I go out to find a place to eat. Of course, many people (read men) are happy to have me at their restaurant or otherwise show me to their cousins or friends place. Umit is quite convincing and he shows me a lokanta, exactly the place I had in mind, and I have a kebab. As expected I get seated upstairs, away from the men, out of sight, but I don't mind, I just want to eat and I don't get hassled for a while.
As soon as I finish my meal,Umit shows up again (after closing his shop), and we have a drink at a nearby bar. After a while I get tired and bored of this Sean Penns lookalike stories, that are, at least to say, hard to believe. I get to talk to Evren and that turns out not to be a good idea. When Umit shows up again, half the bar runs outside and there is fight. I don't believe it. My first night out in Istanbul and I cause a barfight.
It's too much action for me, I turn to bed.
Saturday, 17 March
It was late last night, so it's late this morning. Luckely I can stay another night, so I get enough time to do all the necessary sightseeing.
Clearly the Haghia Sofia is the first, and turns out, the only thing on the program today. Luckely I don't need to waste much time on getting there, because it's right next door. My expectations were high. For 16 years I had this picture in my mind of what I thought it would look like. Why 16 years? That is when I saw my first mosque: The Muhammed Ali in Cairo. Someone then and there told me it was similar to the Haghia Sophia only smaller. On top of that I read that for a long time it had been the largest enclosed space ever build. So, to be fair, I don't think it had a chance to live up to my expectations. And it didn't.
Don't get me wrong, I was definitely impressed. How can you not be by a building that size (7000m2, 56,6 m high, 32,5 diameter). And the fact that it was used as a church as well as a church is fascinating. That you can find a Mother Mary and child mosaic above the mihrab ("door" indication the islamic prayer direction to Mekka) is unexpected. Hard to imagine it to be possible to, let's say, have a wallpainting of Christ in the mosque in Rotterdam.
So, why was I not blown away by all this? I don't know really. Maybe because the decoration at the Muhammed Ali were so much richer? Maybe it's not the first mosque I've seen, like the one in Cairo was? Maybe I'm just getting to blasé.
Back at the hostel I find Fabrice and Andrea playing their guitars. After a private concert of half an hour we decide on having a kebab, score some beers at the supermarket and come back. Late that evening Fabrice and I get lost when we have a walk to the river, but that's never a bad thing when you're travelling. We do find the river in the end, have a long walk and get back to the hostel. One more beer, and of to bed.
Promises are there to be kept, especially when you make them to yourself. So, as promised, nothing happened today. Well, nothing....
The day started with a nice lie in, then I had walk around, to get my barrings a bit. By chance, I walk into a guy I met briefly the night beforeand he's on his way to work, at the Grand Bazaar. Great, he can show me the way. I have a walk around in this ridiculously large covered bazaar, but it can't hold my attention very long. There is just so many carpets, leather jackets and jewellerly you can look it, before you get bored.
I have a coffee, have lunch and say "Merhaba" (hello), "No, I'm from Holland" and "No, thank you" about a million times.
I go back to relax a bit, on my bed I have a look through my guidebook and listen to the soft music from Andrea's guitar in the hallway.
When I've build up an appetite with doing all this nothing, I go out to find a place to eat. Of course, many people (read men) are happy to have me at their restaurant or otherwise show me to their cousins or friends place. Umit is quite convincing and he shows me a lokanta, exactly the place I had in mind, and I have a kebab. As expected I get seated upstairs, away from the men, out of sight, but I don't mind, I just want to eat and I don't get hassled for a while.
As soon as I finish my meal,Umit shows up again (after closing his shop), and we have a drink at a nearby bar. After a while I get tired and bored of this Sean Penns lookalike stories, that are, at least to say, hard to believe. I get to talk to Evren and that turns out not to be a good idea. When Umit shows up again, half the bar runs outside and there is fight. I don't believe it. My first night out in Istanbul and I cause a barfight.
It's too much action for me, I turn to bed.
Saturday, 17 March
It was late last night, so it's late this morning. Luckely I can stay another night, so I get enough time to do all the necessary sightseeing.
Clearly the Haghia Sofia is the first, and turns out, the only thing on the program today. Luckely I don't need to waste much time on getting there, because it's right next door. My expectations were high. For 16 years I had this picture in my mind of what I thought it would look like. Why 16 years? That is when I saw my first mosque: The Muhammed Ali in Cairo. Someone then and there told me it was similar to the Haghia Sophia only smaller. On top of that I read that for a long time it had been the largest enclosed space ever build. So, to be fair, I don't think it had a chance to live up to my expectations. And it didn't.
Don't get me wrong, I was definitely impressed. How can you not be by a building that size (7000m2, 56,6 m high, 32,5 diameter). And the fact that it was used as a church as well as a church is fascinating. That you can find a Mother Mary and child mosaic above the mihrab ("door" indication the islamic prayer direction to Mekka) is unexpected. Hard to imagine it to be possible to, let's say, have a wallpainting of Christ in the mosque in Rotterdam.
So, why was I not blown away by all this? I don't know really. Maybe because the decoration at the Muhammed Ali were so much richer? Maybe it's not the first mosque I've seen, like the one in Cairo was? Maybe I'm just getting to blasé.
Back at the hostel I find Fabrice and Andrea playing their guitars. After a private concert of half an hour we decide on having a kebab, score some beers at the supermarket and come back. Late that evening Fabrice and I get lost when we have a walk to the river, but that's never a bad thing when you're travelling. We do find the river in the end, have a long walk and get back to the hostel. One more beer, and of to bed.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
