Category Archives: Istanbul

Day 463 In Beijing: Topkapi Palace, Part 2.

By | | , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

 

A gorgeously designed room and ceiling.

A gorgeously designed room and ceiling.

Jill and I both realized that Turkish, unlike Mandarin, is actually quite easily to learn.

Their written language sounds exactly like it is spelled, unlike Mandarin, and we were able to have minimal conversations with people within a few days.

Nothing more than “hi”, “thank you” and a few other comments but it was definitely easy not to have to try to figure out the tones and indecipherable written language.

I lived in Japan, back in 1996-1997, and I was able to get along after 2 years of college Japanese and some time there.

The written language there, which is quite similar to the Chinese written language (I’m not going to start an war about who used it first) was much easier, in my mind, because the kanji was the first part of the word and then there were two other written alphabets that let you know the rest of the word.

Being that there were three written alphabets, it would seem much more complicated but it wasn’t.

This is because you only had to learn about 2,000 kanji, and the two other alphabets that were “add ons” and you could know everything.

In Chinese, it seems like there are around 14,000 written characters and that is just way too much.

Especially when they become something totally different as they are lined up and added onto each other.

I just don’t have the time, or energy, to figure it out.

Call me lazy.  I don’t mind.

The reason I bring this up is the “i” in Topkapi is actually pronounced like “uh” so it sounds more like “Tope-kap-uh” if it was pronounced correctly.

However, I actually never heard it pronounced that way so I’m guessing, since there are so many tourists that pronounce it, “Topkapi” that the Turks have started to do the same.

I could very easily be wrong, and probably am, and it would be interesting to find out.

As for the palace, it was built in 1460 and finished in 1478.  It takes up 700,000 square meters.  It was turned into a museum in 1924 and is one of the largest museums in Turkey.

It is truly impressive and Jill and I would like to spend more time there the next time we go and just sit and relax.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Day 462 In Beijing: Topkapi Palace, Part 1.

By | | , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

 

My love and me.

My love and me.

Topkapi Palace is huge.

It is stunningly beautiful and it is also hot as heck during the summer months.

This may or may not be obvious, from the shorts and tank tops we are wearing, but just to make sure of it, it was boiling.

That is why so many of the Turks go on vacation and the city is more empty than usual.

It still has around 14,000,000 people in it, which is a lot, but it seemed quite easy to navigate and take mass transit without being crowded and knocked over all the time.

When we hit Athens, it was similar but when we hit the Islands, they were packed because of everyone being on vacation and getting out of the cities.

It was an interesting experience since being “packed” in Greece meant about 1/1,000,000th of what we’ve become used to as being “packed” here in Beijing and China.

We could move easily, not have to deal with much traffic, and people seemed much more content to take their time and be courteous to each other.  It is the island lifestyle, I guess.

As for the Palace, there are a number of different buildings and exhibitions.

The Crown Jewels, for example, you are allowed to visit but you are not allowed to take pictures.

We probably saw more gold, and jewels, there compared to anywhere else we’ve been.

Maybe, in my case, the Vatican would have an equal amount but I don’t quite remember.

Either way, it was stunning and breathtaking.

We also had a light snack overlooking the Bosphorus and enjoyed that immensely.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Day 461 In Beijing: KKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!!!!

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

 

Me doing the famous "KHHHHHAAAANNNN!" yell popularized by William Shatner.

Me doing the famous “KHHHHHAAAANNNN!” yell popularized by William Shatner.

Any lovers of Star Trek will know immediately why I love the title of the blog post.

If you don’t know it, here is the classic over-acted scene by William Shatner, as James Tiberius Kirk, in Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan.

Unlike the Khan in the movie, this Kaan is an very kind, generous and wonderful person.

He also didn’t have a J.J. Abrams movie made about him that utterly stunk and has basically shown that there should never be an English accented Khan.  And that Abrams is a hack who is going to destroy the whole Star Trek mythos.

Shameful.

Our Kaan met Jill in 2006 at a wedding in Istanbul.

Kaan also lived in San Francisco but they didn’t really become friends until 2010 when she came over to live in Turkey for 3 months after quitting her job and deciding to strike out on her own.

Kaan is a really funny, and enthusiast guy, who also happens to be a cheese and wine connoisseur.

Jill had told me about this but we both didn’t realize nearly how specialized his knowledge, and his skills, were until we hung out with him during the evening.

First off, we bought some cheese as a gift and then felt incredibly embarrassed by our choice since the cheeses he brought were amazing!

We bought the classic white cheese that they have in Turkey.  We love it beyond belief and it is very hard to get it here in Beijing so we thought it would be good enough.

Kaan, being the cheese guru, had bought cheeses from Italy and they were incredibly tasty.

Kaan also makes his own wine so he pulled out a few bottles, including my favorite, “the mutt” which is a blend of a bunch of different grapes, all from the Thrace region in Turkey.

It was quite yummy and went great with the cheeses.

Kaan was a fantastic host and it was a joy to meet him.   He would be traveling, most of the rest of our trip, so we sadly didn’t get a chance to see him again, but we will when we start living in Turkey in a few years.

And, seriously, how cool is it I was able to do the “KHHHHHHAAAAANNNNNNN” yell with someone actually named Kaan.

You can see he is rather bemused, and very kind to humor me, in my silliness.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

Day 460 In Beijing: Yenikoy.

By | | , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

 

The Embarcadero at Yenikoy.

The Embarcadero at Yenikoy.

Jill’s friend, Kaan, lives in Yenikoy.

It is just north of the 2nd bridge and a world away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Istanbul.

We walked around, checked out the views and the dogs, and just took our time since Kaan wouldn’t be home for an hour or two.

It was so peaceful and so relaxing that we didn’t want to leave.

We stopped by the little market and bought a few beers and just sat down and had a break.

There were a few older men sitting by us and they were doing the same thing.

Since Turkey is a Muslim country, drinking is somewhat looked down upon.

However, we saw loads of people drinking and doing whatever they wanted so we weren’t really worried.

That being said, we made sure to keep our beer in a bag and put it under the bench we were sitting on, so as not to attract any attention.

Yenikoy really reminded me of Marin and Sonoma County and both Jill and I felt a little bit homesick.

We were able to get over it, pretty quickly, since we were having so much fun and enjoying seeing this beautiful bit of Istanbul.

 

Day 459 In Istanbul: Dog Days Of Summer.

By | | , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

 

Happy doggie.

Happy doggie.

There are a lot of stray dogs in Istanbul.

This was quite a change from Beijing as there are almost no stray dogs in that city.

The laws are very strict about dogs and it is actually illegal to have a dog, over a certain size, in the Beijing city limits.

Of course, if you have enough money, or the right connections, you can easily get around this law and I’ve seen dogs that are well above the height limit walking around downtown Beijing.

The stray dogs in Istanbul are different from stray dogs I’ve seen elsewhere.

They are mostly clean, well fed, and quite friendly.

The only group of unfriendly dogs we met occurred when Jill and I hung out with my second cousin, Nate, and he informed us there was a pack of wild dogs that terrorized the neighborhood every night around 11 pm.

The second time we visited him, we took a cab, and were unfortunate to be dropped off near the pack’s home and they did not like us being anywhere near them.

There were about 10-15 dogs and they look very vicious, mean, and ready to eat us if we happened to walk the wrong way.

We made a hasty retreat and headed for safety.

However, the dog in these pictures is a perfect example of 99% of the dogs we met in Istanbul.

If you notice, he has a blue tag on his ear.

This means he has been spayed and has had his shots.

Supposedly the government goes around, each year, and rounds up all the strays and gives them their shots.  They neuter the males, since it is inexpensive, but don’t spay the females, since it is expensive, and this seems to work fairly well.

They Istanbul government was trying to round all the dogs up and move them to “natural habitat” parks a few years ago, but the city’s populace had marches and rallies against it and they backed down.

These dogs, and cats also, are part of the “family” in each district and they seem to be very well accepted and loved.

It is quite cute and nice to have a doggie at your feet when you walk into a cafe and sit down.

It feels like home.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Day 458 In Beijing: Ferry Ride to Besiktas.

By | | , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

 

Vacation time!

Vacation time!

Jill and I headed off to the ferry terminal and hopped on one that was just about to take off.

We had to take two different ferries, since we couldn’t figure out how to get a direct one, and we were fine with that.

Jill and I love ferries, trains, buses and any way to travel that doesn’t include us having to drive or do the work of paying attention to where we are going.

The two ferries cost something 3 or 4 Turkish Lira, which comes out to about 1.50 USD.

We sat outside, on the top level, and just took pictures and enjoyed our trip.

Thinking back, as I write these blog posts about 1 month after the trip ended, I’m still stunned as to how much we did in on our first full day in Istanbul and how easy it is to get around, get things done, and not run into problems.

It was such a welcome relief from Beijing, where things are so hectic, changing constantly, and confusing.

I know this sounds repetitive but we will definitely be living in Turkey, and now Greece, in a few years.

There is something so special, about both these countries, and we instantly felt at home.

The joy of being able to ferry all around Istanbul, and other parts of Turkey and Greece, is such a blast and so freeing.

We just sat back, let the wind flow through our hair, and met people that were smiling, happy and probably on vacation too.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

Day 457 In Beijing: Istanbul Archaeology Museum, Part 2.

By | | , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

 

Probably my favorite display in the whole museum.

Probably my favorite display in the whole museum.

As I mentioned in the previous blog post, Jill’s and my trip to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum was cut short.

Why?

Because I turned off my cell phone, with the Turkish SIM card in it, and didn’t realize that when I did that, and then attempted to turn it back on, it would lock me out if I didn’t enter a pass code.

Now, I’m guessing that pretty much every single person in Turkey knows this, which is why they didn’t tell me about this, but since i’m a foreigner, I didn’t.

It is actually a fairly smart way to stop people from using your phone if they steal it since they wouldn’t know the pass code to get in and your SIM card would then be worthless.

They could still sell your phone, or put in their own SIM card, but it does make it slightly more of a hassle than in the USA where they don’t have automatic kill switches or locked SIM cards at this point.

I believe they are trying to pass a law to make automatic kill switches in cell phones in the USA but the phone corporations are against it and putting lots of money towards killing it.

Which means, of course, it would be beneficial to everyone except the phone companies since they wouldn’t have as many consumers having to buy phones when theirs are stolen.

In other words, it is only common sense to have a kill switch which is why the phone companies are against it.

But I digress.

We continued the tour around the museum for a bit and then headed down to the Turk Cell store to figure out what to do.

When we arrived, the salesperson that helped us yesterday was there and helped us right away.  He laughed a little bit at our predicament and was very kind.

We then prepared to head back but realized our ticket was for single entry and we weren’t going to be allowed back in.

At this point we were pretty tired and decided to take a break.

We knew we’d be heading out to see Jill’s friend, Kaan, in a few hours and just made the choice to head to the ferry early and take our time and enjoy the clean air, beautiful blue skies and blue waters.

All in all, I think we made the right choice.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Day 456 In Beijing: Istanbul Archaeology Museum, Part 1.

By | | , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

 

The beautiful sarcophagus.

The beautiful sarcophagus.

After lunch at the Sefa Restaurant, Jill and I headed over to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.

Jill had told me that this is one of her favorite locations to visit because the buildings are gorgeous and the displays are amazing.

We were quite excited as we climbed up the hill and entered through the gates.

Sadly, however, it is mostly under renovation and so the buildings were mostly covered in scaffoldings and tarps.

We pressed on and went inside and checked out the displays.

Again, they were under renovation, and some seemed jammed into places where they wouldn’t ordinarily be, it was still very powerful and moving.

My personal favorite was the massive onyx sarcophagus right after we entered the museum.

It was at least 4 feet tall, 7 or 8 feel long, and it was as impressive as anything I had seen up to this time.

I stood there and just was amazed at the power and strength of it.

Sadly, I didn’t seem to take pictures of the cards next to any of the art pieces and so I don’t have many answers as to who they were made for, why they were made, or when they were made.

Hopefully, next time we go, we will be able to have more time to see each art piece and note where they came from and why they were made.

Our time in the museum was cut short and I will explain this in the next blog post.

Until then, enjoy the amazing pictures.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Day 455 In Beijing: Sefa Restaurant.

By | | , , , , , , , , , ,
1 Comment

 

Getting ready to eat our delicious lunch!

Getting ready to eat our delicious lunch!

After visiting with Mike, Jill and I went to lunch.

Mike suggested we go to the Sefa Restaurant, which was close, and one of his favorites.

To give you a quick idea, the Hagia Sofia, the Basilica Cistern, the Blue Mosque, the Kybele Hotel, and the Sefa Restaurant are all within a 10 minute walking area.

I have to say that it is utterly mind blowing to have so much history is such a small area.

It is something that I would be continually reminded of as we traveled for this month and saw so much in Turkey and in Greece.

It reminded me of my trip to Italy about 7 years ago.

I’d be walking down this street, with a bunch of stores, and then turn a corner and BAM, right in my face is the Trevi or some other incredible artifact of times gone by.

The USA is too “new”to have that kind of history, other than the Native Americans, and it is a very different feeling than being in San Francisco, LA, or even NYC, since the East Coast has more “history” than the West Coast.

YUMMY! GET IN MY TUMMY!

YUMMY! GET IN MY TUMMY!

I enjoy being surprised by history and having my mind expanded and my beliefs tested by what I learn, each and every day, when I’m on the road.

Jill is the same way which is why we make such a great couple.

I still can’t believe we met 8 days before I left for China and she decided to join me over here.

That says a lot about her.

And maybe a little about me too.

The lunch, as Mike suggested it would be, was fantastic.

The food was filling, fresh and delicious, and very well priced.

Simply said, we loved it and felt, once again, like we were home.

 

Day 454 In Beijing: Mike, The Mayor Of Istanbul.

By | | , , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

 

Jill and Mike, the Mayor of Istanbul.

Jill and Mike, the Mayor of Istanbul.

After seeing the Hagia Sofia, The Basilica Cistern and the Blue Mosque all in one day, Jill and I needed to visit her dear friend, Mike.

Mike is rather famous in Istanbul, and for that matter, much of Turkey.

He has been around, for what seems like forever, and he and his brothers used to own the Kybele Hotel.  It is utterly gorgeous.

He also has a jewelry and rug store, right beside it, and they used to actually have a connector door so you could go from one to the other.

Jill hadn’t seen Mike since 2011, when she visited Turkey last time, and so she wasn’t sure if he would be in or on vacation somewhere.

Mike is known as the “Mayor of Istanbul” because everyone knows him.

He is able to connect you up with whatever you need, whenever you need it, and Jill has seen him on documentaries about the city of Istanbul.

He is also an incredibly gracious and wonderful person.

We walked in, and he asked us to sit down, and we shared tea with him.

He asked us about our trip, Jill’s and his friends that they have in common, and what we were doing and planning on doing in our future.

We asked him about his life and what has changed.

He seemed like he was incredibly happy, and content, with his life.

He also showed me a bunch of utterly gorgeous and amazing rugs.

I wish I had a place to put them because I’d love to own them.

He also noticed my name and asked if I was Armenian.

I’m always a bit nervous about letting Turkish people know I’m Armenian because of the genocide and the history between the two countries.

However, every single Turk that I’ve met, and told this to, always seem happy that I’m there and that the past isn’t stopping me, and then, from seeing each other as human beings.

I always bring up how we are all the same and that we can change the way we perceive each other and the world.

Everyone agrees and it is very nice to see that kind of acceptance happening.

Just one more reason I love to travel and connect with others.

After hanging out with Mike for about an hour, we went down to his jewelry store and look at everything for sale.

It was all very fairly priced, and gorgeous, but we didn’t buy anything as we are traveling light and just wanted to wait and see what we would find on our trip.

Mike’s family is also quite famous because they were the first family to produce the gorgeous lights, that you can see in the pictures below, in mass quantity.  They did very well off of them and then bought the Kybele Hotel and the store beside it.

After selling the hotel, Mike has decided to branch out and do other things.

I can’t wait to see what he does next as he seems be a very intriguing, and innovative, person.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.