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Today is
November 5, 2006 and I feel as though this
trip is going to take on a whole new face…no
longer the elderly couple on the old bike.
We will be riding a 2003 BMW with a
sidecar. This may still draw stares and
hopefully could be a more reliable bike. I
just feel sorry about dumping Max. It would
have been better not to name him and take
him as part of the family. I feel sad about
leaving him, but I am more disappointed
about not finishing the trip with him. I
know that life is a series of events mostly
good, but there are challenges that shape
who we are and believe me I have really
gotten shaped on this trip…physically and
mentally.
I decided that
the most important element of this adventure
is to have fun and enjoy the sites, sounds,
aromas and the people. The mode of
transportation is not the mainstay of our
trip. I came to Turkey on the train and I
am enjoying the hell out of being in
Istanbul. I am enthralled with everything
about this city: the architecture, the
people, the food is heavenly and fattening,
the smells in the markets, the sounds of the
people, the music emanating from the shops,
but especially the water that glistens in
the sun. What a magnificent place and I
have only been here 8 days. It is great to
stroll through the narrow streets from shop
to shop, smelling the freshness of the air
from the water. It is heavenly to sit at a
sidewalk café and drink the strong, aromatic
teas and just soak up the sun. Of course,
this was not the scene the first few days I
arrived. It was cold, damp and very gray.
I could not get warm, feeling the dampness
deep in my bones, but how soon you forget
the unpleasantness when the sun shines and
all is right with the world.
Today is
November 10 and Jack is finishing up the
deal in Germany to purchase the new bike.
It is not the original bike that he went to
see, but it is a 2003 BMW. Once he
completes the transaction, he will hot foot
it back to Kiev and pick up our stuff. Then
he is off to Istanbul and we can continue
our adventure together. Turkey is so rich
in historical treasures, such as the
86-carat Kasikei Diamond that can be traced
back to Napoleon Bonaparte’s mother, daggers
that are encrusted with emerald’s, rubies
and diamonds and other priceless artifacts
that are housed in the Topkapi Castle
museum. My first thought was how lovely,
then my second thought was how many people
these gems could house, clothe, feed and
educate. I guess I could argue about the
Crown Jewels in England and other treasures
housed in the Egyptian museum. But after
all it is their history and history is made
to be passed on from generation to
generation, so much for acts of
humanitarianism.
For the last
several days, I have had the opportunity to
explore the neighborhood in the Kadikoy area
where I am staying. Tamara, a teacher who
had taught for us and started on the trip,
is now teaching in Istanbul, so I am staying
with her. This neighborhood is so quaint
with the mixture of the traditional and
western influences. Even though Turkey
guarantees religious freedom, the population
is considered to be 97% Muslim. As I have
wondered the streets of the city, I see the
traditional Muslim women who dress in a
black covering called a “chador”, covering
them from head to toe, reminding me of the
St. Joseph nuns of my youth without the
white, starched bibs; and the more Western
Muslim who cover their hair with a scarf and
their bodies in more modern clothes. It is
not as easy to recognize the Muslim men,
since there does not seem to be any
significant markings or clothing, except
some men do wear a knitted cap or skullcap.
I have always been enamored with the Arabian
Knights, Sultans and the magic of this Asian
Region and to be here is just a kick.
On Tuesday,
November 7, I got the chance to ride the
Ferry through the Bosphorus or Bosporus
Straits from the Asian side of Istanbul,
where I am, to the European side. European
İstanbul is separated into old and modern
sections by the Golden Horn, a narrow
channel of the Bosporous. The old section,
known as Stambul, lies south of the Golden
Horn, and this is the land mass where many
of the well-known historical sites are, such
as The Blue Mosque and The Hagia Sofia.
Jack had talked for many years about his
first trip to Istanbul and his love for the
city and the famous Mosque, The Hagia
Sofia. This heightened my excitement to be
here and to actually have the chance to
visit such historical sites. One of these
marvels is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque or more
widely known as The Blue Mosque, since the
dominant color of the paint is blue. This
classical mosque was built with six minarets
and is revered not only in Turkey but
throughout the Islamic world. There are two
entrances to the mosque, the believers and
the non-believers, both must remove their
shoes. In the traditional Islamic religion
people were required to wash their feet
before entering the mosque, and I did view
this practice still in existence albeit just
a few people. The mosque is carpeted,
lighted dimly with many small, hanging
lights. This made it difficult to really
see the glorious interior decorated with
handmade tiles and stained glass windows.
According to a guide book, ‘the central
cupola of the mosque is 23.50 m. in diameter
and its height at the keystone is 43 m. The
walls of the galleries on three sides of the
nave are covered by more than 20,000
handmade tiles from Iznik. The higher parts
of the walls and the inner surfaces of the
cupolas are decorated with paint. The color
of the original paint was not blue, but with
later repairs the color that earned the
mosque its name was applied to the walls.
Since the 1970’s restoration is being
carried on to remove the blue paint and
restore its original appearance’.
Today is
Saturday, November 11 and it has been
raining all night. At first I was bummed,
and then I decided just to wait out the rain
and see what developed. Around 12:30PM the
rain stopped and I decided to go to the net
café to contact Jack. Unfortunately no
messages from him, but I did get an
interesting email from someone we had met in
Beijing on our way to Mongolia. His name is
Roel Hendrix and he also rides a Chang
Jiang. He was in Istanbul and we started a
conversation on Yahoo, making plans to meet
for dinner that evening on the European side
of Istanbul. He was riding his bike from
Beijing west, but I was not sure about his
route. I am amazed how this network of long
distance riders works and makes our world a
bit smaller. Unfortunately, the plans for
our meeting fell threw, since Tamara did not
arrive at the apartment until 6:30PM from
school. We made a mad dash for the ferry
port, but on our arrival we found that the
last ferry from Eminonu would be at 8PM.
Certainly not enough time to meet Roel in
Taksim and spend time, so we tried other
avenues to cross over, but none were
available that we could find. Tamara called
Roel to let him know the situation, so the
plans were changed for the next afternoon at
1PM.
The next
morning I woke up to sun and clear skies…the
perfect day to explore. It took me about an
hour and 15 minutes to go from Tamara’s
apartment to the Burger King in Taksim. I
had to board the Kadikoy Ferry to Eminonu
and enjoyed crossing the Bosphorus (it is a
beautiful, natural border between Europe and
Asia, being the only outlet of the Black Sea
that is connected to the Aegean through the
Bosphorus and the Dardenelles.) on the Ferry
with the sun sparkling on the water,
watching the gulls catch the thermals,
soaring over the waves produced by the boat
skimming through the water. It was great to
feel the wind in my face and smell the salt
air. I never realized how much I have missed
the water, being land locked in Changchun.
I then needed to take a tram to Kabatas and
on my first attempt to find the station, I
was on the wrong side of the tracks, so I
had to retrace my steps to find the right
station…rushing down stairs and upstairs not
to miss the tram. While I was waiting, I
watched several women cross the tracks to my
side…I had taken the long way around. As I
bordered the tram, I checked to make sure
that I was on the right one. Yes, I was and
found that. Kabatas was the last station on
this route, having to get off and find the
Funicular to Taksim. I asked a couple of
the passengers and was directed to the
entrance.
As I left the
Funicular, I realized that I had only met
Roel once and would I recognize him? As I
approached the Burger King I saw many young
people hanging around the front entrance,
but in front of the crowd stood a tall,
young, bearded man with the biggest smile.
We both looked at the other rather
quizzically and said each others name at the
same time. We were happy to see each other
again, interesting how bike riders have an
instant bond to one another. We spent a
very pleasant afternoon talking about our
adventures, our problems and just laughing
about some of our experiences, which were
different and yet similar. We enjoyed a
Turkish lunch, walking to the French quarter
where we ordered coffee and tea…this is a
great continental city. As we sauntered
from street to street, we heard the sound of
enticing music played by street musicians.
We stopped to enjoy their folk tunes, but
realized that it was time for me to catch
the ferry back to Kadikoy. On our way we
met a man who made his living by shining
shoes, making sure that he placed some
polish on Roel’s right boot as we walked….a
catchy gimmick to shine shoes. As it turned
out, Roel had experienced this the last time
in Istanbul, so he was not taken in by this
scam. I guess the man has to make a living,
but there must be a better way than to con
your way in. We continued toward the ferry
port, watched the fishermen and especially
this cat that was being fed some of the bait
being caught. Even though cats are becoming
a problem in the city, there are those
individuals that feel sorry for the poor
animals that roam the streets looking for
food and shelter. For as many cats as I
saw, I did not see a skinny, scrawny or sick
one. They look well fed and none the worst
for their experiences on the street.
My ferry ride
back was another pleasant experience,
watching the European landscape fade into
the background, being back lit by the
setting of the sun. I was mesmerized by the
night sky and the melding of the sites and
sounds. It was a magical time for me to be
crossing The Bosphorus and realize that I am
in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople that
was the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
This part of the world has always held a
fascination for me. I just sat in
wonderment that a girl from a small town in
New Hampshire could be experiencing such a
wonderful night in this historical land.
My time in
Istanbul has been such a pleasure,
investigating the surrounding neighborhood
where I am staying, experimenting with the
local Turkish cuisine, reading English
books, watching some interesting English
movies that were not available in China, and
just last night, November 17, being invited
to one of Tamara’s students home for
dinner. Her student, Janon, lives in
Bostanci, an area which is on the other side
of the peninsular from Kadikoy. Our mode of
transportation was the Sea Bus, which was a
boat with no outer deck and the seats were
constructed like those on a bus, so much
more comfortable than a regular ferry’s
seats constructed of just wood. It was
about a fifteen minute ride and moved at a
faster pace. From my vantage point on the
water, which was hazy due to the condition
of the windows, the skyline was etched with
many buildings crowded together on this
small section of the peninsular. We were
met at the station by two other students,
Narvin and Pardin. Our drive consisted of
mostly Turkish broken up by the English that
these ladies knew…certainly enough for us to
understand them and carry on a basic
conversation. With this excursion, I had a
chance to view a more modern and affluent
side of Istanbul than I had seen….the
upscale shops, apartment housing and the
wider streets in the surrounding
neighborhoods. In our neighborhood the
streets are of the older city…quite narrow
and some paved with cobble stone. I have to
admit that they are quainter and quite
charming, but with the growing population
they become quite congested and many are
used for parking rather than travel.
Janon lives in
one of the more upscale neighborhoods. Her
apartment is very comfortable not only due
to the lovely decor, but she is a very warm
and welcoming individual. She had prepared
a dinner of typical Turkish dishes: dolma,
which were grape leaves stuffed with rice,
for the following dishes I do not remember
the Turkish names: rice with green onions,
green peppers and tomatoes, a flaky pastry
that was stuffed with cheese and spinach and
great Turkish tea…for me unsweetened so I
could add sugar to my taste. I love the tea
that I was served from Mongolia to
Istanbul. Their teas are strong and hardy,
whereas the teas in China were delicate and
quite weak…not to my liking. She also
served us with a cup and saucer not the
glass of tea that is customary, which they
drank from. For dessert she brought out
cherry brownies and cookies. .Everything was
tasty and very appealing to the eye, which
always helps to whet the appetite. We had a
very interesting evening and found that
their conversational English improved as the
evening progressed, because as they relaxed
they were not afraid to try new words and
think more in English. As an ESL teacher,
it is so rewarding to see students progress
in English, especially when they put forth
the effort to learn. It is always such a
treat for me to see how other people in the
countries I visit live. Being Friday
evening, it took us more than an hour to get
home by way of a dolmus (dolmoosh), which is
a yellow van that can carry 8 to 10
passengers who can get on or off at any
location along the route, paying only
according to the distance traveled…our fare
was only 1.50 lira.
Today is
Saturday and I am anxiously waiting for some
news from Jack re his situation. Are we the
owners of a BMW? Has he left Stuttgart and
on his way to Frankfurt? When does he
expect to join me in Istanbul? How is the
bike handling? Of course, I am concerned
about the weather he may encounter and the
road conditions that may hamper his arrival
time. As I am wondering about all this, it
dawned on me that Thanksgiving is next
week. Will he arrive in time? While I was
living in China, I always traveled to the
states over the Thanksgiving and Christmas
holiday to spend the time with my sons, Jay
and Judd. While Jack stayed in Changchun,
he busied himself cooking holiday dinners
for the teachers and last year cooking the
dinners for the local restaurant. I really
want to spend this Thanksgiving with Jack,
so I hope that nothing can prevent this. I
am not sure about the fare for the dinner,
because Tamara does not have an oven. But
there are foreign teachers at Tamara’s
school and maybe we just get a group
together and celebrate Thanksgiving in a new
way.
I awoke the
next morning a bit under the weather, so I
spent the day just reading, watching DVDs
and eating a turkey sandwich. It was fine
to be by myself and just enjoy the time.
Jack did not arrive until the next evening
about 8:30PM. I was really glad to see him
and to hear about his adventures on his own.
I had an
opportunity to meet some real craftsman in
training. I was walking back to Tamara’s
apartment and saw a young man sanding what
looked like a large, half melon. I walked
in and saw several Turkish instruments
hanging on the wall. One of the apprentices
spoke English and was able to tell me that
they we crafting louts or outs, Turkish
guitars with the round backs. The process
of making these instruments is all done by
hand and the quality is excellent. The
colors are all natural and when finished are
polished to a very high sheen. The
instrument is not only a lovely instrument
to see, but also to listen to someone play.
While Jack was here we had the opportunity
to listen to a student play for us. What a
treat. I have had a great time just showing
Jack around this quaint neighborhood
I will be
flying home on Saturday, December 2 and Jack
will travel to Changchun. We will both be
gone a week, returning to Istanbul on
December 11 and then take off to explore the
southern parts of Turkey. Since this update
is so late, I hope that everyone had a good
Thanksgiving. Since I may not be able to
send an update too soon, I want to wish a
very Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah.
Bye for now.
Janet |
