Turkey: Istanbul
10:44 PM
Ok, I will begin to chronicle my 2 week journey in Turkey. I was looking at the number of pictures we took and they numbered over a thousand. And there are so many things to talk about that it's so hard to organize everything, so I'll try my best :) So begin with, a few basic facts of Turkey which I learnt during my trip. Some were facts that I expected, so were not. In all, going to Turkey has surprised me alot. I learnt so much about the country which I never expected it to be, and I left with a lot of respect for Turkey and its citizens.
But first, to prove that I met up with Simon :). We had ice cream together and then took a walk along the Bosphorous together with my sis. Simon was so helpful! He taught me a lot of Turkish words that I would use during my trip :P
Turkey at night...
1. Hippodrome of Constantinople (scene of chariot races during Byzantine Era)
2. St Sophia - Build during the Byzantine period. When the Ottomans came, they admired the church so much they modelled the rest of their mosques based on this church. Inside the church, they covered the christian frescoes with whitewash (coz images are not allowed in islamic traditions) unwittingly preserving the frescoes such that we can still can see them today. Today St sophia is a mixture of christian and muslim influences.
Interior of Hagia Sophia
Christian Frescoes around the building
muslim areas added by the Ottomans. The open space below is where the Byzantine Emperors were coronated.
Wishing column. There's a hole in the column, make a wish and spin a full circle with your thumb and maybe the wish will come true.
While waiting outside with our guide, we met a bunch of school kids on holiday and visiting St Sophia as well. I was just standing around, but suddenly I saw my mom talking to the kids and I went over to ask the kids if I could take a picture of them and mom(they're all so small but they're all so cute and spoke a little english).... suddenly my sister rushes over and she's in the pic too. But it was like wow, suddenly you have all these kids crowding around you and asking me questions like where are you from, why are you here... everyone so eager to introduce themselves to me. I must say I struggled with pronouncing their turkish names, and the best part, the kids started whipping out their cameras and screaming picture picture! And suddenly I felt like a star and all these turkish kids were taking pictures of me... Mom said that maybe it was the first time they saw a chinese girl... hahahaha...
3. Blue Mosque (shown later in next post)
4. Dolmabahce palace. I was the only one who went to this palace out of my family. On the last day, my parents and I caught a different flight back to Budapest. My flight was much later, so I had about 4 hours to spare in the hotel, and this was really nearby, so I took a cab down for the tour. The interior of this palace was really amazing. Every room had gold gilded ceilings and large hand woven carpets, large crystal chandeliers from England (weighing 3 tons!) and even a crystal staircase... it was like the height of decadence. Incidentally, this was also the place where the first Prime Minister of Turkey died so you can see his room and bed. I really liked this palace a lot of its interior, but to see the Ottoman empire treasures, Topkapi palace is still the place to go...The only thing is that if you can, try to go on a proper guided tour, my guide spoke very good english, but I felt she wasn't detailed enough in describing the interior of the palace. There were a few questions I asked her which she wasn't sure about. Guess I was just too used to the detailed explanations of my insight tour guide by then....
5. Topkapi Palace... the palace of the Turkish sultans for over 400 years. The thing about this place is how big is it. For me the best part about the place was to be able to see the Turkish treasury... they had a huge collection of jewellary (they loved emeralds -> reference to islam) and I also got to see all the treasures they received from other countries e.g. jade jewellery and pottery from the Qing empire. One also got to see the Royal thrones which were practically covered with precious stones and the famous Topkapi dagger... No pictures, so you'll have to settle for pictures of the exterior.
Chimneys refer to the palace kitchens and there were over 20 of them...
6. Grand Bazaar: the Grand Bazaar is like shopper's delight. Anything and everything Turkish you can buy here, and you can bargain... But be warned... this is a tourist hangout and shop owners are seasoned hagglers... but still, no harm trying, you may get a few good deals :)
Yes.. the circumcision outfit... it's really a big deal here especially for the young boys (I wonder if they know what they're getting into), but when we were in Turkey, we saw a lot of young boys dressed out in these spiffy outfits and immediately we knew they were going to be circumcised... for this time period, these young boys are usually treated like royalty and there is alot of celebration going on in the family.. Even mom managed to get a pic with one of the boys..
More to come...
- Turkey is a country spanning the European and Asian continents. 3% on Europe, the rest on Asia. Istanbul is split into the European and Asian side with the Bosphorous and Marmara sea in the middle. The Bosphorous sea leads into the Black sea (Bulgaria and Russia), thus making Turkey a very strategic spot.
- Turks are automatically born as Muslims, but in reality, that does not mean everyone is a devoted practising muslim.
- Turkey is a secular democratic and constitutional republic. This means that all political institutions are governed based on European models. Despite muslim as its main religion, religion does not have a place in the government. There are no Shariah courts. Everything (eg. marriage) is done in a civil manner. To prevent any religious conflict, employees and students in public institutions are not allowed to wear any religious symbols to their places of work or study. This includes headscarves, crosses etc etc. Note: this is very different from their neighbouring muslim countries as these countries mix politics and religion together but Turkey doesn't.
- Turkey is classified as a developed country and is a very fertile country. For example, it is the world's largest producer of Hazelnuts. It also grows alot of wheat, olives, oranges, pistachio nuts, honey... just to name a few.
- Turkey was the centre of three great empires, the Byzantine Empire, the Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire. As such, these explains the numerous number of archaeological ruins found in Turkey. Turkey has the most number of ruins in the world.
But first, to prove that I met up with Simon :). We had ice cream together and then took a walk along the Bosphorous together with my sis. Simon was so helpful! He taught me a lot of Turkish words that I would use during my trip :P
Turkey at night...
1. Hippodrome of Constantinople (scene of chariot races during Byzantine Era)
2. St Sophia - Build during the Byzantine period. When the Ottomans came, they admired the church so much they modelled the rest of their mosques based on this church. Inside the church, they covered the christian frescoes with whitewash (coz images are not allowed in islamic traditions) unwittingly preserving the frescoes such that we can still can see them today. Today St sophia is a mixture of christian and muslim influences.
Interior of Hagia Sophia
Christian Frescoes around the building
muslim areas added by the Ottomans. The open space below is where the Byzantine Emperors were coronated.
Wishing column. There's a hole in the column, make a wish and spin a full circle with your thumb and maybe the wish will come true.
While waiting outside with our guide, we met a bunch of school kids on holiday and visiting St Sophia as well. I was just standing around, but suddenly I saw my mom talking to the kids and I went over to ask the kids if I could take a picture of them and mom(they're all so small but they're all so cute and spoke a little english).... suddenly my sister rushes over and she's in the pic too. But it was like wow, suddenly you have all these kids crowding around you and asking me questions like where are you from, why are you here... everyone so eager to introduce themselves to me. I must say I struggled with pronouncing their turkish names, and the best part, the kids started whipping out their cameras and screaming picture picture! And suddenly I felt like a star and all these turkish kids were taking pictures of me... Mom said that maybe it was the first time they saw a chinese girl... hahahaha...
3. Blue Mosque (shown later in next post)
4. Dolmabahce palace. I was the only one who went to this palace out of my family. On the last day, my parents and I caught a different flight back to Budapest. My flight was much later, so I had about 4 hours to spare in the hotel, and this was really nearby, so I took a cab down for the tour. The interior of this palace was really amazing. Every room had gold gilded ceilings and large hand woven carpets, large crystal chandeliers from England (weighing 3 tons!) and even a crystal staircase... it was like the height of decadence. Incidentally, this was also the place where the first Prime Minister of Turkey died so you can see his room and bed. I really liked this palace a lot of its interior, but to see the Ottoman empire treasures, Topkapi palace is still the place to go...The only thing is that if you can, try to go on a proper guided tour, my guide spoke very good english, but I felt she wasn't detailed enough in describing the interior of the palace. There were a few questions I asked her which she wasn't sure about. Guess I was just too used to the detailed explanations of my insight tour guide by then....
5. Topkapi Palace... the palace of the Turkish sultans for over 400 years. The thing about this place is how big is it. For me the best part about the place was to be able to see the Turkish treasury... they had a huge collection of jewellary (they loved emeralds -> reference to islam) and I also got to see all the treasures they received from other countries e.g. jade jewellery and pottery from the Qing empire. One also got to see the Royal thrones which were practically covered with precious stones and the famous Topkapi dagger... No pictures, so you'll have to settle for pictures of the exterior.
Chimneys refer to the palace kitchens and there were over 20 of them...
6. Grand Bazaar: the Grand Bazaar is like shopper's delight. Anything and everything Turkish you can buy here, and you can bargain... But be warned... this is a tourist hangout and shop owners are seasoned hagglers... but still, no harm trying, you may get a few good deals :)
Yes.. the circumcision outfit... it's really a big deal here especially for the young boys (I wonder if they know what they're getting into), but when we were in Turkey, we saw a lot of young boys dressed out in these spiffy outfits and immediately we knew they were going to be circumcised... for this time period, these young boys are usually treated like royalty and there is alot of celebration going on in the family.. Even mom managed to get a pic with one of the boys..
More to come...