My Trip with EG to Istanbul, Turkey:
Thursday was a trip for everyone in my section to spend the day at Tel Aviv University to meet and learn about the other scouts who are taking their gap year from the army. I left my group at noon so Noy and Robyn could walk me to the train station to the airport. Once I got to the airport, I couldn't find the Turkish Airlines desk so I had to ask, it was just a few floors above me. Once I got there, I got into a very long line to check bags for security. It was a treat to hear English. I mostly heard French and Russian or other languages I didn't know. Once I got to the front-ish, a woman who worked at the airport came up to me and started asking me the classic airport questions while she looked at my passport. Surprisingly, she asked me a lot of questions about how often my parents go to synagogue and on what holidays they go on. After she was finished interviewing me, she told me to go to straight to the check in line instead of putting my bag through the big x-ray machine. I was confused why I didn't have to get my bag checked, but I went to the check in line without hesitation. I was terrified at the next security check point the staff would see my bag wasn't checked and make me go back through the line all over again. I got to the Turkish Airlines and checked in. The woman sitting there didn't say but finished her duties by telling me to "have a safe flight" with a nice smile. From that moment I was incredibly excited to travel by myself and couldn't wait to go! I passed through security, got a nice ice coffee from duty free then went to my gate. The TV telling the passengers where the plane was going said it was an El Al flight going to Amsterdam, I sat down and hoped that information was a mistake. After a few minutes, I asked a man that worked there and he told me the gate had changed to the gate next door. Relieved, I moved my stuff over to the correct gate, and found out my flight was delayed an hour. I didn't mind at all, it meant less time in the Turkish airport waiting for EG to arrive. About twenty minutes before we were supposed to leave, we finally boarded. The flight was practically empty! There were two people in my row and we both got window seats! About two hours later, I arrived in Istanbul, Turkey! I got my visa and went through passport control, walked around a little then found a seat and waited for EG to arrive.
Once EG arrived, we merrily took a metro into town at Aksaray. We looked through a dizzying array of hotels and eventually got to Birbey Hotel. We dropped our stuff off and went wandering, found awesome mosques plopped in the middle of the city and found some spicy vegetables on what seemed to be a men-only street.
Friday 11/5/10
This morning we woke up, ate some cheese and olives and coffee-tea. We walked up to the water of the North of the Golden Horn then found a taxi to take us to the Ahrida Synagogue (אחרידה) It is a Sephardic one founded in 1430 by Macedonian Jews. These facts don’t add up because Sephardim would have come in the late 1400s and not from northern Greece. I think it is possible that Jews came from there, but Jewish ritual and practices of different sects meshed together in Istanbul and so the ritual lineage appears to be Sephardic but was not founded as such.
Next, we walked up to the water and Eastward where a man talked to us and gave my white athletic shoes a nice new coat – for free (it was a thank you for picking up his dropped broom head). We walked across the second North-South bridge from the East and upon not being able to find the Jewish Museum, we stopped for a Turkish kugel-like food, and then climbed the Galata Tower. I think it was originally built in 453, but the date could be wrong. It was originally wood but has been reconstructed many times since and has held various purposes. We got a great 360° view of the little town they call Istanbul not Constantinople. We asked information there were the Jewish Museum was located and they pointed out the street on the map we had overlooked. We finally found it easily and were welcomed with open arms, quite unlike at the Ahrida Synagogue. It was a cool exhibit and the part that interested us most was the Ottoman acceptance and even governmental protection of Jews against anti-Semitism. Ottoman sultans invited Jews in from Spain during the Inquisition and defended them, citing the laws of kashrut against a blood libel in Istanbul. We also met some Americans who just happened to work at Union.
Next, we walked across the most Easterly North-South bridge, the Galata Bridge, toward the Grand Bazaar. On our way, we happened upon the Spice Bazaar but which had fewer spices than expected. It seemed the spice market would never end but all of a sudden we hit a signed entrance to the Grand Bazaar. Thinking we had lots of street walking to do in between to overcome, this was quite a serendipitous find. There were lots of shiny things and among them stacks of scarves for which I bargained and walked away at each stand. We didn’t stop for much else except lunch with Turkish coffee done right – delicious! We left the Bazaar and headed back to the hotel when I realized Melissa, a girl I met once and the daughter of a colleague of Dad’s had called 5 times. She called again to let us know she was waiting for us in Taksim square – we had no idea. We rushed to an Internet cafe and found her message waiting for us. We decided that if we wanted to go to shul then we did not have time to go find her up North. EG showered while I napped and we headed out to Sirkeci Beth Avraam. Unfortunately, google maps directed us to the wrong neighborhood so we didn’t make it. We walked around looking for food and found a triple-decker restaurant, pastry shop, fast food, and a real restaurant on top. I had a canoe-shaped bread-cheese plate, I forget the Turkish name, and EG ate chicken wings. It was accompanied by bread, cheese, butter, salsa, and my tea. We spotted a hookah bar across the way so we stopped in for some authentic lemon-apple. EG have never taken such huge rips; smoke billowed from his mouth. A “busboy” changed the charcoals whenever they got low, and our “waiter” was a jolly mustache-and-glasses-laden fellow who wanted to go 50-50 on a hookah bar in the states. We walked home and are retiring early tonight.
Saturday 11/6/10
Woke up early and took a nice long walk to Taksim Square where we met Melissa and two of her friends. They took us to Istiklal Street, a large pedestrian street, led us down an ally to a cute little cafe where we drank tea and coffee. Right after tea, they took us to dessert, but EG and I had lunch first. I had the koogle-like pastry and EG had a tuna sub. For dessert, we had a cream-bread like thing covered in chocolate, delicious! We continued to walk down Istiklal Street and found the Saint Antony Church, the biggest in Istanbul. Our next stop was Dolmabahce Palace. I swear this palace inspired every princess movie. The inside was covered in red, the imperial color, and it also had incredible chandeliers that weighed one ton, very ornate. This was one of my favorite places we visited because of the beauty but also because we got in for only 1 Lira because of student discounts! We saved 19 Lira! We walked up north to the port and found a cheap boat to Asia, ate churro-like pastry. Once back in the European side of Istanbul, we walked through the Spice and Grand Bazaar where I finally purchased a scarf. We got disoriented but thankfully finally found our way home.
I napped while EG showered and walked back where we thought the synagogue was the night before. We found this cute place and asked for all the non meat dishes. Little did we know at the time, one of the dishes had meat in it and I was the one to discover the beef. We did not leave a very generous tip that night. Once we finished a great dessert of rice pudding, we checked out a nice mall with bowling and a movie theater but headed home because of exhaustion.
Thursday was a trip for everyone in my section to spend the day at Tel Aviv University to meet and learn about the other scouts who are taking their gap year from the army. I left my group at noon so Noy and Robyn could walk me to the train station to the airport. Once I got to the airport, I couldn't find the Turkish Airlines desk so I had to ask, it was just a few floors above me. Once I got there, I got into a very long line to check bags for security. It was a treat to hear English. I mostly heard French and Russian or other languages I didn't know. Once I got to the front-ish, a woman who worked at the airport came up to me and started asking me the classic airport questions while she looked at my passport. Surprisingly, she asked me a lot of questions about how often my parents go to synagogue and on what holidays they go on. After she was finished interviewing me, she told me to go to straight to the check in line instead of putting my bag through the big x-ray machine. I was confused why I didn't have to get my bag checked, but I went to the check in line without hesitation. I was terrified at the next security check point the staff would see my bag wasn't checked and make me go back through the line all over again. I got to the Turkish Airlines and checked in. The woman sitting there didn't say but finished her duties by telling me to "have a safe flight" with a nice smile. From that moment I was incredibly excited to travel by myself and couldn't wait to go! I passed through security, got a nice ice coffee from duty free then went to my gate. The TV telling the passengers where the plane was going said it was an El Al flight going to Amsterdam, I sat down and hoped that information was a mistake. After a few minutes, I asked a man that worked there and he told me the gate had changed to the gate next door. Relieved, I moved my stuff over to the correct gate, and found out my flight was delayed an hour. I didn't mind at all, it meant less time in the Turkish airport waiting for EG to arrive. About twenty minutes before we were supposed to leave, we finally boarded. The flight was practically empty! There were two people in my row and we both got window seats! About two hours later, I arrived in Istanbul, Turkey! I got my visa and went through passport control, walked around a little then found a seat and waited for EG to arrive.
Friday 11/5/10
This morning we woke up, ate some cheese and olives and coffee-tea. We walked up to the water of the North of the Golden Horn then found a taxi to take us to the Ahrida Synagogue (אחרידה) It is a Sephardic one founded in 1430 by Macedonian Jews. These facts don’t add up because Sephardim would have come in the late 1400s and not from northern Greece. I think it is possible that Jews came from there, but Jewish ritual and practices of different sects meshed together in Istanbul and so the ritual lineage appears to be Sephardic but was not founded as such.
Next, we walked up to the water and Eastward where a man talked to us and gave my white athletic shoes a nice new coat – for free (it was a thank you for picking up his dropped broom head). We walked across the second North-South bridge from the East and upon not being able to find the Jewish Museum, we stopped for a Turkish kugel-like food, and then climbed the Galata Tower. I think it was originally built in 453, but the date could be wrong. It was originally wood but has been reconstructed many times since and has held various purposes. We got a great 360° view of the little town they call Istanbul not Constantinople. We asked information there were the Jewish Museum was located and they pointed out the street on the map we had overlooked. We finally found it easily and were welcomed with open arms, quite unlike at the Ahrida Synagogue. It was a cool exhibit and the part that interested us most was the Ottoman acceptance and even governmental protection of Jews against anti-Semitism. Ottoman sultans invited Jews in from Spain during the Inquisition and defended them, citing the laws of kashrut against a blood libel in Istanbul. We also met some Americans who just happened to work at Union.
Next, we walked across the most Easterly North-South bridge, the Galata Bridge, toward the Grand Bazaar. On our way, we happened upon the Spice Bazaar but which had fewer spices than expected. It seemed the spice market would never end but all of a sudden we hit a signed entrance to the Grand Bazaar. Thinking we had lots of street walking to do in between to overcome, this was quite a serendipitous find. There were lots of shiny things and among them stacks of scarves for which I bargained and walked away at each stand. We didn’t stop for much else except lunch with Turkish coffee done right – delicious! We left the Bazaar and headed back to the hotel when I realized Melissa, a girl I met once and the daughter of a colleague of Dad’s had called 5 times. She called again to let us know she was waiting for us in Taksim square – we had no idea. We rushed to an Internet cafe and found her message waiting for us. We decided that if we wanted to go to shul then we did not have time to go find her up North. EG showered while I napped and we headed out to Sirkeci Beth Avraam. Unfortunately, google maps directed us to the wrong neighborhood so we didn’t make it. We walked around looking for food and found a triple-decker restaurant, pastry shop, fast food, and a real restaurant on top. I had a canoe-shaped bread-cheese plate, I forget the Turkish name, and EG ate chicken wings. It was accompanied by bread, cheese, butter, salsa, and my tea. We spotted a hookah bar across the way so we stopped in for some authentic lemon-apple. EG have never taken such huge rips; smoke billowed from his mouth. A “busboy” changed the charcoals whenever they got low, and our “waiter” was a jolly mustache-and-glasses-laden fellow who wanted to go 50-50 on a hookah bar in the states. We walked home and are retiring early tonight.
Saturday 11/6/10
Woke up early and took a nice long walk to Taksim Square where we met Melissa and two of her friends. They took us to Istiklal Street, a large pedestrian street, led us down an ally to a cute little cafe where we drank tea and coffee. Right after tea, they took us to dessert, but EG and I had lunch first. I had the koogle-like pastry and EG had a tuna sub. For dessert, we had a cream-bread like thing covered in chocolate, delicious! We continued to walk down Istiklal Street and found the Saint Antony Church, the biggest in Istanbul. Our next stop was Dolmabahce Palace. I swear this palace inspired every princess movie. The inside was covered in red, the imperial color, and it also had incredible chandeliers that weighed one ton, very ornate. This was one of my favorite places we visited because of the beauty but also because we got in for only 1 Lira because of student discounts! We saved 19 Lira! We walked up north to the port and found a cheap boat to Asia, ate churro-like pastry. Once back in the European side of Istanbul, we walked through the Spice and Grand Bazaar where I finally purchased a scarf. We got disoriented but thankfully finally found our way home.
I napped while EG showered and walked back where we thought the synagogue was the night before. We found this cute place and asked for all the non meat dishes. Little did we know at the time, one of the dishes had meat in it and I was the one to discover the beef. We did not leave a very generous tip that night. Once we finished a great dessert of rice pudding, we checked out a nice mall with bowling and a movie theater but headed home because of exhaustion.
Sunday 11/7/10
We woke up early because we thought we had a very long day. We walked to the Blue Mosque to be quickly greeted by a tour guide, or what he said he was. He gave us a tour of the Mosque then asked for 20 Lira. We then realized we could have easily been scammed, but we got good information from him at least, or maybe he was telling us wrong information? After a quick walk, we arrived at Agia Sophia, a church turned mosque. We walked around on both floors and look lots of pictures. Another short walk took us to the Basilica Cistern where we found two stone pillars with Medusa carved into them, one with Medusa's head upside down and one sideways, why she is like that, no one knows to this day. Not knowing exactly where we were going, we wandered into a beautiful park then to the Topyapi Palace to discover we had no more money. We went to an ATM then back to the palace which was in use before the Sultan's residence was moved to Dolmabahce Palace. This palace was less ornate, there were more tiles with blue and white rather than red, there were lots of separate buildings instead of one condensed building, there were cool gem-laden items in treasuries and an incredible view of the Golden Horn, Europe and Asia, and Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara.
Mid day came and we had lunch on the main street then walked down to where the hippodrome used to be and saw the Egyptian Obelisk and the Obelisk of Constantine. We walked down to the Southern shore and hung out under the sun. We went back to the hotel, took a nice long nap, packed our things then went out to the same place for dinner that we ate at the first night. Back to the hotel and off to the airport.
My flight was delayed another hour so I finally arrived back in Israel at 3 AM. I walked out of the passport control and past baggage claim and found 3 of my roommates and Eyal waiting to pick me up. It was just a nice feeling to see Ilyssa, Robyn, Noy (Yael is in Uganda with Olami through YC) and Eyal with a huge poster and Eyals car to drive us home. I went to sleep at 4:30 and decided to take the day off so I didn't go to school, I would have fallen asleep anyways.
It was an incredible weekend and had a blast with my brother!!!!!!
Here are my top 100 pictures from Turkey (I took almost 400 photos). The pictures are on facebook but you don't need to have facebook to see them. So take a look!!
We woke up early because we thought we had a very long day. We walked to the Blue Mosque to be quickly greeted by a tour guide, or what he said he was. He gave us a tour of the Mosque then asked for 20 Lira. We then realized we could have easily been scammed, but we got good information from him at least, or maybe he was telling us wrong information? After a quick walk, we arrived at Agia Sophia, a church turned mosque. We walked around on both floors and look lots of pictures. Another short walk took us to the Basilica Cistern where we found two stone pillars with Medusa carved into them, one with Medusa's head upside down and one sideways, why she is like that, no one knows to this day. Not knowing exactly where we were going, we wandered into a beautiful park then to the Topyapi Palace to discover we had no more money. We went to an ATM then back to the palace which was in use before the Sultan's residence was moved to Dolmabahce Palace. This palace was less ornate, there were more tiles with blue and white rather than red, there were lots of separate buildings instead of one condensed building, there were cool gem-laden items in treasuries and an incredible view of the Golden Horn, Europe and Asia, and Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara.
Mid day came and we had lunch on the main street then walked down to where the hippodrome used to be and saw the Egyptian Obelisk and the Obelisk of Constantine. We walked down to the Southern shore and hung out under the sun. We went back to the hotel, took a nice long nap, packed our things then went out to the same place for dinner that we ate at the first night. Back to the hotel and off to the airport.
My flight was delayed another hour so I finally arrived back in Israel at 3 AM. I walked out of the passport control and past baggage claim and found 3 of my roommates and Eyal waiting to pick me up. It was just a nice feeling to see Ilyssa, Robyn, Noy (Yael is in Uganda with Olami through YC) and Eyal with a huge poster and Eyals car to drive us home. I went to sleep at 4:30 and decided to take the day off so I didn't go to school, I would have fallen asleep anyways.
It was an incredible weekend and had a blast with my brother!!!!!!
Here are my top 100 pictures from Turkey (I took almost 400 photos). The pictures are on facebook but you don't need to have facebook to see them. So take a look!!
Hope you enjoyed this post,
Tamar
Ps. most of this was written by EG Gaffin-Cahn during the trip to keep a record or what we had done and seen. Thanks EG!
Ps. most of this was written by EG Gaffin-Cahn during the trip to keep a record or what we had done and seen. Thanks EG!
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