It was only a two hour flight from Rome, but it when I landed I felt like I was much further away from my comfort zone. First of all, this city is immense. About 13 million people. There is the Asian side and the European side. Most of the action is on the European side and once your there the city splits again into the "Old City" and "New City." I found a hostel in a great location of the Old City section of town. The highlights was the rooftop bar that looked out onto the water and 5 Turkish Lira kebabs that were awesome. (The exchange rate works out pretty well too. Basically 1€ for every 2TL. Finally a place where the exchange rate works out in my favor)!
Istanbul has an incredible history. How many places can say they were the capital of three different empires? Ottoman, Byzantine, and Roman. There are a number of great things to see in the city (Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Galata Tower, Topkapi Palace, ride down the Bosphorous, the underground cisterns) but the most visible landmarks around the city are without a doubt the mosques. They are everywhere. I stayed in an area right by the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, so I was able to get a close up tour of some of the most famous ones. I’ve never been too familiar with Muslim culture or customs so it was pretty interesting to see it firsthand. The inside of the Blue Mosque is wide open and fully carpeted for praying. It is called the blue mosque because of the detailed blue tiles that cover the interior. The pillars on the inside are gigantic. They reminded me of the great sequoias at Sequoia National Park...just massive. Just across the way is the Hagia Sophia. The two face each other in kind of a standoff looking like they are trying to intimidate each other. Hagia Sophia is now a museum, but it is pretty incredible that it’s still in such good shape considering that it is 1500 years old. The dome was built 1000 years before the dome on St. Peters Basilica!
Of course, whenever I travel I try to experience as much of the nightlife as I can. The Istanbul nightlife centers around the area of town called Taxim. The energy in the streets was awesome. They really like to party out there. Unfortunately, the music played in some of the clubs was less than stellar. Some of the popular beats in the clubs in Istanbul included the Ghostbusters theme song and Vanilla Ice. (Still, the most memorable club music was played one night while I was in Austria. They put on the theme to Baywatch...and the crowd went crazy. They all knew the words. I guess David Hasselhoff’s incredible fame is still growing!).
After my late night on Sat, I decided to check out one of the Turkish bath houses the next morning for some relaxation. This particular bath house was built in the 1540’s and the traditions haven’t changed very much in 500 years. I didn't really know what I was doing when I got in there, and I'm sure it showed. Some random guy (who I later found out worked there because he demanded a tip for his help) led me to the wash room for the first part of the experience. After changing into just a towel, I was led to the main room. The room itself is beautiful. It's made of nothing but marble with intricate fountains carved into the walls. After laying down on the huge warm marble slab in the center, they begin to wash you. First they scrub you down with a exfoliating mitt. They lather you up and dump buckets of water all over you to wash it off. Once the cleaning is over, you head to another room for a full body oil massage. I was spoiled for years at the OTC where I would receive multiple massages a week while I was training. Getting a massage every once and a while is always relaxing, but it makes me long for the days when I got them whenever I wanted.
When the massage is over you don’t have to leave. You can head back to the first room which also acts kind of like a sauna. Relax and stay as long as you like. This is an absolute must if you are ever in Istanbul. Cultural experience, relaxation, and the prices are not bad either.
On my last day I had a few hours to kill, so I went to the Grand Bazaar. It’s more of a maze than it is an actual shopping center. Seemingly endless hallways selling slight variations of the same things. I’m glad I had a chance to check it out, but I wasn’t in the market for a Turkish rug or pointy-toed silk slippers, so I came away without buying anything. To be honest, I was just glad I was able to find my way out.
Istanbul was like no other city I have visited so far. It was just the kind of cultural experience I was hoping to get when I decided to make this trip. I wouldn’t say it was my favorite city, but it was definitely a place I would recommend seeing...especially if you like history.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Some Return Trips in Italy
For my last few trips, before Istanbul, I ended up staying in Italy. A close friend from New Jersey came out to visit last week with his wife, and so I played tour guide for a few days. Two days in Rome, two in Florence, and two in Venice. It was a pretty hectic schedule and I’m pretty sure we walked at least 50km (yes, believe it or not after nine months out here I’ve started think in terms of the metric system).
It’s impossible to see Rome in two days, but we did our best to hit up all the main spots. Since my down time between trips is spent in Rome, I have found time to see many of the museums and other exhibitions that most tourists pass by on their travels. So, needless to say I’ve seen quite a bit of Rome. The one thing that I hadn’t done this trip was the Vatican Museum and St. Peters. I’ve seen them both many times over the years...in fact, after talking to some of my cousins I’m pretty sure I’ve seen these sites more than they have, and they’ve lived here their whole lives. We took the tour and actually got a chance to see the pope (from about 50 yards away...but it was still pretty cool).
The temperature has been warming up quite a bit lately which made the trips to Florence and Venice even better than my first time out there. But, of course with better weather comes more tourists. The lines for all the major sites were ridiculous. We saw as much as we could while trying to avoid the monster crowds. We saw quite a bit, but a lot of what’s great about those cities is just walking around the streets, eating gelato, and taking in everyday Italian life...we definitely did enough of that. Especially the gelato part.
The night before my friends left, we had one more night together at my apartment in Rome. I have been learning how to cook a bunch of different Italian dishes from my aunts (who are all incredible cooks) and so I was able to test my new gnocchi making skills on my friends. For my third time making them I think them came out ok. My friends enjoyed the dinner and that's all I was worried about. It doesn’t get much better than a home cooked meal with friends.
I also took a two day trip back to Pietracupa. The ultimate place for relaxation. Rome is so hectic and crazy, that it’s nice to spend a couple days every once and a while in a place where you hear nothing but the birds. I took a long walk through the hills with my cousin who showed me the different plots of land our family used to own, where the great fig trees are, and some other hidden stuff about the surrounding lands and villages that I had never known before.
This time of year Pietracupa is basically deserted, but a new mayor had just been elected so the town threw a big party for him. The main street was filled with people many of whom I hadn’t seen in years. The last time I was in Pietracupa during the summer months was six years ago...the longest stretch I’ve ever gone in my life without going back. There were prosciutto and porchetta (a kind of pork roast) sandwiches to go along with the beer and wine. A whole store was filled with different cakes and pastries made by some of the ladies in town and you could go in and take as much as you could handle! The music played late into the night. The people dancing ranged in age from 5 to 90. You don’t see that kind of stuff all the time...people just loving life. It reminded me a lot of my time there as a kid. Great to be back.
Here are some other things I’ve noticed about the Italians. Some good, some bad, but all worth mentioning.
-Italians are blunt. Especially with weight. If you’ve lost a few pounds, they will let you know. You look a little heavier?They have no issue with telling you straight up. It’s not such a big deal for guys I guess, but in the US where everyone is so worried about their weight, I can’t imagine that telling a women that she looks fat would go over so well. The thing is though, that Italians don’t say it because they want to upset you. To them, it’s just an observation. So if an Italian comments on your weight, don’t think too much of it.
-They are consistently late. I’ve come to use a rule of 3 whenever I’m supposed to be somewhere. If someone says they’ll be there in 5 minutes, it means 15. 15 minutes means 45...and so on. I’ve refined the system over time and it’s pretty accurate now. As opposed to Americans, Italians are never really in a rush. They get there when they get there and that’s it. It is definitely less stressful, but it’s taken me a long time to get used to. In fact, I’m still not fully used to it yet.
-With food, everything is somehow good for you in Italy. I don’t quite know how this works out, but it’s been repeated to me multiple times by many different people. That gigantic bowl of pasta...good for energy. Those glasses of wine...good for the heart. That block of cheese...lots of vitamins. Ahhhh...I just love it out here. I just can’t wait for the day when someone convinces me that gelato is good for me too. I might never come back home! (On a weird side note, there are a bunch of different fruits doctors tell people not to eat if they are on a diet. Grapes, peaches, and apparently bananas are the worst. Who knew...).
-Another thing I’ve found to be funny is the broadcasting of sporting events. In the US, if something happens in a game that is unexpected or maybe a little too much for TV (say a coach cursing out his players or a fan running across the field) the cameramen do their best to move away without drawing too much attention to the spectacle. In Italy they do the opposite. When a coach is cursing out the ref or another player, they zoom in and slow-mo it until they see exactly what he said. They want to know in what accent he cursed out that other guy.
-Ok, I know I’ve mentioned the public transportation a few times, but it’s definitely mentioning these gems that have happened to me recently. These all happened to me in the past few weeks too. I was on a train where the conductor was playing a game on his Iphone while he was at the controls. That same day, I took a bus where the driver was reading a book on the steering wheel as he was driving the streets of Rome. Another day, I was up front by the driver and he called me over to ask for directions. Yes, that’s right. I had to tell the bus driver his route. He had no idea where he was going. My favorite though, was someone I saw yesterday. I was on a bus but this guy was driving his car next to us. He had a cell phone in each hand and was texting on both...he was using his knee to steer the car. Just awesome!!
So there are some more of the fun things I’ve learned out here over the past few months. I’ll be here for a couple more months, so I’m sure I’ll have so more stuff to report.
It’s impossible to see Rome in two days, but we did our best to hit up all the main spots. Since my down time between trips is spent in Rome, I have found time to see many of the museums and other exhibitions that most tourists pass by on their travels. So, needless to say I’ve seen quite a bit of Rome. The one thing that I hadn’t done this trip was the Vatican Museum and St. Peters. I’ve seen them both many times over the years...in fact, after talking to some of my cousins I’m pretty sure I’ve seen these sites more than they have, and they’ve lived here their whole lives. We took the tour and actually got a chance to see the pope (from about 50 yards away...but it was still pretty cool).
The temperature has been warming up quite a bit lately which made the trips to Florence and Venice even better than my first time out there. But, of course with better weather comes more tourists. The lines for all the major sites were ridiculous. We saw as much as we could while trying to avoid the monster crowds. We saw quite a bit, but a lot of what’s great about those cities is just walking around the streets, eating gelato, and taking in everyday Italian life...we definitely did enough of that. Especially the gelato part.
The night before my friends left, we had one more night together at my apartment in Rome. I have been learning how to cook a bunch of different Italian dishes from my aunts (who are all incredible cooks) and so I was able to test my new gnocchi making skills on my friends. For my third time making them I think them came out ok. My friends enjoyed the dinner and that's all I was worried about. It doesn’t get much better than a home cooked meal with friends.
I also took a two day trip back to Pietracupa. The ultimate place for relaxation. Rome is so hectic and crazy, that it’s nice to spend a couple days every once and a while in a place where you hear nothing but the birds. I took a long walk through the hills with my cousin who showed me the different plots of land our family used to own, where the great fig trees are, and some other hidden stuff about the surrounding lands and villages that I had never known before.
This time of year Pietracupa is basically deserted, but a new mayor had just been elected so the town threw a big party for him. The main street was filled with people many of whom I hadn’t seen in years. The last time I was in Pietracupa during the summer months was six years ago...the longest stretch I’ve ever gone in my life without going back. There were prosciutto and porchetta (a kind of pork roast) sandwiches to go along with the beer and wine. A whole store was filled with different cakes and pastries made by some of the ladies in town and you could go in and take as much as you could handle! The music played late into the night. The people dancing ranged in age from 5 to 90. You don’t see that kind of stuff all the time...people just loving life. It reminded me a lot of my time there as a kid. Great to be back.
Here are some other things I’ve noticed about the Italians. Some good, some bad, but all worth mentioning.
-Italians are blunt. Especially with weight. If you’ve lost a few pounds, they will let you know. You look a little heavier?They have no issue with telling you straight up. It’s not such a big deal for guys I guess, but in the US where everyone is so worried about their weight, I can’t imagine that telling a women that she looks fat would go over so well. The thing is though, that Italians don’t say it because they want to upset you. To them, it’s just an observation. So if an Italian comments on your weight, don’t think too much of it.
-They are consistently late. I’ve come to use a rule of 3 whenever I’m supposed to be somewhere. If someone says they’ll be there in 5 minutes, it means 15. 15 minutes means 45...and so on. I’ve refined the system over time and it’s pretty accurate now. As opposed to Americans, Italians are never really in a rush. They get there when they get there and that’s it. It is definitely less stressful, but it’s taken me a long time to get used to. In fact, I’m still not fully used to it yet.
-With food, everything is somehow good for you in Italy. I don’t quite know how this works out, but it’s been repeated to me multiple times by many different people. That gigantic bowl of pasta...good for energy. Those glasses of wine...good for the heart. That block of cheese...lots of vitamins. Ahhhh...I just love it out here. I just can’t wait for the day when someone convinces me that gelato is good for me too. I might never come back home! (On a weird side note, there are a bunch of different fruits doctors tell people not to eat if they are on a diet. Grapes, peaches, and apparently bananas are the worst. Who knew...).
-Another thing I’ve found to be funny is the broadcasting of sporting events. In the US, if something happens in a game that is unexpected or maybe a little too much for TV (say a coach cursing out his players or a fan running across the field) the cameramen do their best to move away without drawing too much attention to the spectacle. In Italy they do the opposite. When a coach is cursing out the ref or another player, they zoom in and slow-mo it until they see exactly what he said. They want to know in what accent he cursed out that other guy.
-Ok, I know I’ve mentioned the public transportation a few times, but it’s definitely mentioning these gems that have happened to me recently. These all happened to me in the past few weeks too. I was on a train where the conductor was playing a game on his Iphone while he was at the controls. That same day, I took a bus where the driver was reading a book on the steering wheel as he was driving the streets of Rome. Another day, I was up front by the driver and he called me over to ask for directions. Yes, that’s right. I had to tell the bus driver his route. He had no idea where he was going. My favorite though, was someone I saw yesterday. I was on a bus but this guy was driving his car next to us. He had a cell phone in each hand and was texting on both...he was using his knee to steer the car. Just awesome!!
So there are some more of the fun things I’ve learned out here over the past few months. I’ll be here for a couple more months, so I’m sure I’ll have so more stuff to report.
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