Traveling in Turkey

Fireworks in all colors dotted the midnight sky and descended like shooting stars, inviting people to make wishes. It was a new year, a time for new plans and goals, a time when we wished to realize our innermost fantasies, and which place is better for inspiration than being between two continents, in the quiet sea waters of the Bosphorus, celebrating the New Year on a yacht in Istanbul. Exotic, but not unattainable. Many travel agencies offered this option and our ship was quite crowded – two huge tables with Bulgarians, one with Macedonians and a fourth – mixed with people of other nationalities. The diversity of nationalities helped us several times to celebrate the New Year and raise toasts every hour, and even more often.

The holiday passed in a good mood and at times I completely forgot about my broken heart, which at the end of the year did not give me peace and I felt how it shortened my life. Here, however, in Istanbul, life was boiling. On January 1st, the shops worked normally, even the huge Kaple Chershi Market, with its 3,000 shops scattered in 61 covered streets, had opened its doors. Our tourist program began with a boat trip along the Bosphorus this time in daylight, and visiting the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.

From the shores of the Bosphorus, we admired the expensive hotels, majestic mosques and of course the beautiful Top Kapi Palace, which on my first visit to Istanbul impressed me greatly – not only with its beautiful gardens, but also with its rich collection revealing the lavish life of the sultan. Now the female visitor can admire the beautiful jewelry there, while the men-visitors sadly sightseeing the empty rooms of the harem.

A little later on the shore we saw the other magnificent palace that we visited the day before, and which was the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire –  the Dolmabahce Palace. Its name meant “Filled Garden”. The more beautiful it is from the outside, the more shiny and luxurious it is from the inside. The most commonly used materials in the interior are silk, gold and crystal. The three-storey palace building consisted of 285 rooms and 46 halls, 6 Turkish bathrooms, 68 toilets and 1427 windows. This jewel and architectural treasure worth a visit, and entry is possible only with a guide or a group.

The sea was calm and the only thing causing dizziness, was the huge dimensions of the city. From the water we got barely a glimpse of the enormous size of Istanbul. However, the very name of the city revealed this. Over the centuries, the city solemnly bore the name Constantinople and Tsarigrad (city of the emperor from Slavic language). It was not until 1930 that the name Istanbul was officially defined, with which the Turks traditionally named it. The name comes from the abbreviated version of the medieval Greek phrase “εἰς τὴν Πόλιν” (is tin polin), meaning “to the city” and unambiguously showing the huge size and riches of the city. After March 28, 1930, the Turkish Post Office was forbidden to deliver letters and parcels addressed to Constantinople or Constantinople, confirming only the name Istanbul.

The guide on the ship, however, instead of continuing with the interesting facts of the rich history of the city, preferred to take us back to the present, proudly showing us which house from the shore in which Turkish soap-opera was filmed. Among so many names of telenovelas and characters, I got tired of listening and concentrated on photography, choosing the better photos for Facebook. In fact, Facebook was no different from soap operas — there were also gossips, dramas and every 5 minutes a new episode. However, I hadn’t opened this website recently, afraid of seeing my ex with a new girl there. Then I wondered maybe he could see me with someone else, and I started looking around at the boat for a nice guy. Most of them, however, were held tightly by their halves, who seemed to guess what I was looking for.

During its construction, Istanbul was created to surpass and overshadow Rome. That’s what I was trying to find someone to outshine the love of my life. My inspection continued after we got off the boat and headed to the famous Hagia Sophia Mosque. The fame of this temple had accumulated in its 1500s. It was erected,  when the city became the capital of Byzantium, it was one of the largest Christian cathedrals in the world and remained so for 916 years, after which the Ottomans conquered the city and turned the temple into a mosque.

I liked the legend according to which St. Michael appeared one day in the newly built church and asked the young man standing there: “Where is the master who erected this temple and what name is chosen?”. The young man said that the master was in the palace for dinner with the emperor and did not know what the name of the basilica would be. St. Michael ordered him to go to the master and tell him to quickly finish the construction and dedicate the temple to Hagia Sophia. The young man, however, was frightened to say that he had no right to leave the church until the master returned. St. Michael told him not to worry and that he would guard the temple until the boy returned. The young man went to the emperor and told everyone what had happened. The emperor thought about it, after which he decided to send the boy to Rome, so St. Michael would stay and forever guard the church of Hagia Sophia. That was until the capture of the city by the Ottomans. According to legend, people saw the cathedral all on fire, then suddenly the fire stopped and a fireball floated into the sky – St. Michael returned to heaven. The temple survived and was designated sacred, with the Ottomans erecting several minarets and declaring it a mosque. We stood in this holy place where prayers in different languages have been offered for centuries. Today, however, the building was turned into a museum and as if the body but not the soul of the building was preserved. The most valuable exhibit here was, of course, the architecture, along with several preserved icons, frescoes and mosaics.

We headed to the next mosque of Sultan Ahmed, also known as the Blue Mosque, which was disappointingly not blue outside. We had to take off our shoes and go inside to see the interior that established this name with its blue and white porcelain tiles. It was the first mosque in the Ottoman Empire to have 6 minarets. According to the understanding, mosques could have only 4 minarets and only the Main Mosque in the holy city of Mecca had six. The Sultan settled the dispute.  He ordered the addition of another minaret to the temple in Mecca. However, I was more impressed by the number of windows in the temple, which numbered 260. The room was really bright, not only from the outside light that descended through the colorful glass of the windows, but also from the huge chandeliers located in it.

Then followed a tour of the underground cisterns located near the Basilica of Hagia Sophia, which are the most ancient cisterns in Istanbul, erected in the 6th century. Initially, there was a basilica with beautiful colonies in this place, but in the 6th century it was turned into a cistern for the supply of fresh water the palace in Constantinople. Apparently, the emperor drank and bathed only with holy water.

Today, the hundreds of columns, erected in
perfect symmetry, were looking around in the holy water, and we moved along narrow paths passing hundreds of other tourists and visitors. In one of the corners of the cistern were two strange columns erected on stone blocks with an image of the gorgon Medusa carved on them. One lies on his cheek and the other with his forehead down – the same is in order not to be looked directly into the eyes, Because according to legend, they had the ability to petrify with their eyes. These women’s heads with snakes instead of hair gave me more of the image of the bad witch from the tale of the Little Mermaid than of ancient Greek mythology. And as I thought about it, looking at the reflection of one of the Jellyfish, I saw in the water the reflection of a handsome young man. It was as if he had jumped out of a story. He had a magnetic smile, a kind look, and a physique that I could already relate to Greek mythology. For a moment, however, the crowd hid him from my sight, and I went looking for him. Was it really that beautiful, or did the dim light in the dungeon make it look like that? I headed for the exit, hoping I wouldn’t miss him and genuinely rejoicing when I saw him there. He was photographing a girl with a camera in traditional Turkish clothes. As I stood there and gathered my strength to ask for a photo, but with him, he turned to me and asked me in English, “Do I want a picture?” With a smile and shaking my head, I said yes. Then he showed me the traditional Turkish costumes. He turned out to be a photographer. I dressed like the sultan’s daughter and while he was taking photos, I enjoyed his charming smile. A bit shy, I asked for a picture with him in order to make someone else jealous. Then he showed me another costume of a seductive dancing girl – these photos would certainly have more effect on a man. He was right, but my enthusiasm for photos had passed. In front of me stood a handsome young man like I never dreamed of, but the truth is that I would immediately exchange him for my ex-boyfriend. There is a saying that “it’s easy to fall in love but very hard to fall out of love.”

It was time for lunch and the charming young man Emir recommended me a delicious place to eat, but because I was not well with the orientation, he had to take me personally. We sat in a small restaurant, from where on the opposite bank stood the ancient Galata Tower, erected in 528. In the past it was used as a warehouse and a mill by the Genoese and merchants, and today it offers a 360-degree panorama of Istanbul. My new guide warmly recommended that I should visit it, and from above I could see the seven hills on which Istanbul had spread, just like Rome. Both the view and the food were excellent. I realized that it’s not important to eat the most expensive food, but the one you really love. So it is the same in love – not always our partners are world champions, but in our eyes, sometimes even for reasons unknown to us – they remain the best for us. My heart, though broken, continued to beat, and although I was sad, I still remembered only the good moments.

The next day we visited several attractions that filled the memory of the camera and my mind. The first among them was the Minitürk Park, which shows models of the main attractions of Turkey, located in a wonderful park. The park could be reached by city bus or arranged by travel agency. In the second case, we were provided with a guide during the tour, although we did not need one, because at each landmark there was an opportunity to activate a voice, through the ticket, which in the respective language told us interesting info of this monument. I was delighted. Turkey really had a lot of treasures and I wished one day to take pictures of the originals of these models.

The fourth step to heal a broken heart was exercise. Exercise boosts the immune system, improves mental health, strengthens bones, and even increases the flow of oxygen into the brain, thereby clarifying it. On that day, I did lots of movements, running between different attractions. We had two and a half hours of free time which I used for the huge aquarium and the ice bar. I decided not to start with the bar because I would easily forget where to go next. I headed to the Turkuazoo Aquarium. It was the first huge aquarium in the city where visitors could make an underwater safari, passing an 80-meter glass tunnel, with a 270-degree panorama. Over 10,000 marine representatives, including sharks, piranhas and octopuses, were located in 43 exhibition sites, with the largest aquarium containing 4.5 million liters of water. However, the same should not be confused with the huge aquarium of Istanbul, that was opened in 2011, just 5 km from the airport. We left the other one for the next visit.

Now we enjoyed the Forum Mall, which looked a lot like the Dubai Malls. The mall is not a building with many shops, but a city with thousands of attractions. Due to the hot weather in Dubai, they relied on walks in air-conditioned shops. This fashion had grown and now for the first time I saw it in Turkey – a mall that has an aquarium with tropical fish, and at the other end – an ice bar with Norwegian snow. Between them, of course, there were shops that I respected with several purchases of branded clothes. The ice bar impressed me. It is located at the end of the ice museum, where various exhibits of ice were located at a constant temperature in the premises of -5 degrees. Especially beautiful was a Viking ship about 2 meters in size. The biggest attraction, however, was the snow bar, where absolutely everything was made of ice. With great curiosity I took the glass made of snow and drank the fruit juice in it. I kept wondering if my tongue would stick to the glass, but to my delight, that didn’t happen.

After everything I saw, I had to run to get to the bus in time, but it was worth it. My heart was beating again in a hurry and joyfully. I think I’d come to the fifth step in healing a broken heart: opening it and falling in love again. Those who has loved once can love again. Love was like Istanbul – there is always something new, but with a long history. I realized that I was in love with this huge but fairytale city. This January I was able to open a new door – and the most important one: I opened my heart and thus set a wonderful start of the year.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT ISTANBUL:

Location: Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, situated on both shores of Bosporus strait that divides Europe and Asia.
Area: 5343 sq.km
Population:  15 462 452 people (2020 data)

TRIP TIPS FOR ISTANBUL:

Best time to visit: all year round, probably from March to May and between September and November the weather is best for walking, and the crowds at the city’s attractions are manageable.