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Last day in Istanbul!We stowed our bags in the hotel basement and hopped on the bus to Istanbul University right after breakfast.The university reps gave us some information about their school and then answered some of our questions about the Turkish educational system over tea.They also took us on a tour of their brand new technology labs, which were really impressive (better than at most US universities that I've seen).
We met with students after that.We had (more) tea together and exchanged stories and Facebook info.A few of them invited us over for a house party.They originally wanted to take us to Taksim Square, but there were protests going on, so we ended up going to one guy's apartment instead.Being in Turkey, we had a new perspective on the world, and Campbell pointed out that Israel bombing a Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza would hardly have made our news back in the US.Here, it's very real.We saw a picture in the news paper of protests around the world.Right on the front page was a picture of a Hasidic Jew in America, holding a Turkish flag.That made me breathe a little easier.I never felt scared or worried about our safety in Turkey, but I've been in safe countries before when major world events were going on, and it can get a little scary.Costa Rica is a pacifist country, but I was there during the lead-up to the Iraq War and I wouldn't like to repeat the experience.Anyway, Campbell approved the house party idea.We had a delicious lunch at the student canteen before heading off.
The students led us across town, on a long walk toward the apartment where we would spend the afternoon.We piled into the apartment (14 of us, plus 6 Turkish students) and our hosts ordered drinks for a local bar—for delivery!It was way too hot for me to drink anything but water, and besides, Andrew and I had talked about cutting out early to see some more of the city.We hung out for about 2 hours and then left for the bus station.One of the students, Atakan, insisted on walking us most of the way, but we got a little confused after he left.We crossed the street to look at an enormous mosque and it wasn't clear how to get back to where we came from.We crossed what we called "the highway of death" (5 lanes and 2 exit ramps) and got directions at a furniture store.It was a harrowing walk (no sidewalks!), but the bus station wasn't far away.We took the bus to the tram and then rode to the Grand Bazaar.I have to say, I was pretty proud that we were able to get on and off and figure out how everything worked.It really made me feel good to know that we could handle public transportation even without one of our guides.
The Grand Bazaar was awesome.Like a giant foreign flea market, everything was a little overwhelming but impossible not to love.I checked out a variety of items at the bazaar, but nothing really caught my eye until we reached a metal works shop on the very edge of the building, in a dead end.I got a cool hanging thing for candles.The quoted price was way more than I would pay, so I said no and turned away sadly.The salesman quickly told me that he could "budge on price, no problem."I offered a little less and we quickly settled on a lower price, mostly because we needed to move on.The Bazaar reminded me of a giant yard sale:a sale gets you money (even if less than you wanted), while no sale means you are stuck with stuff (pretty stuff, but that still that won't pay the rent).I only ever haggle at yard sales or car dealerships (25¢ or $25,000) in the US, so it's a novel experience to know that almost every price is negotiable.Successful, we headed out of the bazaar to hop on the tram to our next destination.We stopped by Andrew's infamous Turkcell on the way, but he had no luck getting his SIM card.
We were going to the Spice Bazaar next, but I realized that Galata Tower (the last stop on our list) was only a few stops farther.Better to do the tower first, then walk back to the Spice Bazaar and on toward the hotel.Plan changed!We hopped off the tram near Galata Tower, after a ride that had me itching to pull out my camera.Only the knowledge that I would get much better pictures on the walk back kept the camera in my pocket.In any case, there were plenty of signs for Galata Kulesi, so we crossed the street and headed up the hill.We passed a guy selling fake IDs from a shopping cart (?!?) and then climbed a giant flight of stone stairs.Did I say we headed up the hill?Let me rephrase: we headed to the top of the mountain.I had no idea the tower would be so far from the tram stop.We finally arrived at the huge stone tower, to the strains of some rocking classical music and a live violin.A man in full revolutionary-era dress (frocked coat and powdered wig) was playing the violin along with music coming from giant speakers.There was another guy filming him, riding on a semi-circular track with a huge camera.The poor violinist looked like he was roasting, but he was playing his heart out and the music sounded beautiful.We found out later that they were shooting a French film called Vivaldi, which explained both the camera and the awesome (& familiar) music.Lots of people were hanging around for the unexpected performance, but we were anxious to see the view from the top of tower, so we went inside.
http://www.itak.web.tr/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/galata_kulesi_1.jpg
We bought tickets and took the elevator to the 7th floor (as per their instructions), only to have the guard take our tickets and say "up two flights."Who are these evil people? We made it up this last obstacle and stepped out onto a narrow observation deck.It was pretty tight trying to move around—about 1.5 people wide—but the view was fantastic.We could walk all the way around the tower and it was a clear day, so we could see for miles.We spent about 20 minutes taking pictures, with the strains of Vivaldi drifting up from the ground as accompaniment.I'm pretty sure I got this trip's "awesome pic", looking over the Bosphorus with a yacht framed between landmarks.I can't wait to get all these posted online and order prints.
We left the tower and hiked back down the mountain.The bridge was lovely, so we got lots of great pictures.We even took a picture of a lonely tourist on the bridge.I would for the poor guy to get home and realize he took a crappy picture of himself on the bridge over the Bosphorus.
We continued on to the Spice Bazaar, which we found after a bizarre side trip through some sort of pet/pet food bazaar.Andrew got some curry while I chatted with the shopkeeper.He asked if Andrew was my bodyguard; I said no, he was the navigator.Speaking of the navigator, he got us a little off-course on the way back to the hotel and we ended up wandering through some of the back streets of Istanbul.It was a completely different view of the city, but it was almost more creepy than fun.It was getting late and most of the stores had closed up.We were walking past dark storefronts and around evening stock deliveries.We finally made it back to the Blue Mosque area (should have taken the tram!) and had dinner near the cistern, at the place we had passed up the day before.I was really looking forward to a leisurely dinner, especially because I was so sore from hauling my backpack around all day, but it didn't happen.
The first thing we saw in the restaurant was a table full of other people from our group.They told us we were now leaving 30 minutes early, at 8:30.It was 7:50.They had been really worried that we wouldn't get the message, as they and the rest of the group had only met up with Campbell by accident.They had figured we wouldn't get the message because no one knew where we were.We told the waiter we were in a hurry, wolfed down our food in record time, and left for the hotel before the other (slightly tipsy) table had even finished.We were among the first people to arrive at the hotel and gratefully sat down for a few minutes before loading our luggage onto the bus.I was feeling pretty gnarly; walking 15+ miles on such a hot day had me all dirty and sweaty.No opportunity for a shower before the overnight train ride either.Eww!
We all piled into the bus and headed over to Galata Bridge (!) to catch a ferry across the water, where we would board the train to Ankara.Campbell warned us that we would have to be really quick about unloading the bus and getting on the ferry or we would miss it and have to wait for another hour.The bus pulled up near the water, we all hopped out and grabbed our stuff, and…false alarm.We got everything (and everyone) back on the bus after our little fire drill and rode down a narrow passage toward the ferry.This time was for real, so we all hopped out like the bus was on fire and hustled onto the ferry with our luggage—right in front of startled diners at the harbor-front restaurant.
The ferry had a large open area near the boarding ramp, so we piled our luggage there and then enjoyed the ride over.Arriving at the train station, we went down a long concourse and onto our train.We settled into our compartments and pulled back the curtains to watch the scenery go by as the train headed out of the city.Rebecca and I wrote in our journals and then shared photos with each other on our digital cameras.She said she would friend me just for the pictures.Anticipating a busy day, I went to bed on the train (second time ever!) and slept like a rock.
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