2014-11-19

Sam Jackson turns 11 in Istanbul - Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey

It was a short flight from Bodrum to Istanbul, and our driver was waiting for us holding up a sign with our name on it as we exited the terminal. We landed at Istanbul's domestic airport, and it took us about an hour to get to our apartment in the old part of the city. Both Caroline and I were fascinated by what we saw. Istanbul is both modern and enormous (14 million people), and is a fascinating combination of the West and the Middle East. The highway was modern and congested, we could see a mix of modern and traditional buildings, but the skyline was peppered with mosques as far as the eye can see. As the famous lyrics say, Istanbul is not Constantinople…! Neither one of us had ever visited Istanbul before, and we would learn a great deal about the city and its history during the following week. Situated on either side of the Bosphorus, Istanbul straddles the borders between Asia and Europe as it has for millennia. Because of this unique and strategic location, the historic city (called Byzantium in ancient times, then Constantinople, then finally Istanbul in 1928) has always played a key role in the region and has served as the capital of four empires: the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Latin Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. We were excited to be here.

Our driver had a hard time finding our apartment, and for good reason. Located down the hill from Taksim square, it was nested in a tiny, dark, one-way street filled with trash containers and stray cats. When we arrived, I wasn't sure we were in the right place, or maybe I just hoped we weren't. We called our landlady who was nearby and met us at the entrance of our building. After a quick tour of the apartment, I was having serious concerns about both the apartment and its location. When Caroline booked it many months ago, she must have subconsciously felt like compensating for our high-flying three weeks on the yacht, and downgraded us to the cheapest flat she could find in downtown Istanbul. The building was rundown, and there were metal bars on all windows and double bolts on every door. We had driven past a nice Intercontinental hotel on the way over, and I came this close to moving us over there. But I am glad I didn't - once we all got over our initial impression, the apartment worked out just fine and the neighborhood was perfectly safe.

That first evening, we walked up to Taksim square and down Istiklal Road, a large pedestrian street packed with restaurants, shops, and street vendors. Even though it was Sunday evening, the place was inundated with an ocean of people as far as the eye could see. We walked around for a while, found a nice little restaurant, and sampled some typical Turkish fast food. We enjoyed some Döner kebabs, which apparently means "rotating kebab" in Turkish. Yummy. We also tried some traditional Turkish desserts (Baklava and Turkish Delights), which were not as tasty as they looked. To be fair, no dessert could possibly come close to the amazing cakes, pies, chocolate croissants, and gelato that we relished while traveling across central Europe over the summer.

The next morning, we woke Sam Jackson up with a cheerful "Happy Birthday" song since he was turning 11 that day. He was comfortably curled up in his "Sultan's Nook," which is what the apartment brochure called his "bed" that was tucked behind a curtain and lodged between two walls right off the living room. This was one of the best marketing ploys I had seen in a long time, but for some reason Sam Jackson loved it, maybe because Caroline had been talking it up since booking it months before. As the sun rose, we looked over our balcony and noticed the bay below us. The apartment was located in the center of the estuary of the Golden Horn, and the view was spectacular.

One of the added perks that came with our apartment was a free three hour guided tour of the neighborhood, the Istanbul public transportation system, and a few key landmarks. Even though it was Sam Jackson's birthday, it made sense to schedule that tour on our first day in Istanbul, so we met our tour guide Davide outside our apartment building after a quick breakfast. We walked down to the water, purchased a transit card, and took the tram for a few stops until we reached the Galata bridge. From there we took the Karaköy-Beyoğlu funicular (apparently second oldest subway in the world after London according to Davide) to the top of the hill, and walked back down past the many music and instrument shops in that area. After crossing the Galata bridge, we quickly walked around the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosques (we had another tour scheduled later that week to visit them more thoroughly), and ended up at the Grand Bazaar where we said goodbye to Davide.

The Grand Bazaar is one of Istanbul's most famous landmarks, and its name is well deserved. It is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world with over 3,000 shops, which attract several hundred thousand visitors daily. You can find anything and everything from jewelry, clothes, and furniture to carpets, antiques, and leather goods. It's unbelievable. We always set a "rally point" when we enter a large public area so that we all know where to regroup should anyone get lost. In the case of the Grand Bazaar, that wasn't even feasible. We looked at both of our kids and told them: "Don't let go of our hand or you might be lost here forever!" After wandering through the bazaar for an hour, we found a shop selling cheap knockoff watches, and wanted to replace the battery in Caroline's watch (which we had purchased in Zermatt). The shop keeper was successful in opening the back of Caroline's watch and replacing the tiny battery, but could not get the lid back on the watch to save his life. We both tried everything we could think of for about 15 minutes, until he finally ran down to a nearby store that had the proper equipment. To his credit, he didn't charge us a penny, even after we insisted on paying him. From the Grand Bazaar, we walked down to the equally famous Spice Bazaar. Walking through the spice market reminded us of the St. Josep market we had visited in Barcelona. Although much smaller than the Grand Bazaar, this market sold a wide range of products including spices, soaps, Turkish delights and other sweets, jewelry, souvenirs, dried fruits, and nuts.

Our airport driver had done a nice job selling us on a Bosphorus dinner cruise, and we had signed up for one that evening. The tour company arranged for a vehicle to pick us up at a nearby hotel at 7pm and return us home after the cruise ended at midnight. We must have felt pretty ambitious that day, but we wanted to get the full Istanbul experience. On the boat, they served a three course dinner with a sampling of traditional Turkish food, and then the entertainment began. We enjoyed a wide range of performances including an Aşuk Maşuk show (comedy with two male dancers dressed in such a way that their bellies are the faces of their characters), Turkish Romani (Gypsy) dancing, Turkish Folk Dancing, and finally la piece de resistance, a belly dancing show. It was dark outside, but we could see many well lit buildings and bridges along the way on both the European and Asian sides of the Bosphorus. They also had a DJ onboard who played a variety of dance music after the show ended, so we danced and laughed until the boat returned to shore. As you can imagine, we were completely exhausted by the time we got back to the apartment. Not bad for our first day in Istanbul.

Because our first day in Istanbul was centered around tourist activities (on Sam Jackson's birthday), we let Sam Jackson decide what we would do the following day. He did some research online, and Caroline gave him a list of "kid friendly" activities that had been suggested by our tour guide. Of all the possible choices (car and train museum, Miniaturk park, playgrounds) he chose Vialand, a Six Flags-like amusement park on the outskirts of Istanbul. While not exactly what Caroline and I had in mind in terms of cultural immersion for this part of the world, it was Sam Jackson's birthday and he got to call the shots. It took us about 45 minutes by taxi to get there, and was only a $15 fare. As it turns out, Vialand was a combination theme park on one side and high-end mall on the other, which worked out perfectly since we needed to buy a few items like socks, tennis shoes, and hair products. We started with the theme park, of course. It was an interesting Turkish twist on an American-style amusement park (someone had clearly done their homework). The park was brand new and seemed completely empty - there were no lines for any of the rides. One of the indoor rides recounted some part of Turkish history with animatronics. Even though we couldn't understand a word the automated narrator was saying in his deep echoing voice, it became clear pretty quickly that the white European crusaders were the bad guys in this story. That was a new and interesting experience; and it's also not every day that you get to see women walking around in full burkas at an amusement park. The park's main attraction was a red hair-raising rollercoaster called Nefeskesen, which apparently means "breathtaking" in Turkish (according to Google). Sam Jackson and I were the only ones brave enough to try it. Like several other rollercoasters we have ridden, this one accelerated brutally right out of the gate using large magnets, shot straight up in the air, rolled over, and did an inverted dive straight back down to the ground. It was awesome. The Nefeskesen ranks among my top three rollercoasters of all times (and I have ridden a few).

Because there were absolutely no lines, we walked through the entire amusement park, rode all of our favorite rides several times, and had lunch, all in less than 3 hours. Since we had had our fill, we headed over to the Vialand indoor/outdoor mall. It was a nice change to walk around a modern, Western-style mall with a few brand names we could recognize like GAP, Starbucks, and Nike. We bought Sam Jackson some new socks and a couple of Nike sports shirts for his birthday. One of the main lessons we've all learned on this trip (and that hopefully we will retain after it's over) is that you don't need a lot of "stuff" to be happy. So he was really happy with his new clothes. We even managed to find a movie in English in the mall theater - a rare treat in this part of the world. It was "The Maze Runner," and we all enjoyed it.

Caroline had booked a private guide and vehicle for us on the following day. We met our tour guide, Omer, at Taksim square and boarded the minibus. Our tour would take us to the Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, and the Hagia Sofia - three must-see landmarks in Istanbul. Along the way, Omer was also a wealth of information on Turkish history, Islam, and many middle-eastern traditions that we didn't understand (like woman wearing head covers and burkas). We stated our tour with the Topkapi Palace, home to generations of sultans and their wives who were closeted in the famous and secretive harem (as it turns out, the harem is really just the family quarters). We saw of series of lush green courtyards and delicate kiosks, and explored several of the exhibits including antique weapons and cookware. We also enjoyed a spectacular view of the Sea of Marmara, Bosphorus and Golden Horn from the far corner of the palace.

Our next destination was the famous Blue Mosque, which is still a fully functioning house of worship. As a result, we had to enter in the rear with the rest of the tourists through a door reserved for non-Muslims. Caroline and Catherine were required to cover their heads, shoulders and legs. One of the entrance guards pointed at Caroline, who was wearing capri pants, and made her cover up her calves. She later commented on how she felt like a second-class citizen out as a female and how that simple act of covering up made her feel slightly judged. We all had to take off and carry our shoes upon entering. Once inside, we spent about 15 minutes admiring the magnificent structure. The 17th-century Blue Mosque is one of only a handful of mosques in the world to boast six minarets. It is not exactly blue, although all the walls are papered with fine İznik tiles, which have a blue tint. From there, we walked over to the beautiful Hagia Sofia. The extraordinary spaciousness of this famous church-turned-mosque-turned museum is hard to overstate. Downstairs, the building is largely empty, but we found many glittering mosaics in the galleries upstairs, including several of Jesus, which had been there since the time it was a church. To the credit of those who converted the building, they respected the artwork and Christianity enough to leave them in place.

Since we had a little extra time on our hands, our tour guide suggested a few alternative tourist attractions we might want to visit before returning to our apartment. We decided to go see a rug merchant and learn about the Turkish carpet making process. We saw a seamstress delicately and painstakingly tie off and cut individual strands on a small carpet. The merchant's representative, who spoke with a flawless and charming British accent, explained the differences between silk, wool and cotton carpets. While he seemed genuinely interested in educating us on the whole process, his ultimate goal was to get us to buy a carpet, of course. He asked Caroline about the color scheme in our house, the size of our living room, and the type of furnishing we had, and before we knew it we had a dozen stunning Turkish carpets laid out in front of us. He was a master salesman and was fun to watch. He somehow knew exactly what to show us, because we almost bought one.

A couple of months before arriving in Istanbul, we had reached out to the local YPO chapter to connect with a member and their family during our visit. That evening, we had made plans to have dinner with Cem, a YPOer from Istanbul, and his family. As it turns out, Cem had studied at UT and lived in Austin for six years. What a wonderful coincidence. Unfortunately, his wife's plane was delayed from Paris and his daughter had a volleyball tournament that evening, so Cem had to dine with us alone. We eat at Bebek Balikci, a high-end seafood restaurant in Bebek, and the food was outstanding. We had a great conversation with Cem and gained some interesting insights on Turkey as well as doing business in that part of the world. Fascinating.

On our last full day in Istanbul, we woke up to see the Celebrity Constellation docked in the bay right below our balcony. It was a little surreal to see the same ship that we sailed on for two weeks in Baltic. What an interesting coincidence. That day was spent catching up on homework, journaling, laundry, and getting Sam Jackson a haircut. Frankly, we need a "down day." But since we had some time to spare that afternoon, we decided to partake in one final local tradition: the Turkish bath…! Cem had recommended a good Haman (Turkish bath) nearby called Kilic Ali Pasa Hamam. They admitted women at 2:30m and men at 4:30pm, so Caroline and Catherine went first. When it was the boys' turn, Sam Jackson and I were welcomed by the Camegah with a refreshment as we walked into the lounge. We were guided to the dressing rooms to don our Peştemal (the classic cotton Hamam wrap). We were then escorted by our bathing attendant into the spa area where we initially sat down on a Kurna, a heated marble seat where the attendant poured warm water on our heads. We laid down for about 15 minutes on the Göbektaşi, a large hexagon heated marble slab in the middle of the Hamam, to relax and soften our skin. The strong, hairy Turkish bathing attendant then moved us back to the Kurna where he vigorously exfoliated our bodies with a special scrubbing mitten, and after rinsing us, started the Köpük, a bubbly soap wash. After one final rinse, we were dried off and escorted to the relaxation lounge where we enjoyed some water and tea. The whole invigorating experience lasted about an hour and a half, and all four of us absolutely loved it.

Sam

Excerpt from Sam Jackson's Journal:
When we were visiting Istanbul I knew it was going to be amazing because it was my birthday. First we got to our rental apartment. My room was called the sultans nook (my dad called it good marketing but I thought that it was amazing) which had drapes and dramatic lighting. Sadly we had to postpone my party to the next day because we were doing a two hour tour of the city and going to the market. After all of that was done we changed into nicer clothes because we were going to go on a dinner cruise. On the dinner cruise, we were served a 3 course meal that was very delicious. After everyone had finished eating, the music blazed up and dancers flooded the stage. After a while, the noise seriously overpowered my ears so I had to go up top where there was turf. For a little while my dad and I played a game of tag but then he quit for some reason I do not know. When I went back down, I saw a few dances, but my favorite one was where two men dressed in costumes made as a man and woman. The men inside the costumes had to keep their arms above their heads so they could do the dance correctly, and their arms and head were made to look like giant hats. They had animated faces painted on the chests of their t-shirts. This was more of a comedians act instead of a dance, and some of the times the male was trying to propose to the woman (like he wanted to marry her) but all she did was walk away or slap him in the face! Even though my party still had yet to come, this was a great start.

Even though the day after my birthday is not my birthday I had to have my party then because the day before we had to take the tour of the city and that took a long time. So, I started my party by going to an amusement park where they had definitely had one of my favorite rides of all time. Some of the rides that they had consisted of the drop, roller costars, and water rides. All of them were fun but the funniest one was the giant red roller-coaster that started off slow but after a few meters, you would accelerate from 10 miles per hour to 60. The ride went on for 15 seconds but it was amazing. Another one was the drop. The drop took you up there just like the other drops I've been on, but it left you up there for two minutes and finally it dropped you after you have gone crazy with anticipation. After the amusement park, we went to go see a movie called the Maze Runner. The movie plot is pretty unclear but it's basically about teenagers and they need to find a way out of a place that they were kind of trapped in. Every day they go out looking in the maze to try and escape.

Excerpt from Catherine's Journal:
Today, we went to Istanbul for my brothers birthday. We took a flight that was short, and them we took a long car ride and just as I started feeling nauseous, we came up to the deserted area where apparently our apartment lied. Instead of going from rags to riches, we went from riches to rags. But it was all good though. I really liked having my own room, but was also jealous of my brother who got the Sultans nook. It was in a hidden little corner and had curtains to block out all of the pesky people. (A.K.A: the parents).

Today I went to a Turkish bath. It was amazing! First, we had strip down to our bikinis, and we laid down on a heated marble sauna-platform. Them we would get bathed with a sudsy-soapy shampoo and lotion. They would rub your skin and get the dead skin. By the time it was time to wash off, I was practically Sandman (but with dead skin). Then, when you were finished, you would relax and have some beverages . When I did it, I was in heaven forever!!!!!!!!!

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