Western Turkey 101 Tour Group Journal
October 14, 2013 - October 26, 2013

Please click here for
Day 12 Istanbul
Itinerary of the tour
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Patty began the day at first light by walking down hill from the hotel, through the arch and into Gulhane Park. The bustle of the city falls immediately away into the calm tree lined walkways of the park. It was completely quiet except for a few walkers until the Hooded Crows decided to greet the day with their raucous calls. I was on a mission to find the newest inhabitants of the park-- Alexandrine Parakeets. Blue Tit and Great Tits graced the trees with their Chickadee-like song and behavior. A beautiful morning got even better when I was able to see red on the shoulder of a parakeet and that identified it as my target species! I had to trot half way back to get to breakfast in time.

After breakfast, the group embarked on our journey to the Grand Bazaar--the last stop on the Silk Road. We divided and conquered, each on our own private shopping adventure. First Micky and Patty accompanied Carol & Robin as they set out to shop for cloth (ikat). Then we headed for the book section behind the bazaar, where we bought a couple of little tiny writing books (Patty size!) and Micky found several cards. Then the real adventure began. Carol, Micky and Patty headed out of the bazaar, relying largely on our precarious sense of direction. It was a great relief to walk in shops with prices on the items for sale, and no-one trying to grab us and sell us anything. We were on a quest to find knitting needles (settled for a crochette hook), and hand kerchiefs. We walked into a shop selling women's lingerie, and after showing them hankies from our pockets, one of the young men walked us several blocks, in and out of alleys until we reached a shop where we hit the jackpot. We were quite late by then, so Carol quickly bought 3 boxes of them, thinking there were four in each box. Later, inspection showed there were 36 in total. Jackpot!

Again using our somewhat undependable sense of direction, we eventually found our way back through the twisting and turning alleyways to our van and "wheels were rolling" at 10:45. As we drove west, all the excited shoppers revealed their booty. Ann managed to leave with a little kilim intended for her front entry at home. Score!

      
  Upon arriving at The Chora Church (aka Kariye Museum), Meli expertly timed our visit to coincide with the large groups tourists leaving. We drank tea and ate warm cheese borak beneath the canopy of London Plane Trees and listened to Meli explain the difference between Christian and Islamic art. She also gave us an Iconic cheat sheet:  Key = St. Peter,  Book = St. Paul, a pondering man = St. Joseph, and of course a halo with a cross behind the head belongs to Jesus. 

Armed with our knowledge, we entered the church. The word Chora means womb (of woman and/or the womb of Nature). We entered the church and were amazed by the intricate Byzantine mosaics and frescoes of Jesus and Mary laid out in perfect symmetry above our heads. Meli brought depth to the strong visuals by telling us the stories of each piece. The mosaic work in Chora is absolutely stunning, moving from one area to the next, illustrating the story of the new testament in amazing beauty. A refreshing aspect of the Orthodox Christian art that stood out here as well as in all of the churches we visited, is the representation of the life of Christ, with only a smattering of crucifixion scenes, and non glory ones at that.

It was lunch time by now and we munched on the local specialty of Ortakoy, kumpir. The street carts all sold the same thing--Baked Potato which was scooped out and mixed with butter and cheese and re-stuffed, then garnished with your choice of toppings. I chose olives, a hot salsa-like sauce, and  more cheese. Thankfully Carol and I split one (and had enough left over to share with our friend Susan). We found Susan (a Turkish friend of Carol's from her Amsterdam days) on the dock, as well as Micky's friend, Bill, and before long, we all boarded a very fancy boat for our 2 hour tour of the Bosphorus. We sailed north along the western bank (Europe) under 2 large bridges, then crossed to the Asian side and slid past more mansions on our way all the way back to Sultanamet. Shortly before coming into our final dock, the birder in our group spotted a pod of dolphins swimming just off the bow. Camera shutters whirled.

 

Cruising Bosphorus in our private boat

The Spectacular show of the dolphins

Our group divided again in the afternoon, separately catching the ferry to Kadikoy for our dinner at Ciya. Carol and I went with Susan and wandered the streets of Kadikoy, listening to excellent street musicians, and stopping in at her favorite old candy store, before bumping into the Micky Ryan Melitour on the street en route to the restaurant. More good food, a lively walk through town and a wonderful serenade by musicians on the ferry ride home.

Please click here for
Day 12 Istanbul
Itinerary of the tour
Melitour Home pag