Turkey, its not just whats for dinner. Istanbul is a dream realized!

Turkey! What an entrance! As you sail into Istanbul, you see the the convergence of many waterways., one way is the Aegean Sea, one way to the Black Sea , and we are docked in the Bosporus Sea. I guess I have used the words amazing, beautiful and wonderful too much in these postings, but I am running out of adjectives to describe the overwhelming grandeur of this place. We are inside a very busy harbor, beside a city of 15 million people. The minarets rise in all directions. 95% of the people here are Muslim. On our way into Turkey, they have had several seminars on the ship about the language and shopping. Lucky Linda attended the shopping one and came away winning a Turkish rug! Oh, Bill is quite happy now because he doesn’t have to buy her one in the carpet shops! She was asked to choose the colors and I think they are still waiting for her to decide.

We had a tour here arranged by Scott. He researched the guides on the internet and we chose one to help us get situated and see and hear about some interesting sights. Our tour guide was named Omer. He was very fun and extremely knowledgeable. It is amazing to me how he could tell right away the personalities of the group. He told Linda (our resident shopper) not to drink too much raki with the shop keepers or she might wake up the next day with a mustachioed Turkish husband and no money in her purse. He told Bill just where to find the best Turkish baths and he pegged Jane (Jan to us) as the adventurous trouble maker. He drove us to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia first off. We had lots of information on the way and saw more mosques and a lighthouse on the way for Judy. I was a little overwhelmed when we reached the mosques. They are stunning, huge, beautiful classical buildings with seemingly millions of people swarming around them. Every time we stopped and Omer started to talk, a few people would stand close to listen to him. His English was very good. He is from Capadochia, very well educated even though his father had only 2 years of primary school and his mother no formal education. He has 7 sisters. Poor, outnumbered man! Anyway, we arrived at the mosque about 2. There were so many people that I never thought we’d be able to keep together. It was difficult enough to stay together in Rome. 6 people were about all we could do as a group in Rome and stay together. Here we have 12 and a tour guide and had to stay together. Omer could handle us, however. He marched like he was on a mission and had the best whistle! Yes, Lindsey and Kyle, Dad isn’t the only one who can let us know where he is with a whistle! I wish we had the cord to connect our camera to the computer because I’d love to let you see some photos. I will post some when we get home so that you can see the beautiful domes and minarets and mosaics.

Right across the street is the Hagia Sophia. This was once a Greek Orthodox church. It was started in the 6th century AD or close to that. It was rebuilt on the original sight 2 more times before it was taken over and turned into a mosque. The amazing thing about this sight is that even though the Muslim religion doesn’t allow any faces or icons in their places of worship, none of the Christian symbols were destroyed. They covered them with limestone and whitewash. Sometime in the 1900’s it was turned into a museum and not a place of worship. They began uncovering some of the mosaics and now you can stand at the alter and see the Muslim niche where they held services and see the Islam writings and passages from the Koran and see Christ and the virgin Mary above looking down on you. There are Muslim writings and 12 lambs side by side. You see the huge marble urns for washing before you pray next to a cross in the marble floor. It is an extraordinary sight of the blending of 2 religions. It was a powerful experience.

Next stop was the carpet shop. Yes, they told us all about the Turkish carpets and how much better they are than Persian rugs and so on and so forth, but as they brought each one out, each got more beautiful. It was so amazing to see a rug and then have the person displaying it take a quite flick of the wrist and change the colors from light to dark. The nap and the light change how the rug looks and it is truly beautiful. NO ONE was going to buy a rug and 4 of the 6 couples are taking one home. I know you are curious, but yes, Bill and Linda couldn’t resist and purchased one to go with the one they won in the raffle. We are all delighted with our purchases and can’t wait to see how they look at home. Now that we have made a purchase in a Celebrity shop, we are all entering the contest to win a free cruise and a shopping spree. Whoever wins, we are all joining you and you have to share the shopping spree!

The biggest adventure of all: the Grand Bazaar! What a mad house! It is something like 6,000 shops all under the same roof with 60 streets and 4 times that in salesmen! After an overwhelming zip through with Omer helping the negotiating, we safely arrived back at the bus and back to the ship. Ding, ding, day one over! The only thing we had to do that night was eat, dance and sleep! And dance Jan did! Oh, Jane was the hit of the party! We were dancing and following a short little cruise director, dancing every move he danced until he drug Jan up front and then we followed every dance SHE danced. Yes, sheep, we are all sheep. But it was fun and Jan was the best of the ones dragged up front. Believe me, we slept well!

Next morning. Ok, if this is Tuesday it must be Belgium. Lindsey, that is an old movie, hope you’ve seen it. Catch the reference. It is actually Saturday and we are still in Istanbul. Thank you, Lord, for the extra dayt. Friday was such a rush to see everything that the extra morning was such a blessing. Judy, Scott, Jan, Pete, Sue and I went out to find another adventure. We walked to the Galata Tower and looked at Istanbul from 360 degrees. It was a view to die for! We saw all the mosques and minarets. We saw from sea to shining sea. The harbor was chock full o’ boats and the roof tops were filled with plants and patio furniture, the streets with umbrellas to shade the sun and little people walking around like ants. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world or the 10 lira to take the elevator and climb. After the tower, we worked our way to the river through little shops selling hardware and tools and coffee and skirts. We walked along the Golden Horn and were caught up in a fish market. The fresh fish had water running from bucket to bucket and the salesmen were real fishmongers! We then crossed the Galata Bridge, partly on the lower deck which is filled with restaurants and bars and partly on the top deck where people were fishing. I was never so surprised as when I was walking along a restaurant and saw a fishing line being hauled up with 6 little fish caught! Once a bucket of water was being hauled up and spilled, almost soaking us! What a life! Across the bridge we came to the spice market. Another sight not to be missed. The sights, sounds and smells were a treat for the senses. The people were very friendly and we bought plenty of knick knacks and gifts. Things seemed less expensive than the Grand Bazaar and less hectic and crowded and overwhelming. The place was hopping nonetheless! Sue bargained and bargained and tried to purchase 3 hats for 20 lira. A lira is about 70 cents, maybe. She had them down to 3 hats for 22 lira. Then she asked if she could take the 3 hats and the 16 year old boy selling them and they said yes to 20 lira! Sue always makes friends with the kids. We had to drag her away from the boy fishing. She was talking and talking to him and then fishing with him on the bridge. I think both of those boys will remember Sue and how her friendly manner and joy changed their lives in some way we will never know.

After booking it back to the ship, we shared our treasures and relaxed over lunch and some reflexology, some gambling and whiskey tasting, some martinis and lots of laughs. Some day ask Ron about disposable underwear.

We are now thinking about what it is like to live in a city of 15 million, how one incidental encounter with a person of faith might change the path of your life and how 2 religions can use the same place of worship without destroying the other. God works in amazing ways and we may never know in this lifetime what the impact of our travels are. We don’t know how we our lives intersect and change other lives, but we know they do and we trust that they are used for the greater good.

Tomorrow, Kusidasi and Ephesis!