Ahoy, Casey!

Turkish Delight

Upon arriving in Istanbul, I visited the world famous fortune telling rabbit hoping to get some advice on what to do while in town.  This is what he told me:

**Sniff**  **Sniff**  “You want buy rug?  Good price.  40 Lira.”

After I unsuccessfully got the price down to 25, he had to be restrained from trying to hop off of his box.  It was not exactly the authentic Turkish experience I had hoped for, but his poor sales pitch in no way prevented me from having a thoroughly enjoyable 5 days in Istanbul.

I was particularly looking forward to my time in Turkey thanks to three friends who were kind enough to make the trip down to visit me.  Kristin Egan, Laurel Swanson, and Eric Rogozienski (my original traveling partner) joined me in exploring the sights.

Before arriving, I made a quick checklist of things I wanted to do.  Here’s what it looks like today:

• Visit Fortune Telling Rabbit
• Explore Blue Mosque
• Go to the Basilica Cistern
• Turkish Bath
• Haggle successfully and get a great deal in the Grand Bazaar because I am really adept at negotiating
• Hagia Sophia
• Try Hookah
• Whirling Dervish Performance
  
• Stay awake through an entire Whirling Dervish performance
• Visit the Asian side of Istanbul just to say I’ve been to Asia but actually really enjoy my time and then feel bad for trying to exploit the land solely for being a different continent
• Spice Market
• Take lots of photographs with Eric’s incredible camera
• Still like my small point and shoot camera after using Eric’s camera
• Dance in a small club called “Small Club” which was run by two 70 year old brothers and smelled hilariously awful.
• Backgammon

Since we have arrived in Varna, Bulgaria and I have such little time to update, I am going to continue bullet-pointing my experience:

• I tried the Rose Water flavored Turkish Delight and it was an oddly textured, delicious treat.  I can see why Edmund went astray.
• Every vendor in the Grand Bazaar would try to hawk their wares by clicking through 7 languages until they saw that you understood.  Their pitches ranged from grabbing my arm to lead me to their leather belts to bluntly saying “Let me help you buy things you don’t need.”
• Inside every Mosque you had to remove your shoes before stepping on the carpet.  In the breathtaking Blue Mosque I didn’t feel self-conscious at all because the whole place smelled quite strongly of feet.
• Minarets (the rocket ship like structures that surround the mosques) were originally meant to be a high point from which a call to prayer could be shouted.  While walking through the city the first day, it was quite haunting to hear the drone of the call echoing through the streets but by the last day it was a comforting warble.
• Speaking of mosques, I would try to go into every one that I could solely to admire to tranquil setting and stunning design.  They all followed a standard layout (large domed ceilings, hanging chandelier, carpeted floors, ornately decorated ceilings and walls [repeating geometric shapes, floral design, and sacred text-just like the Alhambra], a short stair case where the Qur’an would be read, all while facing Mecca).  Despite all of the excitement of Istanbul, I feel that some of those quiet moments spent sitting in awe of these religious centers may have been my favorite parts of the visit.

The Turkish Bathhouse was not exactly what I had expected.  Upon arrival in the large domed structure (built in 1584 by the famous Ottoman architect Sinan) I witnessed a man being slapped rather violently on his bare stomach.  I tensed up a little, not sure what I had walked into, but walked over to another part of the large heated marble slab and laid down anyways.

While awaiting my turn, the slap noises continued and echoed through the steamy space.  At one point I looked over to see a man being lifted off the ground by his legs and having them pretzeled into his chest while the “masseur” (perhaps a former police interrogator) smacked him on the backside and grunted loudly.  As I wondered if it was too late to get a refund, I was tapped on the shoulder by a barrell-chested, hairy, mustachioed Turk named Ahmet who gave me a grunt and a head nod.

We walked to our part of the room where he said “Sit.”  I sat.  He began by rubbing me down with a wash cloth.  Next he stated, “Lay.”  I laid.  As he continued to exfoliate my entire body he said, “First time?”  I said “Be gentle.”  While he scrubbed my arms, a lot of thin black rolls developed.  He pointed at them and said, “Skin.”  I said, “Gross.”

Next, I was turned face first onto the slab while he worked out the knots in my back.  By “worked out the knots in my back” I mean he dug his elbow between my shoulder blades, pulled my arms behind me and simultaneously ground my face into the marble.  I was then covered in soap, scrubbed and scrubbed, and then doused with cold water.

Now, as intense as it sounds, it was actually quite invigorating.  My skin hasn’t been that smooth in ages and I left feeling like a new man. 

What was great about this 15 Million person metropolis was how after 5 days, I still didn’t feel like I had seen it.  More than any other city on the voyage so far, it left me with the feeling of wanting to return to dig deeper.  And I will.

That’s all for now.  Thanks for reading if you made it this far and know that I’m thinking of you.

Yours,

Casey