Turkey: Laughter and the Call to Prayer

On Monday, we left Thessaloniki, Greece early in order to leave plenty of time for crossing the border into Turkey and finding our way to our hotel without our trusty GPS. Our route went near the coast, and through a more fertile and flat part of Greece than we’d seen before. Soon enough, we went through a checkpoint where our passports were checked and stamped and I thought we’d entered Turkey, but as it turned out, we had only left Greece. A little further along, we came to the border station for entering Turkey, and pulled up to the Passport Police booth. There we were told we had to purchase visas in the next building, so we parked and did that. Then back to the passport police, who looked at our passports and sent us on to the adjacent booth, where the man sent us to the other side of the booth, where we had to show our automobile paperwork. This is what they were really interested in. Finally, we showed our passports and automobile registration to one last officer and were finally welcomed to Turkey.

Our first hotel was in Tekirdag, a small city on the Mamara Sea. We had no idea where our hotel was, but spotted a tourist info booth on the waterfront pedestrian area, so we parked and went to ask. There was no one in the booth, but soon a gentleman in a suit came up and welcomed us. He spoke no English, but was very friendly, and when I finally managed to make “Hotel Rodosto” intelligible, he pointed the way for us. We had to find a bank to get some Turkish lira, so we walked into the heart of town, which was bustling with lots of people and small shops. With lots of pointing and gesturing, we found the bank, and on the way back to the hotel, also found a small market, baklava, and a fresh fish dinner; for Deane, it was very reminiscent of the Middle East.

Because we really did not want to drive into Instanbul, I hatched this plan to park at the airport and take public transportation into the Sutanahmet district, where our hotel was and where the sights we wanted to see were. This worked surprisingly well -- just as the traffic was getting unbearable, we turned off for the airport, found a parking place, walked across the street to the light rail, which we took to the tram to the Old City. After finding our hotel, our first stop was Aya Sophia, rebuilt in the mid 5th century. It has a huge central dome surrounded by half domes, and the supports are hidden in such a way that the building has a surprising openness. The church was Greek Orthodox, for centuries, but was converted to a mosque in 1453, after being plundered by Crusaders earlier. Ataturk declared the Aya Sophia a museum, allowing the figurative mosaics that were plastered over in the conversion to be restored. Some have been; some remain under the plaster. As in Ravenna, there are crosses, but no images of Jesus crucified.

We had planned to see the Blue Mosque the following day, but as we had time and it was open to visitors, we removed our shoes and went in. A large area in the front of the mosque was set aside for prayer; visitors remained behind barriers. Women coming in for prayer had a small screened area at the back of the mosque. The interior of the mosque, designed to rival the Aya Sophia, had a huge central dome surrounded by half domes, all covered with tile painted with flowers, or Arabic inscriptions, or other designs. We sat for a long time, soaking up the place and watching men come in to pray. As we were taking a last look, a man asked me to cover my head (this had not been requested when we entered) and I learned that my hoodie sweatshirt could double as a headscarf.

In Turkey, Islam is the predominant religion, so each morning we are awakened very early by the first call to prayer, broadcast over loudspeakers from each mosque. Our breakfast at the hotel was on the rooftop terrace, with a view of the Marmara Sea. All the hotels in Turkey, apparently, serve breakfast, and it is similar in all of them -- cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, fresh bread, eggs, and strong tea. What a wonderful way to start the day, much better than peanut butter crackers!

Since we had done the two things on Deane’s “A-list” for Istanbul on our first day, our second day there had some freedom. We first went to see the Sokullu Pasa Mehmet Mosque, right around the corner from our hotel. This beautiful little 16th century mosque on the side of a hill is famous for the beautiful tiles inside. We could not take pictures, but it was very beautiful, with white tiles painted in blues, greens and reds. The man watching the mosque also explained to us that there are four pieces of the Kaaba inside the mosque, which makes it unusual as well. This picture is from the rooftop terrace at the hotel.

We went past the Archaeological Museum, but since it had rained earlier, and was not raining at the moment, we decided to keep walking. There were four large school groups heading for the museum, and as we walked past, easily identifiable as Americans as we seem to be everywhere, the children called out, “Hello.” When we answered, a whole chorus of helloes swept down the line, each child wanting a personal response. At the end of the line, “Bye-bye,” and again everyone chorused their good-byes. We walked over the Galata Bridge, starting in Europe and stepping off in Asia, then came back and found our way to the Spice Market. It’s somewhat touristy, but lots of fun, and colorful and aromatic with piles of powdered spices of all sorts, along with nuts and dried fruits, and of course, Turkish delight in an overwhelming number of flavors. The vendors had great senses of humor and made us laugh out loud so many times that I started writing down their best lines so I could remember them. Here are a few of our favorites:
     “Hello! How can I take your money?”
    “Turkish delight very good -- tastes like hummus!” (It's a candy.)
    “I have poison for your mother-in-law.” (Don’t worry, Mom. Deane made it clear that he didn’t need any!)
    “Don’t you want to see my magic carpet? Give me some time -- it’s hard to fly!”
    “This shop is recommended by Obama!”

From there, Deane thought we could find the Grand Bazaar, so off we went through the maze of streets, down alleys and up stairs with the crowds of people shopping for linens, party supplies, cooking pots, gold -- everything imaginable. And then we turned a corner and were at the Grand Bazaar, which is a rabbit warren of covered shops selling antiques, jewelry, souvenirs, leather, and anything else that tourists might need or want. Deane led us through, saying, “Turn right! Turn left!” without any basis I could see as, once you’re in, there is no daylight or sight of an exit. But then suddenly, there we were out on the street.

We ate a variety of street food, which was fun and a real treat for me. We had a fish sandwich from a cart by the Galata Bridge, and little donuts drenched in sugar syrup. Later, as part of our dinner, we had gozleme, which they call a pancake, but I would call a flatbread, filled with cheese and spinach or potatoes.

We had dinner at a restaurant where there was a Sufi dancer each evening, since we realized that we would not have time to see as much of Turkey as we had hoped. I had mixed feelings about the performance. It was beautiful, but in the restaurant people were talking and laughing and not paying attention. The dancer performed three dances, accompanied by live music, first taking off his black cloak, then beginning to turn counter-clockwise with his right hand floating skyward, and his left hand down. At the end of each dance, he bowed to the musicians, and put his black coat back on.

There was so much more to see in Istanbul, but we needed to move on, so went back to the airport, picked up our car, and headed towards Eceabat, on the Gallipoli peninsula. It was a long drive, but we arrived with a couple of daylight hours to spare, so went to the Gallipoli memorial park, which is huge. ANZAC Day was coming up, so there were bleachers being prepared for the celebration there attended by thousands of people from Australia and New Zealand. We walked some of the graveyards, and felt the sorrow of so many parents and families of young men who died there, most of whom could not be identified. Even more moving was the monument with the quotation from Ataturk:
    Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives...
    You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace.
    There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours...
    You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace.
    After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.

From Eceabat, we took the ferry to Canukkale, and the drove down the Aegean coast to Selcuk, where we have spent two days. The first day, we visited Ephesus, which once held the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world until it was destroyed by the early Christians; the city was rebuilt by Constantine. The highlight of the site (besides the well-preserved men’s latrine) is the Celsus Library, which once housed 12,000 scrolls.

Also on the site were the ruins of the Church of Mary, built in the 4th or 5th century, and site of the Councils of Ephesus, where church doctrine was debated and established.

From Ephesus, we went to the ruins of the St. John Basilica, which contains the tomb (empty) of St. John, who may have been the disciple, or may have been a later follower. Legend has it that the apostle John and Jesus’ mother Mary traveled together to Ephesus, where they both lived out their lives. The huge church is now in ruins.

Behind the basilica is the Isa Bey Mosque, built in the 1300s. The mosque and its courtyard were impressive, but more so was the Imam, who welcomes all visitors and is happy to show the mosque. There were some Greek visitors there at the same time as us, with some challenging questions, but the Imam would not discuss politics -- he believes that politics is not Islam, that Islam is about the heart. He also gave the best explanation we had heard about why women have a separate section in the mosque. I still don’t feel completely peaceful about this, but he gave some reasons that made sense, particularly in this culture.

One more note about Ephesus: In the Archaeological Museum, there were three statues of the Ephesus Artemis, a most remarkable goddess.

Today, we went to three archaeological sites: Didyma had a Temple of Apollo that was the most intact we’d seen since the Parthenon, enough so that we could really get a sense of the grand scale. So you get a sense, too, Deane is somewhere in this picture -- can you spot him? He's in the gap at the top of the stairs.

Miletos had a whole complex of buildings, including a large theater. I most like the Temple dedicated to Apollo Delphinus, which was the dolphin form of Apollo. With the heavy rains this spring, the open area in front of the temple is flooded, making the temple seem even more beautiful to me. The waters and the land around were hopping with little frogs and toads -- it was a good spring for the amphibians!

Priane was our third site, and I was beyond the point of absorbing much, but I do remember something about a heavily fortified city with a temple dedicated to Athena.

Tomorrow we’ll head to Pamukalle. I already feel that our time in Turkey will be too short, but Deane wants to be in Bulgaria by May 1st. Next week, I’ll let you know if we make it.