Konstantinopolis

So day two was just as good as day one. I got up early, although I woke up later than usual. Got a full ten hours sleep! Yay!

Yesterday I wanted to go to the Basilica Cistern but the queue was quite long so I decided to head back early this morning. Plan effectively executed, I got there five minutes after they opened and there were only about ten other people there. It was amazing, of all the places I've been it seemed the holiest, and it's not at all religious! Basically it's a really big hole in the ground which was going to act as a water reserve in case of siege. It is a huge underground room with lots of pillars, including lots decorated and two Medusa carvings which were probably stolen from another site. I found all that especially interesting because all of it was intended to be underwater! Why decorate pillars no one is meant to see? Because we can, and because 1000 years later people will surely appreciate it.

Then I went to the National Museum of Archaeology. Their Ancient Orient section was one of the best museum displays I've ever been to. They had excavated an old fortress and has found lots of reliefs on the path in, so they sort of rebuilt the path as much as possible, lots of displays like that that weren't as isolated from time and plae. No glass or rope either. I really liked it. The classical section was interesting too, lots of sarcophogi! And because I started the day early it wasn't too busy, although in the Byzantine section I got stuck behind four Americans walking slowly and saying things like "Oh my gosh, wouldja look at that?" and "Tiberius, but I thought he was Roman?" (Well of course he was, the whole section was about when Constantinople was the capital of the Eastern ROMAN empire... yeah I get frustrated with people who don't read signs. It wouldn't matter if they didn't always have to talk loudly as well.) Anyway, the museum as a whole was one of the best I've been to and I really really wanted a book to take away with me for pictures and information but the only one they put out is hard cover and 80 lira (NZ$88) so I pouted and bought myself a pashmina instead (15YTL).

It's nice to have a currency that's similar to NZ for once, but I have started referring to it in my head as the yertle because the way it's written is YTL. It stands for something Turkish Lira. Or Yertle if your read too much Dr Seuss as a child.

After that I went to the Blue Mosque which was amazing, really huge and beautifully decorated. I eavesdropped on a tour guide and heard a funny story. The mosque has 6 minarets, which is rare, usually they have four. So after people guessing for a while the guide says, you'll never guess because it was a mistake. Turns out the sultan wanted golden minarets but the word gold sounds like the word six so he got six instead! This would have been bad news because Mecca had six and no mosque should compete with Mecca, but luckily Mecca added one so instead of being blasphemous the Sultan had one more thing to brag about over his weekly poker game.

Then this afternoon I went to the Grand Bazaar! The oldest mall in the world, of course I couldn't miss it. Pretty amazing, lots of winding alleys and paths, beautiful arches and painted ceilings. The sellers are very insistent, I told them all I was broke (true, although a few had visa signs... very bad idea) and they would say "Money doesn't matter, look look, you take my card?" I'm not sure what they thought I would do instead of money, I was a bit afraid to ask :P I practised my home mall voice "Just looking thanks" and got the reply "You wanna just look in my shop?" - it's hard to type intonation but let's just say when he said just look it didn't sound like that's what he meant! It was really fun, although the leather street almost made me cry. Nowhere that smells that good can fit my budget, and none of the stores had that magic visa sign (yes, I looked) but oh it was beautiful. I found this brown knee length jacket with a belt and buckle on the sleeves... Yeah. I don't think this is the trip which is going to make me less materialistic or stop shopping. After I decided to head back to the hostel it took me half an hour just to find my way out of the bazaar, but I had a nice walk homewards. I like day two in any city because I sort of know my way around the area I'm staying, it's nice to feel familiar.

I'm really really enjoying Istanbul, I went walking around 7 last night because I was tired but wanted to stay awake until a respectable hour. It was all still very lit up, lots of people around and all the shops were still open. It was really beautiful, I think I'll do it again tonight and remember my camera this time. My hostel is in the centre of Sultanahmet so I can see the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia from the roof and there are lots of shops and restaurants around. Also there are lots of cats! They're everywhere, and most look pretty healthy so I'd say garbage disposal is low and rat population is high. I'm not silly enough to pet them or anything but it's kind of nice to have so many hanging around, like pets of the city!

I have to say Turkish men are the best/worst. Not as sleazy as the Greeks in Athens, but still pretty bad. They manage to mostly sound humourous, or occasionally charming, but it can still get pretty annoying. The bartender upstairs told me he'd carry me to bed if I fell asleep, which was mostly just funny. The best one yesterday was when a guy I was about to pass said "Oh there you are, you're late!" and I looked at my watch because I am so regularly late to things that I just assume it's true! Then I realise and laugh and keep walking while he calls out "Hey wait, wait miss!" I also got "Cookie girl! Cookie girl!" while I was (you guessed it) eating a cookie. I imagine it will all go to my head, but as soon as I pass a window after my 10 hour bus ride the swelling should go right down.

Oh and Istanbul has the best street food snack! Corn on the cob. Only 1YTL (ha, you're all thinking it too now aren't you!) and you get a really yummy steamed corn cob. Totally rocked my lunch hour.

That's it for me, I've got another day tomorrow to explore before I head back to Thessaloniki tomorrow night so I'll update you from there I guess!