It's hot here, far warmer than I expected. It's that sticky, humid hot. In the short time I've been here, this moment, with the A/C blasting on me, is the first moment I'm not swimming in a thin layer of sweat. Wait, that sounds like I'm complaining... not complaining, just after our summer, it just feels so odd to be warm.
I was getting a bit worried on the plane over here... Was I being too adventurous? Had all those trips to Hawaii turned me into a travel pansy? Could I make good decisions? Could I figure out where I was suppose to be? Would my time judgements work out? As it turns out, yes... maybe you never lose it?
What I did lose today was 2 hours waiting for my freakin' tour guide to show up! I arrived at the Istanbul airport at 9:40, about 15 minutes late, and was heading out the airport by 10:30 (wicked fast) which made my timing for the tour I booked at 1pm (with noon pick-up) absolutely perfect. I jumped in a cab and got totally ripped off (well, maybe you lose some of it ;) but arrive in plenty of time.
The hotel gave me a room right away (awesome), I dropped all my stuff off in the room, grabbed a bottle of water and arrived at the assigned hotel (it's too difficult to be picked up at my hotel) 20 minutes early. And so the waiting began... and I waited, and waited, and waited. It didn't help that the confirmation that the hotel had said I was going to be picked up at 3:55 (what?!) After waiting and hour and 20 minutes I get a call from the guide and they are stuck in traffic (arg!) and they will be there in 15 to 20 more minutes. Two hours after the original time, my guide showed up... without the van. WHAT?!
Apparently, that traffic was so bad they decided to abandon the driver and the truck and walk. Ah, not exactly the tour I signed up for. Being crazy jet-lagged I was hoping to get quick naps in between the sights. Instead, I was running after the fastest tour guide I've ever seen. On the upside the tour was pretty freakin' awesome (but it felt like we ran most of it.)
First up was the Aya Sophia, a previous basilica, then a mosque and now it's a museum. This museum has literal layers of history, under all the plaster is stunning gold mosaics that have been uncovered here and there. I particularly like this picture because it shows the Christian and the Islam elements together.
We then raced off to the Basilica Cistern, or I guess raced down. Which was interesting because it was a bit slippy. It was really beautiful down there but the Medusas are really amazing.
The tour guide explained the reasonings for the Medusas placements (upside down and sideways) for one of three reasons 1) Mythological - Medusa's stare makes people turn to stone, put the stare upside down and side ways, and bam, you are safe from the stone stare, 2) Political - Christians were in power, might as well, use the pagan stuff to prove a point and to hold up the new basilica, and 3) Practical - the columns were uneven, and wouldn't you know, the Medusas from the last thing we believed in were available and a perfect fit. I'm hedging my bets on #3.
We then had a quick stop at a carpet factory, I could have totally skipped that, while interesting, it was all about selling us very expensive carpets (they were beautiful though!)
Back from the tour, I was literally falling asleep standing up but I also had nothing but chocolate to eat today so I went to the restaurant down the way for an authentic turkish kebab dinner. Very yummy and my bill came with two pieces of baklava (although it may have a different name in Turkey) and Turkish tea.
Without a doubt, I am going to love this country, from my first breath of air outside of the airport (it had that warm embracing feel, so very oddly familiar) to the last sip of Turkey tea, it feels right and it feels good.
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment