Dervişler

Today we went back to the market.  Cody, I found you a patch!  It took a lot of hassling, but I got it down from 45 Turkish lira to just 15.  Annaliese bought even more scarves.  I think she has plenty now. While trying one on, the young man waiting on her told her she looked like "Shakira, Lady Gaga".

Shakira/Gaga

palm trees, sunny skies and 62° !!!

As we were walking, we came past the sign "DİKKAT, KÖPEK VAR" ('Beware of dog').  I knew dikkat and var, but I didn't know the word for dog, and so I leaned in to read it.  Then, charging from the bowels of hell comes growling and lunging this nasty beast.  Anna and I literally had to run out of the way!  In Turkey, they really mean it when they say "beware"!

Then we went to the Süleymaniye Mosque.  It's another one by Sinan, and even though the interior is closed for renovation, it was very obvious that it is gorgeous.  It is also considered the most important mosque in Istanbul.

We wandered around the grounds of the Süleymaniye.  This is the graveyard.  This mosque is also in the area around the University of Istanbul.  It was cool to see where the largest student body in Turkey lives.

Anachronistic anecdote related to mosques:  When we went into the Hagia Sophia, they had a security check with metal detectors and guards.  I started taking out of my pockets my camera, cell phone, iPod, belt, etc., but the guard sort of waved me through.  I gave him a quizzical look, but he smiled and nodded.  I walked through and the alarm, naturally, went off.  I was ready to go back out when the guard laughs, asking "Where's the bomb-a?"  Hmm, what's the point of a metal detector and security guard when the response to an alarm is laughter and disconcern?  Haha, it's a different world here :)

After the mosque, we went to a restaurant called Dârüzziyafe.  At the time it was built, under the rule of Süleyman, it functioned as the mosque's soup kitchen for the poor.  Rick Steves' book on Istanbul said that if we showed the book at this restaurant, we'd get 10% off.  Mom mentioned this to our waiter, who responded "No, no … no".  Rick Steves also recommended the "sherbet drink", which truthfully is why we went there.  Looking at the menu, however, I couldn't find it.  I asked the waiter whether they did, in fact, have a sherbet drink.  This question resulted in all four of us (without further ado) getting "rosehip syrup", which turned out to be said sherbet drink.  It was disgusting, kind of like drinking a glass of Tang, but instead of hydrating it with water, you used honey.  The meal itself, however, was really, really good.

Side note:  The word sherbet comes from the Arabic word شرب (shariba), which means 'to drink' (well, technically 'he drank').  This word is also where we got the word "syrup" and the Turks got the word şarap 'wine'.

From there, we walked back to our hotel for some quick R&R.  On the way, we saw several young men selling spirographs.  Remember, those bright plastic things from the early 90s for making loopy designs…  And they're all over here!

And then this evening we went to see whirling dervishes.  Whirling dervishes are practitioners of Sufi Islam who enter mystical trances while spinning in circles.  It is supposed to be a religious experience in which the dervish becomes aware of the unseen world.  So yes, the purpose of this touristy excursion was to watch five people in deep, contemplative, slowly rotating prayer.  It was about as entertaining as watching a group of people go through the Hail Mary for two hours with the soundtrack to Borat playing in the background.  Dad fell asleep almost instantly.  During the spinning, they raise and lower their arms in a manner reminiscent of the YMCA dance.

This isn't my photo, since photography wasn't allowed.  But check out the awesome hats they wear.  It's like a cat's scratching post on his head.

One interesting thing to come out of the "cultural experience" (I use quotations here, because these people charge about $30/seat for foreigners to gawk at them while they feign ancient tradition) was the ridiculous tourist next to us.  She was this elderly woman, who almost as soon as she sat down was up again, then down, then up.  She kept popping up and down like a Whack-a-Mole.  At one point, she turned to Dad and asked him whether he could see when she was standing.  She wasn't blocking his view, seeing as she was to his right, and even if she'd been directly in front of him, it probably wouldn't have mattered, because she was about 5'2".  Then during the performance, she climbed onto her seat and tried to balance herself on the back of the chair.  Failing at that, she simply resigned herself to standing upright on it.  For the entire program!  Best part, though:  NOT American!  The French get to claim that nut job as one of their own.  So no, I did not like the dervishes too much (better than in Cairo, tho).  Mom and Anna, however, thought they were interesting.

Tomorrow we're going to the Archaeology Museum, which I'm really excited for!

Noel'iniz kutlu olsun!

Merry Christmas everyone!
We woke up today and had breakfast while looking out over the water.  Afterwards we opened presents from the lovely Raiser family.  (Everyone sends their thanks for the great gifts!)

From there we went out to the harbor and took a trip by boat to Anatolian Turkey, which is in Asia!  (My fourth continent!)  

leaving Istanbul behind

The town we spent the day in is called Anadolu Kavağı (Anatolian Poplar).  We had a tasty lunch:  I had salad, meatballs, rice and "cips" (French fries), and an interesting Turkish drink called sahlep.  For dessert I had (can you guess?) rice pudding.  Yum!

The rest of our time in Asia (!!), we wandered the town.  Anna and Dad bought scarves (Dad's was a Christmas present for Mom), and we heard the muezzin's call to prayer (for the fourth time today).  The bulk of the time, however, was dedicated to climbing a mountain to get a view of the Bosphorus and the sea from an ancient castle.

hipstery shot of the hike up

Dad and Mom on the way up.

Here's the view from the castle.  Mom and Anna stopped short, because it was STEEP and a long way up, plus Rick Steves says that the castle itself isn't worth the hike.  He's right, as always.  Which reminds me, if anyone knows how one gets a job like his, please let me know.

Dad and Anna on the way back - it was gorgeous out today!  60+ degrees… on Christmas!  The way back was a bit cooler, but not much.  The wind felt great, as did the spray from the water.  We spent most of the trip listening to stories from Mom and Dad about their deviant youths.  One of my favorite parts was their romantic first meeting story:  Dad was living in a trailer with one of his friends, working on his fifth year of undergrad (just the beginning) and dating "some girl with long hair".  Yes, I too hope someday to be remembered to a current loved one as nothing more than a unique physical characteristic.

evening over Istanbul

After arriving back "home", we did a bit of shopping:  Annaliese bought a really pretty bed cover and did a more than decent job haggling down the price and getting two really pretty pillows thrown in free.  Mom, however, was not of especial help:  "Do you bargain here?  We don't know how to bargain in Minnesota.  What price will you go down to?"  One time, while trying to sell an old oven, she prefixed her pitch with "It doesn't really work".  (I love you, Mom!)  After that, we had a delicious dinner at Turquoise again.  I got mantı, which is like Turkish ravioli filled with lamb.  It was really good.  And we all (except Dad) had hot chocolates.

İki Pazar

Today we toured the city.  Mom's old professor and friend, Walter Denny, suggested a friend of his to be our guide.  Our guide and his wife led us around the city, showing us several beautiful mosques, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, and two bazaars.  It was a full day!

We began the tour just past the Blue Mosque next to a giant obelisk with hieroglyphs from Luxor.  I saw similar things at the Temple of Karnak, as you may recall.  The obelisk was brought to the city by a Roman emperor.  A similar obelisk can be seen in Paris on the Place de la Concorde.  The obelisk marks one of the edges of the giant Hippodrome, an ancient (now mostly buried) Greek stadium for horse-racing.

After the obelisk we walked to a mosque called Sokullu (after the grand vizier who commissioned it).  Along the way, we came across this very bizarre graffito.  "I carry books since years but could not stop to be a donkey!"  I have absolutely no idea what it means.  As to the Turkish below:  I know it means something along the lines of "a man is a man [something], a donkey is a donkey [something]".  You're welcome for that brilliant translation.  Any better/fuller translation would be much appreciated…

The Sokullu mosque was spectacular.  Unfortunately you're not allowed to take photos inside, so I have none to post here.  It was designed by Mimar Sinan, who also designed over 300 buildings.  He now ranks alongside Snøhetta (the firm that designed the Oslo opera house and the new Library of Alexandria) as one of my favorite architects of all time.

Next, we went to another mosque, the Küçük Ayasofya ('Little Hagia Sophia').  This is a pretty, but small, mosque that used to be a church.  From here we went to the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.

The above image of the Blue Mosque and the obelisk was taken from the Museum.  It is a gorgeous collection of calligraphic works, enormous kilims and other rugs, large metal candle holders and other pieces of Middle Eastern art.  Below the art museum is the Etnography [sic] Museum, which houses costumes and scenes from Turkish/Turkic peoples around the globe.  Based on the extremely musky scent of the place, my dad guessed they use a lot of mothballs to preserve the artifacts.  One of my current dreams is to do research on the effects of Soviet policies of language standardization on cultural identity among the Turkic peoples of southern Siberia, so this part of the museum was especially interesting to me.

After that we went to the Grand Bazar.  It is enormous!  Extremely common were shops with rugs, hookahs (or narghiles as they're still called here), and fake D&G, Chanel and Abercrombie t-shirts.  People were constantly calling out to passersby, hoping to attract people to their shops:  "Let me help you spend your money!"  "I can help you change your life maybe!"  "Stop your horses!"  Annaliese bought an evil-eye talisman and a scarf.  I bought shot glasses.  And yes, to aid in your judging me, they do have the Turkish flag and a nazar on them.  Colin:  typical, trashy tourist.  We also stopped here to eat.  I had some sort of lamb and vegetables dish (tasty), and rice pudding again for dessert.  (It was caramelized on the top - I love it!)

Next we went to the Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarısı in Turkish, or 'Egyptian Bazaar').  They were selling all kinds of spices, herbs and pastries.  Alongside the baklava and Turkish delights was a strange, nut-filled dessert called "Turkish viagra".  No, I do not know what that heck it is.

Both bazaars were jam-packed and loud.  We could hardly wind our way through the enormous crowds.  Shopkeepers were constantly shouting at us.  Our tour guide and his wife, both of whom are Turkish "born and bred" as they said, have lighter skin and therefore also couldn't escape English-language entreaties.  The woman, Şayeste, told us when she was younger she had blond hair (now it's black), so throughout her childhood she was constantly mistaken for a tourist and therefore hounded by shopkeepers and salesmen.

In closing, I leave you with a photo of the last mosque we visited (I don't remember what it's called) and a wish for everyone to have a very merry Christmas (even those of you who aren't Christians).

Turkcell'in arısı Ayasofya'da ;)

Merhaba arkadaşlar! Well, unfortunately two things: 1) Teri actually beat you to firsties, Karl, but she couldn't post. Judges? Does that still count? 2) Some of the photos don't "embiggen" in my last post. I have no idea why.

Now, onwards to my actual post. As I mentioned before, my family and I just arrived in Turkey yesterday. We set up camp in our beautiful hotel next to the Hagia Sophia (pronounced "EYE-yuh so-FEE-yuh) and the Blue Mosque, and ate out at a delicious restaurant called Turquoise. (Side note: The word "turquoise" actually comes from the French word for Turk, since the stone was originally imported from Turkestan.)

Mom and I before dinner. I had an İskender kebap, and Mom and Dad split this roast chicken meal that came in a clay pot that was then set on fire and shattered.

The other (Egenberger-)Halversons - After the main course, Annaliese ordered what the menu called "Ottoman Special Dessert (Milk Hot)".

Then today we wandered around Sultanahmet (the area of Istanbul in which we're staying). There are tons of stray dogs and cats around, and the one below (#157 according to his tags, or "Buddy" as I called him) tugged at Anna and Mom's heartstrings. Everyone but me pet it. I thought it might have fleas or something gross.

He followed us for quite a while and was pretty entertaining. He almost killed a stray cat. Then he took the most disgusting-smelling dump ever on a little tree along the street. The smell stayed with us for about a block. No one seemed to mind after that when Buddy decided to part ways with us.

just a pretty shot

Dad and I walked along the Bosphorus.

The area in which we're staying (Sultanahmet) is dominated by two enormous, beautiful mosques - the Hagia Sophia (top) and the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, or the Blue Mosque, as it is popularly called by tourists because of the blue tiles that cover its surface (bottom).

The big event of the day was going into the Hagia Sophia (Turkish Ayasofya). The Hagia Sophia is, according to my mother, a Byzantine-era church that turned into a mosque in 1453 the day that the Ottoman Empire took Constantinople (now it's Istanbul, doncha know). It is considered one of the greatest achievements in architecture. Ever. In the world. It is beautiful.

While inside the Hagia Sophia, I was struck by holy inspiration and suddenly figured out how to read calligraphic Arabic script (seriously - I've been baffled by it since high school). I can now confidently tell you that the above medallions read Umar and Hussain. It was a proud moment in my life.

On our way over to the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish, Sultanahmet Camii), I saw these two people with weird yellow hats on. I told them "I'm not interested in buying anything, but I'm really curious: What are you wearing?" It turns out they're working for Turkcell doing some kind of survey about cellphone use, and Turkcell's mascot is a "weird alien bee", which is what their hats are supposed to look like. They were extremely nice and hilarious and (best of all) not peddling any wares! Plus they gave us each little nazars (evil-eye charms) for taking part in their survey. And yes, I know; I kind of look preggers in the above picture.

İstanbul! (Almanya)

We arrived safely! I (Colin) met up with everyone last night around 6 after an only 2-hour flight. I spent the last week in Germany, both in Augsburg/Gablingen with relatives and in Konstanz with friends from my semester abroad. I have a few photos below from that portion of my trip. The rest of family just arrived from MSP yesterday. I have to say, the area we're in is spectacular! We'll upload more pictures later.

Hermann showing off an "awesome" postcard from Waldhausen, hub of the Egenberger clan.

Sir Walter and Anita in Walter's pad in Augsburg

Christkindlesmarkt (Christmas Market) in Munich

After visiting the Raisers/Egenbergers, I went to Konstanz to see some friends. I stayed with Volker in his WG (shared apartment). He, his housemates and I went sledding on Fürstenberg.

I also saw other friends.

<- Beer at Shamrock with Volker and Sadier.

<- Denis (my Russian tandem buddy) and I