Turkey. A Travel Log.

Remnants of a magnificent city past is what makes Istanbul. The Byzantine empire defined area for a little over a millennia and a half before the Ottomans took it. Don't get me wrong Istanbul is amazing in its own right as manifested by the Turks, but just imagine what Constantinople was like at its peak. Stories of a city embossed in gold, aristocrats and scholars strolling about the streets engaging in intellectual dialogue, supernatural events occurring on the regular. You don't see that anymore (for obvious reasons) but what saddens me is the ruins left behind by the Eastern Roman [Christian] empire were no longer sacred nor properly preserved by the current government. There were instances where some remains of a fortress or palace were being used as a garbage dump, graffiti etched forever onto a millennia old structure. Despite this, I was still able to appreciate all that was left behind by the Romans (read Byzantines). 

Day 1.

We went as a family. Yulia, Sofia and I. After our Antalya trip, we were all on our own, decoupled from the escape that was Titanic Luxury Golf Hotel Belek. I got a SIM card back in Antalya so that part was sorted out early in my trip to Turkey. Claiming out baggage from the carousel, baggage carts cost 1 Euro to borrow and I was too tired to whip out my credit card and deal with the hassle so I pulled up my sleeves and went in bare muscles with the luggage. It took us a few minutes to drag the luggage to the taxi area but we finally made it and a young Middle Eastern lad (couldn't confirm if he was ethnically Turk) who dialed in our taxi driver shuttling us to the hotel direct. Yulia and I got a pretty comfortable view of the city at night in our Air-Conditioned Benz. We marveled at the dazzling city lights and bustling, vibrant street life. It was 10pm and people we still on about doing their daily business and some were partying. We arrived at the hotel, given a brief spiel about touring Sultanahmet, and valeted to our room. After unloading, the porter stood at our door and asked "No money?", which took us by surprise, so I promptly tipped him 5 Euros. We prepped for bed, then everyone went to sleep, exhausted but excited for the next day.

Day 2.

We had limited time in Istanbul. Two days to explore whatever we could before heading back to Vancouver. First stop, Turkish Breakfast at the rooftop restaurant of our hotel. Loaded breakfast. Multiple servings of sauces and jams and healthy servings of pastries and eggs - all this while surrounded by the two behemoths - the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia. We made our way on to the cobbled streets of Sultanahmet and withing five minutes walking distance, we were at the base of the towering Hagia Sofia. Forecast was rain, so we were drenched for about 15 minutes waiting in line at the entrance of the "mosque". After some tricky navigating we made our way to the narthex. Had to take off shoes because the building was reconsecrated as a holy place in 2020. Stepping inside, I was in awe. The surroundings were unmistakably Muslim but auras of old Christian worship still resonated here. I touched the pillars out of respect and literally felt Divine Liturgy still soaked within the stone. We left, and continued on to the remains of the Hippodrome, then the Blue Mosque. We had some lunch at a seafood cafe then headed back for Sofia's nap. She couldn't sleep so off we went to the Grand Bazaar. We tried to brave the rush hour on the tram but couldn't get on after multiple attempts so we walked instead. Vibrant shops, souvenirs, teas, Turkish delights, doners and kebabs we aplenty on our stroll to the Bazaar. We walked past the Column of Constantine (to my surprise and amazement). Grand Bazaar was fun, but we didn't end up buying much, just a few trinkets meant as gifts. We made it back to the hotel, had some dinner; Sofia had a meltdown from being overtired so I brought her back to the room for her bedtime. Yulia followed and we all slept soundly eager for the next adventure.

Day 3.

The clock was ticking so we tried to cram as much of Istanbul as we could within 24 hrs. Yulia really wanted a Bosphorous boat tour, so we booked one the day before with sail-time at 5:30pm; everything else before that was filler before the tour. A late start after breakfast but we took the tram to Karakoy to get on the ferry to Fener. First stop was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. The official living successor to the patriarchs of the old church. Being an Eastern Orthodox catechumen, this was second on my bucket list to see. We found it by accident and almost missed it due to walls obscuring the actual church. My first stop was to pick up a few icons and a prayer rope. Then we toured the inside of the church and snapped up a few pictures before heading out to lunch. We strolled along the local district of Balat, and to my amazement it was filled full of cozy cafes and antique and hand crafted goods. We could have shopped here but we were running short on time and we were all famished. Stopped at a friendly doner shop for lunch then set for the tram back to the hotel. Sofia needed her nap. We stopped at Eminonu station but according to Google Maps had to walk all across the bridge for our transfer station. Waiting for the tram there was flash flood so we we soaked to our socks in rain before we made it back to the hotel. Sofia didn't nap so we ended up leaving a little earlier to beat the rush hour to Karakoy. Had some early dinner then the boat cruise. The cruise itself was amazing. The Bosphorous presents an amazing sunset and spectacular views of the ancient city. The late night walk back to the hotel was cool too. Yulia and Sofia settled back into the hotel, while I toured the city one last time for a late night stroll. I played old liturgical choir music in the Hagia Sofia and with that I immersed myself back into the Christian empire and the great Constantinople. 

Day 4. 

Time to head back to Vancouver. Getting a taxi was nerve wracking, and taking the metro back to the airport was a huge gamble but it paid off. Literally 1 Euro for all three of us for a trip back to the IST airport. Yulia and I shared a Shake Shack burger and after about an hour boarded the plane back to Vancouver.

Thoughts.

I enjoyed Istanbul. The city has charm and Turkish people are friendly and hospitable. Food is amazing. But as with many of those who grew up in the West, used to West's preservation of history, I couldn't feel but a slight melancholy for the faded history continuing to deteriorate within the city. I wish somehow the Greeks (or Europe) could have taken back Constantinople and established it as the Orthodox Christian city is once was - perhaps the EU could have done a better job at preservation and respect for the city's history. The capital of the Easter Orthodox restored once more to its former glory.  But what is past is in the past, the Muslims rule and with it their ideas of what an Islam city should look like. There is nothing Europeans can do to salvage what is left of the great Constantinople and instead look towards the future and finding harmony with the country that isn't quite European and isn't quite Asian but a blend of both that allows a gateway to the complexities of the Middle Eastern world.

Istanbul is Istanbul not Constantinople.