Turkey

I fell asleep on my flight from London and woke up 4 hours later outside Istanbul in Turkey.


Old walls of Constantinople


Taksim Square outside Marina's hotel window


Taksim Square


Asia's just across the Bosphorus Strait


old Constantinople across the Golden Horn






Yeni Mosque


Outside the Yeni Mosque

Turkey was cool. The border between Asia and Europe. Where East literally meets West. A country where 98% of the population is Muslim but is secular anyway. Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire and the capital of the Eastern Roman/Byzantium Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church when it was known as Constantinople. Istanbul takes its identity from both European and Middle Eastern influences. Turks dressed in typical Western summer clothes and drank beer at sidewalk cafes under the blaring muezzins' call to prayer at the local mosques. Istanbul's the city of a thousand minarets. Mosques are just as ubiquitous in Istanbul as they are in Cairo. But bars and nightclubs are just as ubiquitous in Istanbul as any other European city. Like other Muslim countries in the Middle East, Turkey is a place where tradition and modernization seem inevitably forced into a conflict. I never saw a single person wearing a dishdasha or an abayya the whole time. Maybe they're probably just trying to impress the EU officials.


Galata Tower


Old City of Constantinople/Sultanahmet across the Golden Horn...Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque off in the distance




The Sultan's Palace


Sea of Marmara




Across the Golden Horn

I was in Taksim Square when Turkey scored a goal with 0 seconds left to tie Croatia (1-1) and then subsequently beat them in penalty kicks (3-1). That was my last night in Turkey and the place pretty much rioted. The main street in Galata was deserted during the game but once Turkey pulled off another Euro 08 miracle that night, the place was packed and going nuts. Turks are just obsessed with football. Crazy fun.


Istiklal Caddesi


Taksim Square during the Euro Cup 08 match against Croatia

Earlier that day I took a ferry up the Bosphorus Strait, which divides Europe and Asia. Istanbul is on the European side (Thrace) and the ferry went up the Strait into the Black Sea and I got off on the Asian side (Anatolia/Asia Minor). There were tons of oil tankers (probably mostly Russian) going in and out of the Black Sea. I wandered around this village a bit and found this old castle at the top of a hill.


Ferry up the Bosphrous Strait into the Black Sea... getting off in Asia Minor/Anatolia




the Bosphrous Strait and the Black Sea


the Bosphorus Strait that divides Asia and Europe


the Black Sea...Europe's on the other side


old Ottoman castle


Dolmabahce Palace...where Ataturk also died




Besides that, I did the usual tourist stuff in Istanbul. Topkapi Palace, the Ottoman Sultan's residence, was expensive but worth it, though it felt nearly overrun by Japanese tourists. I visited the Hagia Sophia (St. Sophia, built in 532AD by Emperor Justinian of the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire) that was once the most prestigious church in Christianity. It was the largest cathedral ever built in the world for nearly a thousand years. That is, until Muhammad the Conquerer and the Muslims captured Constantinople in 1453 (renaming it Istanbul) to establish the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Then they converted Christianity's #1 church into a mosque and removed all the symbols of Christianity. The altar was replaced with a Qibla and the mosaics were plastered over. They even built the huge Sultanahmet mosque directly across the street in front of the Hagia Sophia. Of all the Muslim lands I have ever traveled to, Istanbul had the most beautiful mosques. I'm bumping Iran's mosques down to #2...kind of ironic since Turkey actively encourages secularism and Iran is an Islamic Republic.


Entrance to Topkapi Palace


Turkish Kids in the national dress


Inside the Palace of the Sultan


Inside the Hagia Sophia...Allah and Muhammad


The Qibla that replaced the altar




One of the mosaics that was plastered over


Sultanahmet/Blue Mosque






Sultanahmet Mosque






at the Hippodrome: Egyptian Obelisk from Temple of Karnak and Constantine's Column - stripped of its gold


Hagia Sophia


inside the Sultanahmet Mosque


Basilica Cistern, used to store water during sieges


Grand Bazaar




looking down at the Old City of Constantinople/Sultanahmet

After meeting up with Marına (ND Army ROTC/Farley frıend) on her last nıght/my fırst nıght ın Istanbul and going around Turkey and the Black Sea for a week, I flew to Beirut, Lebanon to start my intensive Arabic classes this summer. I'll be in Lebanon from June 21 to August 2. Beirut is best known as the party capital of the Middle East. Too bad it's also known as a war zone. Update on Beirut coming soon too.