Day 2 – Bosphorus Cruise and Spice Bazaar

After having gone to bed so late, we definitely woke up late the next day. I got up to try out the fitness center at the hotel and had a great time listening to the odd Turkish radio choices pumping at full blast over the stereo. When I got back, Cara and I got ready and then headed out for our first crack at the Istanbul mass transit system and to see what the Spice Bazaar held for us. We enjoyed the cheery tune the turnstiles play when you slide in your token to gain access to the trains. It sounds very much like when you win an extra life in an old school video game. Istanbul is built on seven hills. They are VERY steep hills and the city, in all its modernity, has decided that no one should be forced to walk them if they don’t want to. So you can take these underground funiculars down or up the hills as you please for a mere 1.75TL. Taksim Square is perched on one of these hills but our hotel was very close to the tram stop so transport was a breeze. By the end of the week, Cara had even been convinced to get an “Akbil” which is the Turkish version of a SmarTrip card.

So after hopping on the funicular, we transferred to the tram and got off at Eminönü, the port in the heart of Old Istanbul or the Sultanahmet neighborhood. This is the place where the dirty vs. beautiful contrast is most easily seen. It’s very different down there than up at the top of our hill in Taksim. The smells down near the port come over you in waves. It goes from urine, to fried fish, to delicious bread ring thing, to gasoline and back again. There is trash everywhere and pigeons in every place not occupied by vagrants, but there is a huge and beautiful mosque right next to the port. There is graffiti and salty fisherman hocking their catches all along the historic Galata Bridge leading right to the port area. There is almost constant traffic in the city, both pedestrian and automobile. At the port it is concentrated around a big mosque right near the quay and back into the neighborhoods as you draw closer to the Grand Bazaar. We wanted to do our cruise on Sunday so we stuck close to the boats. We perused the Spice Bazaar which is much smaller than its famous counterpart but which I ended up liking a lot better.

As soon as you enter the very old tile building that contains the bazaar, you smell wonderful things. Your nose is tickled with chilies, saffron, turmeric, roasted nuts, and essential oils of all kinds. The vibrant colors of all the spices in their bins next to the luscious piles of Turkish delight instantly incite hunger. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the Spice Bazaar because neither of us was in the market for its bounty just yet. We did enjoy the feast for the senses and the free samples from street vendors around the market though. Haloumi cheese, fresh sausage, pistachios, dried apricots… I did make a mistake in my eating at this point though. I had seen all these street vendors selling grilled corn, which is one of my favorite things. So I bought one ear before we went into the spice market. It was a huge letdown. The kernels were supremely overcooked, completely overdeveloping the starches. It was rubbery and it didn’t even have that nice grilled taste. Street vendor food fail. Stick with kebaps (or kebabs) in Istanbul - they’re a much safer bet.

We then headed to the docks to see about taking our cruise. We found out there was a boat leaving at 1:30 and we went ahead and bought our tickets. There was surprisingly little detail involved in the tickets and the brochure we were given and so we assumed that it would just be an out and back touristy thing. No no, this was an actual ferry ride and had different stops and you could get on and off at little ports on the Asian and European side of Istanbul. It was a pretty chilly day and while the views from up on top were much better, the wind and the cold drizzle that had started to fall made the upper decks particularly inhospitable. We moved below after about a half hour. We made our way up the Bosphorus Strait as if we were the ball in a game of Pong. I think if the sun had been out we would have seen the deep blue green of the water a bit better. But we saw the buildings and the city really well from the water.

We ended up a good distance north of the city and found out that the boat was going to dock for 2 hours and we had to get off. With this unexpected turn, we decided to hike up to the old crusade fortress at the top of another very steep hill. With no handy funicular to help us, we intrepidly started our hike. That hill was NOT messing around. We did make it to the top and we had some awesome views of the strait and you could even see further up where it opened to the Black Sea. The fortress itself was closed off but the fence barrier wasn’t that great so I climbed over it along with a few other tourists to see what was on the other side. Some nice views, a dilapidated courtyard, and some interesting shallow tunnel works were all that was there. I think the climb over the fence just made it feel a little cooler.

Finishing up at the fortress and very hungry, Cara and I headed back down the hill so we could get good seats for the boat ride home. We had been standing the whole way up. I ran ahead to stake our bench, and Cara got us a fried fish sandwich, which we were told we had to try while in Istanbul. It was good, but I would recommend trying to get one closer to Eminönü port if you ever get the chance. That’s where all the fish mongers are and probably it’s fresher and you’d get more fish to offset the bread. It was still good though. I also had a Turkish grilled cheese sandwich. It probably tasted so good simply because I was going to gnaw my arm off from hunger. The very salty mozzarella-esque cheese they serve here might be haloumi but there’s so many things I ate that I didn’t or couldn’t identify, I can’t be sure.

Finally, partially sated and fully seated, we settled in for the ride back to the main port. We got in some good cousin bonding time, and then we became very quiet. I think the tiredness had set in. We made it back to Taksim, went in search of a late dinner snack, and so dove back into Icicle… I mean Istiklal Street craziness. Cara had to work the next day so we didn’t stay out too late. I had an ambitious day of sightseeing ahead of me as well. I generally planned my days the night before but only once did I end up doing everything I had planned to do and nothing I didn’t plan to do.

One thing that is pretty awesome about Istanbul, being a dessert fiend, is the amazing dessert shops that we found everywhere. They don’t serve anything except dessert! It’s not like the VERY specialized stores you find in DC either. These are no one-trick ponies like the cupcakeries and the fro-yo places, which I love, don’t get me wrong. They serve cakes and pies and puddings and tortes and ice cream, etc. They give you a binder when you sit down, with pictures, and you sort through it all and it’s hard to decide because they all look wonderful. It reminds me of Europe and was somehow refreshing, and also delicious. So again very late we called it a night.