Weekends in Istanbul

After a week at Cakmakli (pronounced Chok - mok - la or more affectionately known as The Cak), we were all ready for a relaxing weekend in Istanbul. My weekend started early since I wanted to escape as quickly as possible. After mounting the old school bus, we rode the bumpy trails out of the country into the city of Istanbul. The bus dropped us off at various locations but I preferred to exit at Yesil Koy, a small village on the outskirts of Istanbul and either walk through the town or take the train into the city. The train ride was quite interesting and on any day you could find a variety of people or animals riding alongside. I don’t think I will ever forget the distinctive smell of a freshly lit Turkish cigarette. To me at least it smelled like a combination of chicken manure and oregano. I’m sure there is tobacco somewhere in the mixture but I couldn’t tell by the odor.

Anyway, after arriving in Istanbul (which could take 2 hours or so) it was time for a quick bite. I remember stopping by the “doner kebab” stand. For a few Turkish lira I would buy a1/2 loaf of fresh Italian style bread. Inside would be some olive oil with herbs and several layers of thinly sliced lamb. It was delicious and I can’t remember when I have ever enjoyed a sandwich so much. The rest of the day would be spent walking. I would visit the Grand Bazaar and look at Turkish carpets or leather coats or gold or spices. Visiting a merchants shop also required you to drink the tea and even eat lunch with them. I was often so full of tea and pizza that all I wanted to do was sleep. This really made the rest of the day drag on.

When I had enough of the Bazaar, I might walk to the Galata Bridge and look towards the Bosphorus and the Rumeli fortress and imagine the many battles that occurred over the years. When I had my fill of the Black Sea, I might visit Aya Sofia. This was the mosque that use to be a Christian church. Many times I would bring a history book with passages about the mosque and read them in the exact places where the book referred to. It was truly amazing. The Blue Mosque was also a fascinating place to visit as was the Dolmabahce Palace. My favorite place to spend an afternoon however was down in the cistern below the city. The cistern was built many hundreds of years ago to collect water for the city. The most amazing thing was that it was built from the materials captured by the Turks when they conquered other regions. The cistern was so large that to tour it properly required a small boat.

After a full day in Istanbul, I would get back on the bus and return the The Cak. A quick shower to wash off the exhaust smoke and the dirt from the city and I was ready to sleep and who knows maybe do the same thing again Sunday morning.