Istanbul to Selcuk

Hello from Selcuk, Turkey.

We’re quickly making our way down the coast. We arrived in Istanbul on Saturday, 3 September. Our hotel, the Sultan’s Inn was conveniently located to the Blue Mosque, Aya Sofya and other key spots in Old Istanbul, so as we stretched our legs after the long flights over, we enjoyed the sites at dusk. It was sprinkling lightly when we got to the Blue Mosque this evening, and every other time we passed it. Wonder what that means?

It was fun getting acclimated. The first thing we found was how polite and inviting the Turkish rug salemen are. We met a very nice looking young man on Sunday who said he wanted to practice his English, and me having just finished my course on “Teaching English as a Foreign Language” was ready to oblige, though he didn’t seem to understand we didn’t want to look or or buy a Turkish carpet. We did visit his shop yet didn’t even wait for the apple tea to arrive before leaving. He was disappionted yet polite.

The blue mosque was nice, as was Aya Sofya, but it was the Basilica Cistern that had my attention this first full day in Istanbul. It was an underground expanse with 336 column rising out of a pool of water. It was an unexpected surprise. The big attraction in Old Istanbul is the Topkapi Palace. It has an interesting history down through the ages. What people are most excited about was the Harem. The Sultan’s and their Harems certainly had a good life. Luckily for the women, they were highly educated and were given a dowry after nine years of service, and were then married to an officer of the Sultan. We also took an afternoon tour of the Bosphorus River. That’s certainly a key connection for the world.

Our pass through Turkey began after some stuggles with my credit card. Has anyone had the experience of VISA wanting to do a random verification of the user when in a foreign country? It’s not fun trying to figure out a way out of this one, but it works for small charges, and of course the first one I had was for our meanderings down to Maramis where we start our sailing trip—the instigation for this trip to Turkey.

We headed to Bursa, where I had what I hope was only my first Turkish bath, though not a mineral bath for which Bursa is famous. We then headed to Troy, where we saw at least a replica of the Trojan horse, and then cruised up to Gelibolu, more commonly known as Galipoli. a small but important penninsula in WWI terms. Next we traveled a little bumpily to Bergama, or Peramum, depending upon what century you’re referring to. We are getting our history lessons of the Byzantine eras, along with Greek and Roman history, or should I say mythology.
We’re now in Ephesus where we’ll get absorbed into yet more history. But we could say that just of our hotel rooms. Nothing like experiencing things first hand. Luckily, we’ve had good beds and hot showers with good water pressure, and accommodating Turkish staffs. Oh, did I say that I am enjoying the food. I may learn to really cook yet—Turkish style!