istanbul, part ii.

On my second day in Istanbul, I headed over to the Hagia Sophia, but it was packed--and still cold and raining--so I got on a tour bus and rode all over the city, to the Asian side and back. It was nice to be able to be spontaneous and go off my charted course for the day. And it was cool to be in Asia for the the first time in my life.

The Bosphorus Bridge to the Asian side of Istanbul.

I got off the tour bus right where the Galata Bridge spans the Golden Horn, had lunch and wandered the Egyptian market--smaller in size than the vast Grand Bazaar and devoted to delicious foodstuffs.

Fish, Turkish Delight, spices and the ubiquitous "Turkish viagra."

Next I walked across the Galata Bridge which was pretty cool. Up top, it's a road for traffic, but below, it's just for pedestrians, with cafés and fishermen lining the sides.

The view of Beyoğlu from Eminönü at the Galata Bridge. I think.

The tourist-free area along the banks of the Golden Horn reminded me of L.A.'s farmers' markets--only with lots more fish.

Again, I acted all crazy and spontaneous, taking some steep back alleys up to God-knows-where. But I ended up exactly where I wanted to be--the Galata Tower. There was a line that wrapped around it three times, so I continued up to the Galata Mevlevi Lodge and got my ticket for the Whirling Dervish show.

I was very excited for the show--which is really a deeply spiritual 

religious ceremony--but hey, I'm American!

After that, I continued up to Istiklal Street, which is one of the main drags in Istanbul. Extending from Tunel at the bottom to Taksim Square at the top (with a cute little tram that runs both ways), there are all kinds of local shops mixed with Western behemoths like Sephora and Zara.

There were tons of little alleys off Istiklal Street, too, which were fun to wander down.

A taste of Minnesota right in the middle Istanbul--who would have guessed?

Walked all the way to Taksim Square and back, just in time for the Whirling Dervishes.

Maybe some details are in order here. The Dervishes are a Sufi sect of Islam, founded by the followers of Rumi in the 13th century.

The Dervishes are actually monks and the whirling "dance" they perform is a ritual that symbolizes the shedding of the ego (the black cloaks) and evolving into a life entirely devoted to love and service of God.

Watching the monks spin themselves into an ecstatic trance was fascinating and very moving.

After the performance, I was ready for dinner. I had staked out the Sultanahmet Fish House and was determined to find it. There are fish houses all over Istanbul. It was hard to pick just one.

Behold the Fishermen's stew, Turkish style.

The next day was Monday, and many of the landmarks and museums were closed. But the weather had warmed up, so I took the opportunity to set sail on a Bosphorus cruise.

Afterwards, I went to the top of Galata Tower. The vistas were incredible, but it kinda made me sick up there, a crowd of people slowly circling the balcony of this tower. You could have toppled over onto the cobblestones at any moment. I got my pics and got out of there.

I strolled around at leisure and then had dinner with some ex-pats I hooked up with. Pizza!

Tuesday was my last full day in Istanbul, and I finally made it to the Hagia Sophia.

It was awe-inspiring inside, the feeling of being in a building that was erected hundreds of years before your own country was even born. I had the same feeling the first time I entered Westminster Abbey and Notre Dame in Paris.

EXCEPT for one thing. Before I left for Turkey, a gal at work informed me that, during the filming of Argo, Ben Affleck ordered the replacement of all the lights in the Hagia Sophia to a different wattage that looked better on film. The lights were not returned to their originals afterwards, so I saw the hand of Ben Affleck everywhere I went.

 
But still. The history of the place is staggering: first it was a Byzantine church, then an Ottoman mosque and now a national museum. It was first erected in 360 A.D., then destroyed and rebuilt a couple of times.

Next was a quick stop at the Basilica Cistern, the largest of the ancient aqueduct systems beneath the streets of Istanbul, built in the 6th century during the reign of Emperor Justinian.

Two columns carved in the shape of Medusa's head. One is upside down. Their origin is unknown.

Next up was the Istanbul Modern, super-sleek and fancy institution located on the banks of the Bosphorus and entirely devoted to art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Like all great museums, this is not a place you can do in a day. I spent a total of three hours there, and my head was spinning. Most of the modern artists they featured were from Turkey, of course, and...L.A.! Very exciting.

Highly recommended.

With my last dinner in Istanbul, I wanted to go out with a bang and have some super authentic Turkish food. I opted for Anatolian cuisine at Galata Kiva, right at the base of the Galata Tower.

I was not disappointed. The dishes you see below are Zeytinyağlı Enginar--artichokes drizzled in lemon and olive oil and “stuffed” with carrots, edamame and dill--something with black-eyed peas (forgot the Turkish name) and Kabak Tatlisi, a dessert of candied pumpkin with a peanut butter-like glaze

Of course, everyone asks, "So what was your favorite part of Istanbul?" My answer--whenever I travel--is that I can't zero in on one place. It's always the full experience of walking everywhere and taking it all in, being completely immersed in a new city and a culture different from own.

But it's true what they say--the best part of any vacation is coming home.