Istanbul unleashed

Bryan and I stayed with Joe while the others  toured the cistern and Hagia Sophia.

The area was beyond crowded. Tour groups were going in every direction, and locals filled every open area till there wasn’t any more. It was practically standing room only. Except there was not much standing. More like running each other over. I felt like a single bean in a vat of tortilla bean soup. 

With every step, we would run into someone trying to sell us carpets. The scenario is always the same. A nicely dressed english speaking man introduces himself and wants to take you to his ‘brother’s’ shop for some hot tea and a really good deal on a high priced carpet. It’s the most common tourist trap in the city.

My priority quickly became to find a bathroom, which I did rather easily, except it cost 3 Turkish Lyra. I had none, and they didn’t take Euros. 

Now I had to find an ATM machine. 

While looking for that, I ran into Ali who stopped me because he was a philosopher and he thought by my looks I must be one also. (HAHA right! Here we go again, soon I’ll be having tea with his brother)

After some small talk about schools and colleges, he then wanted to take me to his nephew’s shop to buy my wife a rug. (AH HA!) 

I tried everything to get out of it and only wanted an ATM so I could pee! He said he would take me to the ATM and his nephew has a bathroom. I took the bait. On the way we passed a restaurant that he said had the best custard in the city. (I do love custard, as does Joe). 

We got to his nephew’s shop. I was eyeballing the quickest escape route, should I need to take off running. 

Amir, the nephew, asked where I was from. 

“Arkansas”, I replied. 

“Oh, Little Rock” he immediately retorted, “I’ve been there at the medical center and we have a shop in Memphis so you can have your rug delivered there.”

I started looking for an exit. 

I said, no rugs, I only wanted a lamp. (I only thought of that because Bryan has been talking about getting a lamp)

I thought this my way out. 

You are in the right place my friend, he said, and he escorted me down a flight of stairs into a large room with every kind of lamp imaginable. He called for some snacks and tea as I shopped.

I still had to pee!!

I changed the topic to Arkansas and how my wife was waiting for me and I had to go get her to see the lamps.

I eventually got out and ran for the plaza to find Joe and Bryan.

I passed an ATM on the way so I stopped for money.  I put in my card and I was asked how many Lira I want. I then realized I had no idea of the value of their money or how much I actually needed.

There was no option for just 3.

Then I considered that I should go get Joe a pudding since he’s feeling bad.  Still I had no idea how much they would cost. Also Joe was out in the heat and I thought I probably oughta buy him some bottled water.

I guessed.

I took out 100 Turkish Lira.

Made a run for the bathroom, but found a different one instead, and this one wouldn’t take cash, only credit cards.

Noooooo! 

All that I just went through for nothing!!

So I used a credit card to get in and found out they charged me nine cents for the bathroom. 🙄

So that meant my 100 Lyra I took out was worth less than $3, not even enough to buy a pudding. 

I had to find another ATM and this time took out 1000 Lyra. I managed to dodge Ali again, and found the pudding shop.

They had several kinds; black, white, chicken, fruit, and rice. 

I pulled out my translator. Sure enough it was chicken pudding. I wasn’t even going to ask and picked a fruit and a rice.

I have no idea what the people in the shop were saying so I handed them a 10 and hoped for the best.

I got change!

I was incredibly proud of my purchase and went back to find Joe.

He started to eat the fruit pudding, which turned out to be more like some kind of gel containing whole peanuts and barley, and a few other chunky things we couldn’t identify.

The rice pudding was more like something familiar, and came in a small pottery crock. I couldn’t finish the pudding, but I got to keep the crock. I was happy, since I didn’t get to keep any of the dishes from the buffet on the ship. 

I met up with the others who were on their way to Hagia Sophia. We again sat with Joe until the group came back. This time we stayed put and avoided any contact with new ‘friends’ with carpets and lamps. 

The group then went on to the Grand Bazaar, which is one of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world. it's a great place to shop for spices, jewelry, and every and kind of souvenir.

The tour guide gave them a warning that it is easy to get lost in there, and since they only had a small amount of time they decided to sit near the opening and have a snack until time to go. The result of a wrong turn could mean missing the ship. 

While they were having their snack, Bryan and I headed back to the bus stop to return to the port. 

Last time we were here Bryan always regretted that fact that he never got a lamp.  Of course in the shops of our ‘special friends’ they can be quite pricey. And the same lamps back home can cost $250 and up. I knew there was no way we were going back to Amir’s place and we went out of our way to avoid him.

Then it happened. A little gift shop popped up unexpectedly as we were trying to leave. They sold lamps. Bryan found the exact one he wanted and for $15 he was one happy camper. Of course getting it home would be a task. 

The traffic was atrocious and the bus barely moved. We got back to the boat 5 minutes after the noon check in. The others were still a good way behind. But since their tour was purchased through the boat, the boat is guaranteed to wait for their arrival. 

After getting back on board, we were frazzled, stressed and nervous, partially from our late arrival and partially because of the traffic and crowds. 

We kept saying to each other, “And this is OFF peak season?”

To make things worse, we were informed that two people did not get back in time and missed the boat. 

I immediately went to check on Joe and Alan. They were there. 

We were relived.

Only one thing left to do….

…the buffet.

The evening’s entertainment was a joint collaboration of most of the ship’s  entertainers, including the magician and the acrobats. The show was called ‘Elements’ and took us through the four seasons in song, dance, magic and acrobatics. It was a lot like a Cirque Du Soleil show and was absolutely spellbinding. 

Some of the highlights included creating a hurricane on the stage, which was very convincing, an underwater scene with a mermaid swimming across the seas, and a snow storm. 

Alan was so impressed he went back for the second showing. 

The rest of us went back to the buffet.