The Blue Mosque is still active unlike the Hagia Sophia, which has been turned into a museum. As people were going in to pray, I didn't feel comfortable taking any photos so only have some from the outside. We wrapped our hair in scarves as that is what all the woman were doing and took off our shoes. Inside, the air was quite cool and only the men were allowed in the main section to pray while the women were in sections along the back.
Afterwards we walked a local park just below the Topkapi Palace and sat drinking Turkish tea at a tea garden overlooking the Bosphorus River and Golden Horn. The city has a busy port and lots of fishing boats besides the numerous mosques you can see all around you. One can also hear the call to prayers all around you - beginning when the sun rises and when it sets. The sounds of it just echo all around and I found to be uplifting.
That evening we walked down to the fish market, where we had the best service ever at fish restaurant called
Beyaz Restuarant. When we first sat down, we were presented with a huge platter of the different types of fish we could order. You discussed what you wanted and how you wanted it cooked with the waiter. Two waiters served us all evening - one who wanted to take Iris out on a boat to an island and the other who wanted me to go out that night after he finished work - so they were highly entertaining and hospitable. Since it was not very busy, they were able to chat with us all evening and even join in having some tea after the meal. We all had a very enjoyable time together and had a really nice discount too at the end for such a nice meal.
Monday
We decided to go into Topkapi Palace because Sunday the lines had been too long. This palace was where some sultans had lived and overlooked the river. There are numerous courtyards, buildings and the harem (that actually was the living quarters of the family and not just for the women of the sultan). Many of the rooms inside the buildings had been converted into rooms to properly display famous artifacts, jewelry, clothing and other pieces of art.
Next we headed to the Basilica Cistern, which had been a largely forgotten water reservoir underneath Sultanakmet. It was rediscovered after it was reported that some locals would just drop a bucket down beneath their house for water or fish. There are a couple of famous pillars inside with upside down Medusa heads serving as their foundations, but historians have no idea why or how they are there.
Afterwards we went shopping at the Grand Bazaar, which is...overwhelming and it wasn't even super crowded when we were there (so can't imagine what it will be like when the weather is warmer). Think of it as a huge inside markets with various permanent stands of different products like pottery, lamps, jewelry, scarves, bags, carpets, the list goes on.
The thing with Istanbul is that everyone is vying for your attention and calling you out in any language they can think you can speak. For us, the most common languages we were greeted with were German, Dutch and English. It was quite impressive how the Turkish people running the shops and stands knew how to communicate in so many languages.
Side note: A funny recollection is how this one shop owner recognized me on the street. On Sunday when we had first passed by he kept calling me Lady Gaga and that I shouldn't leave with him, that I was his baby. Iris just said, no she is my baby and it was quite funny. Then on Monday when we passed by again where he was just calling out to us randomly to try and get us to go into his shop when he said "Oh wait, Lady Gaga! Lady Gaga I remember you! My baby, come back to me! Lady Gaga!" Oh gosh, we had such a good crack-up after that. It was crazy all the different names they call out to you. Definitely a boost to one's self-esteem even if they are just trying to sell their products.
One thing about purchasing items in Istanbul was that you had to haggle the price down even though you may think it quite reasonable. Andrea was a pro at this because she had lived in India for 5 months. It was fun to watch her haggle for one of the lamps and she got it down to an really good price. On the other hand, I was able to haggle prices down a little, but am overall bad at this type of thing. I was able to come away with a really nice bowl depicting tulips from a shop run by Kaan Yapar, which is probably nigh impossible to find away in the Grand Bazaar.
The other bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, was nearby so we decided to go there too. On the way, we walked in a neighborhood where we saw no tourists whatsoever so it was nice to see where the locals actually go their shopping. The Spice Bazaar was crowded with so many spices, teas...and Turkish delight!! I remember when I read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" for the first time that I had had no idea what Turkish Delight was. Even after watching the movies I really had no idea. The first time I had it was at a market in the neighborhood of Borough, London in August 2008, but I had no idea what it was called until trying it again in Istanbul. Let's just say it mouth-watering, especially rose-flavoured, which I am obsessed with ever having rose-flavoured gelato in Nice, France and Encinitas, California.
After all that shopping we really wanted to sit down and so found a local hookah bar/cafe called
Palatium that was over an archaeological site. We had some excellent hot chocolate and then some Turkish and apple tea. That night we ate at a restaurant in the more tourist section, so it wasn't the best but we enjoyed sitting outside underneath heat lamps and making friends with a cat who took a particular liking to Iris.
A word on cats: Cats here overran this city, they were literally everywhere! It was funny how they would flock to Iris though, especially since she was not approaching them whatsoever. The first night this one cat just forced itself onto her lap and didn't allow her to eat or drink for awhile. Monday night, the cat we made friends with was a little less forceful and took a long nap between Andrea and Iris while we were eating our meal.
Tuesday
Though it was rainy and cloudy all day, we decided to take a river cruise along the Bosphorus River to a small town on the Black Sea. There were lots of little towns all along the river, which the ferry stopped by. At the last town we got off and walked up to an old Roman fort where we could have had a nice view of the Black Sea if it hadn't be so foggy. For lunch we enjoyed some fresh fried calamari and I got some homemade Baklava, which was really good. Once we got back to Istanbul, we walked across the Golden Horn to the Galata Tower neighborhood. Along the way, I stopped in one of many shops and got a beautiful plate of deep blue and yellow and of course a shot glass.
At the top of the hill was a long wide shopping street that was quite European-influenced. There were not many tourists in this part of town and many locals and youths were out walking and shopping. It had started to pour, so to get warm we sat at a random bar and played cards for over an hour, much to the amusement of the bartender (he was staring at the game we were playing the whole time). When we got hungry, we found a local restaurant that had live Turkish music. I think I got a little tipsy from the beers and wine and on the way out accidentally missed a step and fell into one of the musicians, though he was quite nice about it - so embarrassing!
This was still a nice end to our time in Istanbul and I fell asleep to the loll and Andrea and Iris talking about...something, though I would randomly wake up from dozing off and comment (if you know mean this happens often when I get that sleepy). I do have to say that from all the walking around in Istanbul that every night I slept very well and would wake up in the morning to the Call to Prayer, then doze back off again until 9 and enjoy a lovely Turkish breakfast either on the terrace on the breakfast area.
Wednesday
This was the day Iris and I left Istanbul, as Andrea's boyfriend from Paris would be joining her for the rest of the week. It started snowing today and was getting quite chilly. We still managed to go back to the Grand Bazaar one more time to spend the last of our money. I was able to buy a beautifully painted tile of the Istanbul skyline, which was I quite happy about.
Upon leaving from the airport, instead of flying back to Amsterdam, I flew to Berlin where I went to meet up with Yvonne, who had just arrived back from America to finish up her master's degree at the Hertie School.
I have been living in my new room since Feburary now in the neighborhood Lombok, which is also the Indonesian word for chili, and it is about time I show what it is like! When I originally arrived back in the Netherlands last November, I had moved into a temporary room right in the Binnenstad (city centre) of Utrecht. While the location was phenomenal and fully furnished, what I really missed were flatmates. This was the second time I temporarily lived in a studio and goodness, I do not understand how people do it. Really hard to value alone time when you are by yourself all the time unless you invite people over.
Come January I found another room (actually...a second new room as the first one had fallen through for unknown reasons). Lombok is an area immediately to the west of Utrecht's main train station and built between 1880s and 1920s as a working class neighborhood. It is now multicultural mixed with immigrants, students, young families, etc. On the main street, Kanalstraat, there are a number of Turkish/other ethnic greengrocers, shops, bakeries, and butchers, which is a nice inexpensive, local option instead of the main grocery store of Albert Heijn. A mosque is also being built and a number of times I have heard the call to prayer, which I quite enjoy actually. (One can also hear the church bells tolling out the various hours, people practicing instruments like the saxophone and the trains arriving and departing the main station...so lots happening)
My flat is on one of the side streets of Kanalstraat on the 1st and 2nd floors (2nd and 3rd in America). I live with 4 other Dutch people who are either studying or working. Have still yet to really practice my minimal Dutch other than using simple phrases, but we get the Dutch newspaper so I will read that from time to time. It is about a 10 min walk/3 min bike ride from the main train station, super convenient, and a 30 min bike ride (5.5 km/3.4 mi) from De Uithof, the science campus of Utrecht University. 
I have two rooms - a 8 m2 bedroom and a 4 m2 study room. On the 1st floor is my study room, the living room converted into 2 bedrooms, kitchen, toilet, and piano (so cool!). My bedroom and two others are upstairs on the 2nd floor along with the shower after going up some mighty steep steps As I had to furnish the rooms, in mid-February I went to IKEA to pick out everything and then have them deliver it. And it turned out quite nice if I do say so myself.
