Istanbul

We just returned from a 3 day stay in Istanbul. It is only a 45 minute flight from Izmir. The Turkish Airlines insists on serving you food. As soon as you get your sandwich and tea, they come by collecting your food and then land the plane. We went to Istanbul for new teacher orientation. It took place at one of our sister schools on the Asian side of Istanbul. Our hotel was on the Europe side, and European it was. Istanbul is huge and spread out. There are very few tall buildings due to the number of earthquakes that take place in eastern Turkey. The orientation was dense and included such subjects as economics, politics and art. There were two guest artists showing the art of Oya (Turkish lace dating back to 2000 bc) and Ebru (paper marbling). The first evening, we went out in the area where were staying (Taksim). It is very hip and busy. Tons of cafes and bars and shops. The Turkish tend to spend a lot of time outside in the evenings when it is cooler. People walk the main streets and shop and dine. We drank Efes (a brand of Turkish beer) and made friends with the waiters. Gary exchanged e-mails with them by the end of the night. When you go to a bar/cafe and are only drinking they make sure there is a snack of sorts on the table. This night we had cucumber sticks, nuts and Doritos.

The next day we were able to do some touring around. There are huge mosques everywhere and the minarets can be seen all over the city. We visited Hagia Sophia. It is an extraordinary piece of architecture. It was built in 360 as a church. When the Turks conquered Istanbul in 1453 it was ordered to be converted into a mosque. In 1940 it became a museum. You no longer have to cover your head to enter.

We also went to The Underground Cistern that was built in 532 and was water storage for the grand palace. It used to hold 90 million gallons of water. It is 452 feet long and 213 wide. There are many underground cisterns in Istanbul.

That evening all the new teachers were treated to a dinner cruise along the Bosporus. What an amazing way to see the city. The river is lined with fancy houses, mosques and castles. When it was evening call to prayer we were still on the water and could hear the call from 20 different mosques at once. It was truly amazing.

We didn't have time to go to the Grand Bazaar. Shopping in Istanbul is supposed to be great. I did get a chance to do some mini shopping in the area we were staying in. Lots of scarves, spices and evil eyes.

We look forward to visiting Istanbul again.