Eeeek

Finals have been a bit rough on my time management - new posts coming soon...

Bing Crosby in Athens?

Lately my friends and I have been doing work in the Starbucks in Kolonaki, because its the only place near us that has places to plug in our computers and spread out with books and papers and such (because we all know that after a while you just can't do work in your own home). But, being in Starbucks has been dangerous, because it turns out that Starbucks in Athens play the same Christmas mix as the ones in the U.S. This means lots of old school, sit-by-the-fire songs that make me homesick!

Given the fact that the leaves are just falling from the trees, all the Christmas displays in the stores seem pretty out of place, especially since I associate so many of the decorations as distinctly American. It's almost like the Athenians went to NYC during Christmas, took photos of the store displays and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol," and then tried to recreate it here. I wish I could get more of a sense of the traditions and culture of the Greek Orthodox Christmas, which is definitely different. I'm not even going to bother touching on the subject of Hanukkah here, because it just doesn't exist (not even the pro forma menorah that always goes next to the massive Christmas displays in the U.S.).

It was Monday so...

...there was a parade! As I was walking to class (on one of my routes, I pass the president and prime minister's offices), I realized the street was closed, and then I heard a military band playing - a whole troupe of the guards were marching to the Parliament. I think the Serbian president was here? Or maybe it was for Mubarak, who was also here this week. Usually you can tell by the flags they hang up around the city, but there weren't any flags...

An observation in Istanbul

If study abroad has taught me anything, it's to have an open mind with respect to how other people may live their lives. But being in Istanbul, as much as I tried not to, I found it impossible not to pass judgement when I saw groups of women in these full body coverings. We passed by a number of young women dressed this way who were around our age, and the way they looked at us made me think that they must struggle in some way to understand their own lives versus the lives of all the tourists and students in the city. Or maybe they think I'm wrong for dressing the way I do. I wish I had had the opportunity to talk to one of them. Also - I surprisingly felt less conscious as a Jew than I did as an American and a woman, but I'm not really sure yet why that was.

ASIA!

Istanbul is divided into several different pieces (e.g. Old City, New City) and one of those pieces is in Asia! So we hopped on a commuter ferry and went over, as opposed to taking one of the cruises that just goes up the Bosphorus, but never actually touches Asian soil. And now we know why - there's not a whole lot of do as tourists over there. We landed at a southern port and walked up to the port of Uksudar (sp?), which had some cute seaside restaurants and a goregous view of the Old City and Bosphorus. Otherwise most of it was pretty industrial or military, but we still had a great time walking around. We even came across a local football (read: soccer) game, where some kids were beating drums and the (few) people in the stands were chanting.


View of the Old City port area from the ferry we took to the Asian side. There were fisherman everywhere, although it seemed a bit ridiculous considering the fact that giant boats were coming in and out constantly...guess it's something to do on a Saturday morning? Fun fact that we learned in our guide book: Every 55 minutes, illegal cargo passes through this area!


View of the Topkapi palace from the ferry - it must have looked spectacular to foreign visitors in its former, gilded glory.


Me on Asian soil! Get it?? (And the gorg pashmina I got in the Grand Bazaar!)


An old lookout tower off the coast of the port of Uksudar. There were little boats going out there to see it, but the water looked choppy and there was no way I was getting on anything but a big boat in those conditions.


A mosque on the Asian side - it looked really beautiful, but we felt uncomfortable going in since there were really no other tourists. Which made me wonder what all the people praying in the Blue Mosque and other other mosques we saw in the Old City think of tourists...

coming soon...

pictures from the Asian side of the city and of the City Walls will be coming later - I need to do homework!

Markets and the New City

Entraceway to the Grand Bazaar - I believe our guide book says it takes up something like 52 square city blocks. And it definitely feels that way. Vendors will do anything to get you to look at their stuff, and can be pretty aggressive. After the first few tries I got the hang of bargaining, although my friend Irene was way better at it than me! Had some delicious Turkish delights and bought gifts!


Inside the Egyptian (or Spice) Market. It was super crowded and didn't seem very touristy, which was great. We got to try some interesting things (like an actual honeycomb), and the whole place smelled really good!


Some spices at the Spice Market.


A main pedestrian street in the New City.

Topkapi Palace

The Topkapi Palace is located behind Hagia Sofia, and is a sprawling complex of grounds and buildings used by the sultans and then the Ottomans. It's HUGE. It's more than HUGE. And full of more precious jewels and gold-encrusted things than I ever thought existed (one display case just had a box of emeralds. What??). The Ottomans preserved everything from the sultans and it seems as though very little was looted, so the display cases inside the rooms are spectacular (but unfortunately we weren't allowed to photograph a lot of it).


Entraceway into the palace, with a very modern-day guard...


I believe this was one of the sultan's meeting rooms. The kitchens were double the size of this building, and the sultan's harem necessitated an entirely separate ticket, it was so big (we unfortunately didn't go, but from the outside it looked outrageously lavish).


Me and a view of the sea, with the New City in the background.


Some of the grounds of the palace.


Inside one of the rooms (I think another meeting room).

The underground cisterns

I believe these were built by the Romans, and then abandoned and forgotten for about 1000 years! Someone rediscovered them when they learned that families in a certain neighborhood were drawing water from an unknown underground water source, and they did some digging, and voila! It was very spooky down there, and the city has lit it perfectly to enhance the effect. The pillar at the bottom is believed to have the face of Medusa, and there's one on its side too.

Hagia Sofia

Hagia Sofia came first as a symbol of Christianity's presence in the region, and then the Blue Mosque was built to rival it later. I have to say - the Blue Mosque beats Hagia Sofia for outward appearances, but Hagia Sofia trounces the Blue Mosque when it comes to the inside. It literally took my breath away when I stepped into the main room. The green circles with Arabic writing were put in later by the sultans, and they painted over a lot of the golden Christian iconography which has since been uncovered.

The Blue Mosque