TURKEY JOURNAL ENTRY
September
2, 2001
ISTANBUL, TURKEY
We took a flight from Paris to Istanbul. The airport in Istanbul is new so the first impression of the city you have is one of prosperity. However, the drive from the airport to the hotel told a different story. There were densely built apartment buildings, ten to twenty stories high, built one after another.
We arrived on a Sunday, and it seemed most of the 12,000,000 inhabitants were out enjoying the day. Picnics are especially popular and it seemed that on any grassy area the residents can find, people would start a fire and have a picnic. We arrived at our hotel, the Ciragan Palace which was located on the Bosphorus, a straight that separates Europe and Asia that joins the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. Across the Boshorus, we looked upon Asia Minor.
September 3
On Monday, we arranged to have a guide show us around Istanbul. His name was Ali and he was very knowledgeable. Our first stop was the Topkapi Palace which was built in 1459 by Sultan Mehmet II as his home. The Palace is now a museum of sorts and houses the Sultans' treasures which include the world's largest diamond, the 86 carat Spoonmaker's Diamond. It was found in a trash pile in Istanbul in the 1600's! It was bought from a scrap merchant for three spoons, hence its name.
What captured the kids attention was the display showing John the Baptist's skull and arm. In addition, Topkapi Palace housed the Staff of Moses given to him from God, a hat of Joseph from Egypt and a cup used by Abraham.
A really big booboo occurred at our next stop, the Basilica Cistern when we lost Alex. The Cistern is an underground water collection system developed by the Greeks and in our defense as parents, the place is huge. It is 70 meters by 140 meters and is 8 meters high. It used to be filled to the brim with water but now the water level is about a meter high. To Andrew's delight, the water was full of big fish. He begged us to find him a fishing pole but we informed him that the Turkish government would frown upon that. Not to worry, we found Alex five minutes after he misplaced himself.
After the Blue Mosque we went to the Spice Bazaar. What a culture shock! The economy of Turkey is not doing well and every salesman is trying to get your attention. It was overwhelming but Ali helped to get us through. He told me that when someone tried to sell us something, I should say, "nothing." Armed with this empowering knowledge, I walked through the Bazaar and when someone would try to sell me something, I said, "nothing." The method didn't work for me. Ali heard me and laughed. "I didn't mean for you to say, 'nothing,' I meant for you to keep quiet and they will leave you alone!"