Istanbul, Turkey Spring 2011

Jamie and I left the compound following some co-workers to the Bahrain airport at 10:00 pm for a 2:30 am flight from Bahrain to Istanbul.  We had planned a trip to Turkey and plan to see Istanbul, Ephesus, and Cappadocia in 7 days.  The drive to the airport was pretty easy despite going through various barricades with armored vehicles and tons of guys with Kevlar vests and machine guns.  The protests in Bahrain are still going on, and they are taking their protection seriously.

A 4 hour flight dropped us in Istanbul at 6:30 am.  We took the Metro to the center of the city near the Blue Mosque and then found our hostel by 9:00 am.  We dropped our stuff off and headed out immediately to begin touring this amazing historical city. 

Some has asked, “What is so special about Istanbul?” This question can take several books to answer, but here is Jamie’s short answer, “Istanbul is the cultural crossroads between the East and the West. It has been the capital of several major world empires which means that the city has seen a great mix of different cultures, food, architecture, and religion.”

Among the empires that have controlled the city include: Romans, Byzantines, and then the Ottomans before the current Republic.  If you want, you can read the entire history in any site by Googling it; but for any historian, it is the place you want to go to see history come alive.

Today was such a day that I’ll remember forever.  Reading and teaching about the city, the empires, the religious significance, and the cultures is one thing, but actually touching, walking, and sitting in the midst of the history of Istanbul is really indescribable.  Nonetheless, I’ll tell you what we saw, post the pictures, and try my best to narrate this day.  I am amazed this is the first day in such an amazing country.

Our first stop was the Blue Mosque.  The mosque was built during the early 1600s in the reign of the Ottoman Empire.  It is also known for its blue tiles in the interior and its 6 minarets.  Traditionally, Muslim mosques have 4 minarets.  The sultan at the time ordered for 6 to be built to mimic Mecca, but then ordered one more to built in Mecca.  It took several pictures outside and inside.  The thing that bothered me the most were the wires that were all over the place inside supporting the lighting.  It really distracts from a beautiful structure.

Across the street from the Blue Mosque is perhaps the most famous landmark in Turkey.  The Hagia Sophia was first built in the early 300s by the famous Roman Emperor Constantinople.  It was a fairly modest structure then, but has since then been destroyed and rebuilt by three different groups.  It was first controlled the Christian Roman Empire, then when the Ottomans overthrew the last of the Byzantine Empire, they converted it into a mosque, plastering over the mosaics, restructuring it, and adding minarets.  When the Ottoman Empire ended, Turkey secularized the Hagia Sophia and turned it into a museum.  As a result, they have begun to uncover the plastering of the mosaics.  This is a difficult process and only some of the mosaics remain.  Nonetheless, what remains is an absolute fusion of a Christian temple and a Muslim mosque, symbolizing the battle that was waged and continues to be waged in this region. 

Perhaps what struck me the most was the beautiful mosaic of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus (which looks a little scary) that would be right over the alter of a regular church.  Below it, the Muslims had plastered over this mosaic and built an area recognizing where the prayers should face toward Mecca.  When it was restored, what now remains is both: the direction of where the Muslims pray toward Mecca but right above, the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus looking down. 

To the southwest of the Hagia Sophia is a mile marker of the Roman Road.  You can still see some of the bricks used for the road under some of the sediment, but a tower still remains.  The Romans were famous for their road building and aqueduct building, so our next stop was next door to the Roman Basilica Cistern, an enormous underwater cistern that was built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 527.  While not used for water anymore, you can tell how it was a water source for the people.  The most interesting part were the Greek Medusa heads carved into the bottom of two of the columns.  The exact origin of the heads is unknown, but they are amazing to see.

We then strolled down the road to eat a Turkish “shwarma” before going to the Grand Bizaar, the largest underground shopping center in the world.  We didn’t buy anything yet.  We brought an extra suitcase just for souvenirs from this place. 

We napped for a while since all of this was on about 2 hours of sleep, then headed out with some friends to a local restaurant around the corner.  What was special about this place was that as they were expanding their store a few years ago, they found the remains of the old Byzantine Palace first built in 372.  You can now go underneath the restaurant and see the original walls of the palace.  Crazy!

Be sure to check out our pictures in the photo album and check back for more on our trip to Turkey. 

First Trip to Bahrain

Jamie had been across the causeway to Bahrain to go to the airport, but it was my first time going over to this small island nation.  You can Google Bahrain if you wish, but it has recently gotten more press than ever due to the recent protests on the heels of the Egyptian and Libyan protests.  We had been wanting to go to Bahrain for a few weeks, but life gets in the way, the week catches up with you, and hundreds of protestors were blocking our way.

The U.S. Consulate over here had given expats the go ahead on traveling to Bahrain.  The protestors have now centralized themselves in the Pearl roundabout (the city center) and have done so rather peacefully the last few days.  So, Jamie and I decided to go ahead and head over to Bahrain for the day, Saturday, February 26, 2011.

We usually work on a Saturday, but I had a scheduled day off and one of the Princes cancelled all schools and government offices because the King was coming in from his successful heart surgery from the USA.  Interestingly, the cancelled all schools in the Kingdom, which meant a day off for Jamie too.

Bahrain only takes about 45 minutes to get to from our villa.  Most of this time is spent driving on the causeway, the bridge they have built from KSA to Bahrain.  It is a nice 4 lane highway, but you obviously have to stop several times for customs to get out of Saudi, customs to get into Bahrain, and insurance to get into Bahrain for your vehicle.  Many expats and Saudis go to Bahrain for the shopping, pork products, and alcohol.  There is actually a nightlife there, and their weekends are the same as the rest of the world (Saturday and Sunday).

We know of some people who "pork smuggle."  The grocery stores and butchers there will simply label your pork product as "beef" if you tell them it is for the "bridge."  Jamie and I didn't chance this.  A very select few people will also bring in alcohol and even Christmas trees (which they have to tell the border people are "patio trees").  

We had wanted to go to this restaurant at a place called The Country Club, but we could not find it on our GPS.  Instead, we followed directions for a place called Ric's Kountry Kitchen, a pretty well known restaurant that caters to expats.  We got there early enough for breakfast and has some delicious pig (sausage and bacon) to go along with some biscuits and gravy.

It was still early, but we thought we'd hit up City Center, a rather nice mall closer to downtown.  It is complete with a very nice movie theater serving "pizza cones" (yes, literally a pizza inside of a cone) and even a water park.  We shopped around for a little while and finally decided to watch "The Tourist."  It was decent.  Angelina Jolie was nice to watch although for some reason, so just doesn't do it for me.

After the movie, we hit up this steak house at the mall, then headed back across the causeway to KSA.

Overall, a great little day getaway that we'll definitely need to start doing more often.  Many people even go over there for evenings.