I had one victory at the airport. While we were waiting in lines, large screens showed famous landmarks around the world where TurkishAir flies. Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia popped up and Wes remarked, “Oh, I know that. We were there. That was cool.” I have primary documentation that, at the time, Wes did NOT think the Sagrada Familia was cool or interesting. In fact, he could barely contain his apathy during the mere 2-hour self-guided tour I had arranged for us. But if he wants to remember otherwise, I am more than happy to support the revision.

And with that, and our under-the-weight-limit luggage, we left Istanbul for a 12-hour direct flight home.

How to make the most of the last day of The Big Trip?

Mama-style: Get us on a tour boat on the Bosphorus for relaxation, warbled historical lecture occasionally in English), and views of the palaces built by sultans when they got tired of the Topkapi Palace.

Younger’s style: hang out below deck of tour boat but refuse to look out the window. Their loss.

We started the day by walking the scenic way to the Covid clinic, as we were flying home on the second-to-last day of needing proof of negative tests to enter the US. We checked out the local coffee franchise for strength to continue our walk down to the wharf. It should be noted that after 8 days in Egypt drinking (or gnawing on) Turkish coffee with Mohammad, Dwayne really couldn’t stomach more than one cup of the authentic slop in Istanbul. Wes, our other household coffee drinker, who had gone from “sipsies” before the trip to ordering full-size afternoon cappuccinos for himself by the time we hit Italy, was also unable to stomach the Turkish version. I cried uncle right away and just went for the beer. 😉

Kyla, Dwayne, and I had one more item on our Istanbul Bucket List–a Turkish bath. I went in not completely sure what I was getting into but knowing I was going to enjoy it. The tension arose from, when being in a country where Kyla and I had to wear a headscarf in addition to modest clothing the day before, to how naked to get for a public bath. Let’s just say I had to go commando on the walk back to our apartment because I guessed wrong.

The entire experience was a lovely dream. It began with a mud mask and steam room before a full body scrub and deep massage, and finished with a cool water swim. It was heavenly and I must do it again.

For dinner, I wanted to do small dishes anywhere that sounded good as we explored the shopping promenade rumored to be in the direction Dwayne and I hadn’t yet explored. Wes and Piper went back after our first round of tapas, leaving the adventurous ones to explore the Thursday evening nightlife in the area–and it was fabulous!

We found our promenade right away and it began with a concert on a tram. The star played for a few minutes before waving goodbye as the tram took her further down to the next wave of fans. Decorative lights, exuberant crowds and new sights and smells made for a very festive atmosphere and Kyla barely got lost each time she stopped to dance to the music or give coins to a busker. I did the “ice cream trick” thing for the experience though the product itself was possibly the worst ice cream I’ve ever tasted. We had to cut our evening short when the youngers couldn’t turn the key hard enough to get into the apartment. Sigh.

We had a few hours the next morning before the van was supposed to pick us up, so Dwayne accompanied me on one last excursion–climbing the Galata Tower, which not only had great views, but also a museum of historical Istanbul. One of ah ha’s for me was this remnant of the Golden Horn chain:

The Golden Horn is the waterway that was the strength and weakness of mighty Constantinople. Strong, because it made the city a perfect location for trade. Weak, because where trading ships can enter, so can enemies. An enormous chain was forged, stretching from tower to tower across the water, in the 9th century. Eventually, complicated pulleys and magic allowed it to be raised and lowered, a bit like a drawbridge. It worked well to keep enemy ships out. It even worked well when enemy ships “pottaged” — landed, rolled foot by food over logs around the chain and then set back in the water. The Byzantines just set some of their old ships on fire and sent them out to engulf the invaders, who couldn’t escape because the damn chain was in their way. But the Ottomans, in 1453, somehow pottaged successfully and used gun power to get through the previously impregnable land walls. That last breech is considered the dying breath of the Middle Ages–and the end of the Roman Empire.

And thus ends my final history lesson before leaving for the airport. See you soon, Mom & Dad!

We had hoped to spend more time in Turkey, but my Great Croatian Knee Adventure changed our timeline so that we got only two and a half days in Istanbul. Luckily, Dwayne and I are great with half days!

Of all the places we got to explore, I rated Instanbul as “Most Exotic”. Not only does it straddle Europe and Asia, but it has …. Turkish baths. Sigh of happiness.

We had an excellent location, Europe-side, just a few blocks from Galata Tower. (I had never heard of it, but I mention it so I can find it again when we return.) Dwayne and I took our half-day to wander down by the waterfront and figure out public transportation, that, like Washington State, includes lots of ferries. We figured it out in enough time to be only 10 minutes late for our first family tour–a walk-and-taste tour on the Asian side of Istanbul. And the views were pretty great.

I had scheduled a full-day tour for Wednesday, which turned out to be a half-day too long. Again, think hard before signing up to be besties with new guide for a day, especially when you have no choice in who shows up. However, we mostly got to do most of the must-sees, and got a bonus.

First, here’s my take on the history of Istanbul-not-Constantinople. When Constantine chose this city to be made the new seat of the Roman empire, he left Rome to the popes (and you see where that got the world). The western Roman Empire petered out not long afterward, but the eastern Byzantine Empire lasted another thousand years, eventually losing out to the Ottomans. Dwayne and I wondered how THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (aka, the Byzantines), who had not been conquered for 1400 years, lost to the Ottomans. Kyla, with 1 semester of AP World History and a brain for the why of things, was able to explain to us that the Ottomans had superior use of gunpowder. No surprise, she was right.

Here’s an important thing about the Ottomans: they had sultans. Sultans were just like emperors, kings, pharaohs, medieval popes, and orange presidents: self-serving and dictatorial. Mostly this meant lavish lifestyles in decadent palaces wearing splendid clothes while being tended to by yes-men, a word which until recently, didn’t need to be de-genderized. Perhaps the biggest difference between sultans and other patriarchs is the wearing the turbans (instead of other funny hats) and ostentatiously reading the Koran, instead of pretending to read the Bible.** And sultans lived in places like Topkapi Palace (at least until it got boring and newer, bigger, better palaces were built):

We also visited the Hagia Sophia, the Holy Wisdom, an Eastern Orthodox church-cum-mosque-cum-museum-cum-mosque** again.

We had hoped to explore the Blue Mosque as well, but it was closed for renovations. But that gave us more than enough time to visit something not on the Top Ten tourist sights–an old city cistern that does subterranean laser shows.

Not counting food, we fit in one more adventure that day. We went to the Grand Bazaar, which Wikipedia describes as 1) one of the world’s most visited attractions and 2) one of the largest and oldest covered markets. It is listed as having 61 streets and 4,000 shops, accomplishing being both superlative and superfluous simultaneously. Turkish delight, tea, and a few casual necklaces are all that hopped into the shopping bag that day before us introverts got overwhelmed. We then “just stopped by to use the restroom” at a Turkish carpet emporium, which felt like an ambush by both our guide and the salesman. I did turn down the beautiful rock-bottom-priced $5000 carpet because, well I’m not sure I need a reason to not bring home a large, expensive rug, no matter how plush and beautiful.

In 1.5 days, we hit Istanbul pretty hard. We have just another day and a half before flying home. What other trouble could we get into, one might politely ask….

*I really don’t think I’m being too harsh here.

**It was reverted back to a mosque in 2020, signaling that Turkish secularism is on the decline in this “religious” strongman throwback era. I have feelings.

We landed in Istanbul this afternoon! Tomorrow, we do a “When Europe Meets Asia” full-day tour. I’m blogging about Croatia now and then will catch up on Greece. Whatever I don’t finish in the next few evenings, I get to complete during our 12-hour flight home this Friday.

Love,

Denise

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