Let me just preface this post with: It's going to be lengthy. Sorry I haven't been on top of blogging - I've been super tired and last night I got really sick. I am still not feeling so well, so please bare with me. Here goes nothing!
Thursday morning, 13 of us boarded the Tube and headed for Heathrow airport. We were traveling to Istanbul, Turkey for our class Islam and the West. There were about 44 students from FIE and all over the United States that went on the trip. We arrived at the airport at 9:30am because our flight was supposed to leave at 11:40am. After being informed about some delays, we were told the plane would leave at 12:35pm. Yep, the wheels finally left the ground at 2:00pm. Off to a good start! It wasn't that bad though because there was nothing we could do about it. Nate, Colin, Paul and I played 500 for hours so I was entertained. Over the intercom in the terminal, a woman's voice kept repeating, "Please keep an eye on all baggage. Any unattended baggage will be removed and may be destroyed!". We all got a kick out of it - maybe you had to be there :) I didn't have anyone sitting next to me during the 4 hour flight which was wonderful. The food/entertainment was surprisingly good and the flight went very well. I arrived at The Hali hotel around 9:00pm and soon after, the whole group headed to a Turkish restaurant for a delicious meal. There was a tray of a variety of bread toppings and I'm proud to say I tried them all. But that being said, they weren't all good! Haha At one point, forgetting how loud I can be, I exclaimed, "This one tastes like toothpaste!". A few moments later, our waiter came over and asked, "Tastes like WHAT?!?" Oops. Turns out though, the dip I had tried was yogurt, garlic and MINT! My main dish was Chicken Shish and was phenomenal.
Day 2 in Turkey began with breakfast on the terrace. They eat a lot of veggies and bread, so that's what breakfast consisted of. The view was spectacular! First our group met Hasan, our friendly, knowledgeable tour guide. He led us to The Blue Mosque - known to people in Turkey as "Sultanahmet". It was given the title The Blue Mosque because of the thousands of brilliant blue tiles that adorn the walls. Meaning "holy wisdom", next we toured Hagia Sophia. Once an orthodox cathedral, then a mosque and now a museum, it is one of the only sites where visitors will see Christian icons (Mary, Jesus, Angel Gabriel) alongside Arabic writings/verses from the Quran. It was a huge, gorgeous structure. We also visited the Basilica Cistern and the Hippodrome. For lunch, we rode a rusty, rickety boat to Asia! Only 3% of Turkey is in Europe, the other 97% is in Asia. Again, lunch was superb and the bread was endless. In the evening, a group of paid 40 Turkish Lira (too much in hind-sight) to watch a traditional Sufi Music Concert and Whirling Dervishes Ceremony. While interesting, there was so much more to do in Istanbul, I wouldn't have paid as much as I did. After the concert, a group of us couldn't resist another traditional past-time. Let's just say, I ordered Strawberry and enjoyed it but wouldn't do it again soon. Let me know if you need further explanation.
Day 3 in Istanbul offered a BEAUTIFUL, SUNNY day! The group toured Topkapi Sarayi Palace which was home to the Ottoman Sultans for 400 years. Offering breath-taking views of the Bosphorus River and Asia, I couldn't get enough of the palace. We visited another Mosque in the afternoon but I felt disrespectful because men were praying. I can say though, that after this trip I have a huge appreciation for the Muslim religion. Hearing the "call to prayer" 5 times a day demonstrated the intense Islamic devotion. The Grand Bazaar in the afternoon was quite the experience. After being heckled and called on by countless Turkish men, I went home with a scarf, some apple tea and a magnet. At 7:00pm, Zehra (one of our leaders) lined up a speaker. The woman was 20 years old and new more about her country and ours than anyone I've ever known. It was impressive but made me feel tiny. What a life she's lived! Calleigh and I ventured to the Turkish Bath in the evening. Boy, never have I seen so many women comfortable with their bodies! It's hard to describe, but essentially I paid 25 TL to lay on a hot rock in a sauna room that dates back to 1584. It was sooo warm and completely relaxing but hard to get over the fact that the room was filled with 20 women not ashamed of their bodies AT ALL! Haha I'm glad I had the experience but I'm not sure if it's one I need to do again :/ Turkey had amazing pastries and desserts so after our spa time, a small group of us sat in an adorable dessert shop. The people of Istanbul were friendly and kind - so great!
Well, there it is. Monday was full of class - we visited the V & A Museum and watched the movie The Queen...what a rough day! For dinner Matt, Anne and I went to Zetland Arms which is a pub behind our flat. Sadly, I got painfully sick from my meal - I assume my chicken was raw. I was up all night and am still not feeling too hot. Today I have class at 6pm and plan on getting to bed early.
Thursday morning, 13 of us boarded the Tube and headed for Heathrow airport. We were traveling to Istanbul, Turkey for our class Islam and the West. There were about 44 students from FIE and all over the United States that went on the trip. We arrived at the airport at 9:30am because our flight was supposed to leave at 11:40am. After being informed about some delays, we were told the plane would leave at 12:35pm. Yep, the wheels finally left the ground at 2:00pm. Off to a good start! It wasn't that bad though because there was nothing we could do about it. Nate, Colin, Paul and I played 500 for hours so I was entertained. Over the intercom in the terminal, a woman's voice kept repeating, "Please keep an eye on all baggage. Any unattended baggage will be removed and may be destroyed!". We all got a kick out of it - maybe you had to be there :) I didn't have anyone sitting next to me during the 4 hour flight which was wonderful. The food/entertainment was surprisingly good and the flight went very well. I arrived at The Hali hotel around 9:00pm and soon after, the whole group headed to a Turkish restaurant for a delicious meal. There was a tray of a variety of bread toppings and I'm proud to say I tried them all. But that being said, they weren't all good! Haha At one point, forgetting how loud I can be, I exclaimed, "This one tastes like toothpaste!". A few moments later, our waiter came over and asked, "Tastes like WHAT?!?" Oops. Turns out though, the dip I had tried was yogurt, garlic and MINT! My main dish was Chicken Shish and was phenomenal.
Day 2 in Turkey began with breakfast on the terrace. They eat a lot of veggies and bread, so that's what breakfast consisted of. The view was spectacular! First our group met Hasan, our friendly, knowledgeable tour guide. He led us to The Blue Mosque - known to people in Turkey as "Sultanahmet". It was given the title The Blue Mosque because of the thousands of brilliant blue tiles that adorn the walls. Meaning "holy wisdom", next we toured Hagia Sophia. Once an orthodox cathedral, then a mosque and now a museum, it is one of the only sites where visitors will see Christian icons (Mary, Jesus, Angel Gabriel) alongside Arabic writings/verses from the Quran. It was a huge, gorgeous structure. We also visited the Basilica Cistern and the Hippodrome. For lunch, we rode a rusty, rickety boat to Asia! Only 3% of Turkey is in Europe, the other 97% is in Asia. Again, lunch was superb and the bread was endless. In the evening, a group of paid 40 Turkish Lira (too much in hind-sight) to watch a traditional Sufi Music Concert and Whirling Dervishes Ceremony. While interesting, there was so much more to do in Istanbul, I wouldn't have paid as much as I did. After the concert, a group of us couldn't resist another traditional past-time. Let's just say, I ordered Strawberry and enjoyed it but wouldn't do it again soon. Let me know if you need further explanation.
Day 3 in Istanbul offered a BEAUTIFUL, SUNNY day! The group toured Topkapi Sarayi Palace which was home to the Ottoman Sultans for 400 years. Offering breath-taking views of the Bosphorus River and Asia, I couldn't get enough of the palace. We visited another Mosque in the afternoon but I felt disrespectful because men were praying. I can say though, that after this trip I have a huge appreciation for the Muslim religion. Hearing the "call to prayer" 5 times a day demonstrated the intense Islamic devotion. The Grand Bazaar in the afternoon was quite the experience. After being heckled and called on by countless Turkish men, I went home with a scarf, some apple tea and a magnet. At 7:00pm, Zehra (one of our leaders) lined up a speaker. The woman was 20 years old and new more about her country and ours than anyone I've ever known. It was impressive but made me feel tiny. What a life she's lived! Calleigh and I ventured to the Turkish Bath in the evening. Boy, never have I seen so many women comfortable with their bodies! It's hard to describe, but essentially I paid 25 TL to lay on a hot rock in a sauna room that dates back to 1584. It was sooo warm and completely relaxing but hard to get over the fact that the room was filled with 20 women not ashamed of their bodies AT ALL! Haha I'm glad I had the experience but I'm not sure if it's one I need to do again :/ Turkey had amazing pastries and desserts so after our spa time, a small group of us sat in an adorable dessert shop. The people of Istanbul were friendly and kind - so great!
Well, there it is. Monday was full of class - we visited the V & A Museum and watched the movie The Queen...what a rough day! For dinner Matt, Anne and I went to Zetland Arms which is a pub behind our flat. Sadly, I got painfully sick from my meal - I assume my chicken was raw. I was up all night and am still not feeling too hot. Today I have class at 6pm and plan on getting to bed early.
Ah! Sounds like you had an amazing trip to Istanbul! I like the part about Strawberry..was it tasty? ;) One question..did any of the whirling dervishes get thrown out of whirl? haha
ReplyDelete:D
Did you just go there? Haha no whirling dervishes out of whir! But that song was in my head for days :)
ReplyDeleteI've had grape and blue raspberry :)
ReplyDelete