First we checked into our hotel. I have an awesome roommate! After a well-needed tooth brushing and face wash we walked directly to our first site, Hagia Sofia. It's this thousand year old mosque/Christian church museum. It's pretty cool.
We then went to the HippoDrome. This is a site where the ancients used to do their horse racing for sport. Pretty sweet as well.
We then went back to our hotel. Everyone is pretty pooped. I'm just resting by the roof pool. Pictures of the view to come.
Ok, so I have a few interesting and cultural stories that happened today.
First, not going to lie, people really do try to rob/scam foreigners. The first scam happened when we were walking off the plane. This guy "dropped" over 1,000 dollars on the floor while walking. We didn't pick it up because he was trying to get some dope to pick it up for him, then try to get more money by saying he didn't get all his money back. Second, these gypsy people tried surrounding us at the HippoDrome, but they were thwarted by our large group. Last, I'm pretty sure someone went through my backpack at the hotel. Luckily I don't keep anything valuable in my backpack.
Next, I really struggled with ordering dinner. First, everything is in Turkish. So I just pointed to some chicken and a tortilla thing, hoping they'd make something good. I think I ordered a Duna. The language barrier is definitely hard. I gave the owner three lira to pay for it and he told me OK. Overall it was pretty humorous because neither one of us could communicate.
There are no traffic rules here. So people just randomly walk in the street and cars drive crazy. I thought I was going to witness an accident like twenty times.
We got to experience the Muslim Call to Prayer. The prayer is in a different language and we were on a busy street so we didn't see anyone praying. But they shout it out/project the prayer on the street, it's really different. Think BYU praying at a football game but amplified to all of Salt Lake City.
Oh, we can't flush toilet paper down the toilet due to the city's plumbing system. You have to throw it away in a garbage next to the toilet. Let's just say my first public bathroom experience in the Hagia Sofia was interesting.
Well, I think that's all for today. Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything.
Here's the view from our hotel roof:
The Black Sea
The Blue Mosque!
A really attractive picture if me. Look what 15 hours of planes and a day in the Turkish sun can do. Surprisingly I don't feel that exhausted. We'll see about that tomorrow though.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Istanbul, Turkey
Cool pics! Scary scam attempts though.
ReplyDeleteDurum falafel's are my fav! You have to have falafel while you're there. You might like it more than meat even. Rich loves mitraillettes but i think it's a Belgian-Turkish thing (like a big sandwich with meat and toppings and frites) and you might not be able to find it. He loves the typical doner kebab too.
I learned all about Haiga Sophia in my Humanities class. I feel very connected to you now. Except that you have seen it for real and I have seen it in pictures.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I hope you like my random spout of comments. I am lazy and just started reading your blog. So therefore, you get comments as I am catching up.