Friendsgiving: November 20th - 25th, 2023
Maria and I got dropped off at the Antalya airport together for our flight to Istanbul. Maria had a much earlier flight than me so she was allowed to go through security and I got to wait between security one and security two of the airport. It is more awkward than I realized trying to hang out in public places and not sit. I spent some time pacing. I spent some time reading leaning against a wall - oops, leaning is also NOT great for my back. Back to standing straight and reading. But then a nice family waved me to their seats when they left them and I didn't know how to turn that down politely so I took a seat for a while and then creakily stood up after I was sure they were gone. In the end, I paid for some curly fries from Arby's so I could stand at their high table to eat and read.
Eventually I was able to go through second security and wait at the gate. Where I did some floor stretches. On the flight I sat for take off and landing and for the ten minutes we hit turbulence and the seat belt sign came on. The rest of it, I stood and as I tried to get my hips and lower back to not feel like they were filling up with poison I realized I was shifting in a particular way I associate with my mom. After I landed, as I waited for my bag I laid down on the ground to straighten out my back and immediately a concerned man came up to check on me. Lessons learned: sitting: fine; Laying down: concerning; standing when everyone else is sitting: socially awkward.
I got my bag and willed my back to straighten as I tottered out of the airport a little after midnight. Leaving the airport I was accosted by 1, 2, 3 cabs asking ridiculous prices until a fourth man said "taxi" "yes, please" but this time my “yes” was maybe tinged with frustration "ok but you have to get in this line" "Oh thank you kind sir!" Finally, in a cab running a meter and smoking a cigarette the driver offered me, my back started to relax some of its overly tight muscles. I will make it to the apartment where my friends are and Ben will meet us in the morning. After the taxi dropped me off I stumbled, hunchbacked, into the apartment and thanks to Scotts detailed description of how to get in...and Maria graciously waking up to open the door for me as I fumbled with the keys.
In the morning, my back is not nearly as bad as I worried it would be, Hong-Yen as always was awake and ready to make breakfast or figure out where to go to get some. We waited for Ben to arrive from his bus and once 5 adults in various stages of jetlag, overnight bus exhaustion, and medical distress were ready to go we found our way to a nice cafe that put up with our groggy, cat distracted and indecisive group.
At this point in the trip Ben and I have only needed to care for each other and communicate needs to one another. We also only had each other to converse with. Maria coming to Antalya was the first friend I had talked to in person with since Ellie and Cristobal in Norway which had been months ago. With Maria and Scott and Hong-Yen all at once I felt like I was tripping over my tongue while also just wanting them to talk so my ears could soak up pieces of their lives. Talking to strangers or friends for a week is one thing, but these are people I truly care about, and I hadn't realized how starved for that kind of conversation I was.
We spent our first day in Istanbul checking out the spice bazaar. We wandered from shop to shop. Scott chatting up the sellers asking about their lives; creating space in the melee of buy buy buy! We slowly leap frogged each other through the maze of stalls as Hong-Yen flitted from shiny to shinier until we all bought too many spices and teas. We stumbled out of the bazaar and into a warren of streets lined with shops. We skirted our way around the bazaar and back towards home. We lost Maria in a cloth store. I waited on a street corner while Scott went back to where he last saw her and she came out with a handful of sewing supplies just in time for Hong-Yen and I to have disappeared into a cheap jewelry shop where I picked out some evil eye bracelets. Eventually we all found each other again.
We cooked in the apartment that night and spent our evening talking. I shouldn't say we cooked. Scott, Hong-Yen, Maria and Ben cooked. After struggling to take off my socks, I straightened out my back on the hardwood floor and breathed a sigh of relief that I could just stay there until I needed to get up right to feed myself.
Our second day in Istanbul I woke up to Hong-Yen making breakfast and Ben working the coffee machine and I got to revel in just trying to take care of myself while friends took care of the chores of keeping us fed and caffeinated.
We headed out into the city and piled onto the city tram line. The tram was packed by the time we got off and we got off a stop too early as one of us thought it was the right stop and we had gotten separated so we couldn't communicate so we all piled off. We hiked up to the square with the Sultan Ahmed Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. Immediately, a nice man starts talking to us about the best way to approach these things and actually we should pause our touristing and follow him to a carpet store. Hong-Yen is still wondering what would have happened if she had taken him up on his offer. Would her home be filled with carpets and her with no money to fix a roof? Would she have had an opportunity to ask "what causes teen angst in Turkey"? Would she have been turned into a cat and joined the cats of Catstantinople? Alas we will never know as we were just too focused on our plan for the day of seeing some mosques.
Three of us covered our hair while the other two uncovered theirs to enter the first mosque for the day. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is also known as the Blue Mosque and it is stunning. It is a place that encourages meditation and contemplation and slowing down. Which is quite the feat in the midst of surging tourists and the constant cries of street venders beyond it's walls. I removed my shoes without any problem, but when I needed to put them back on I was grateful I found an out of the way set of stairs I could use so I could reach my feet by being on various levels. I have to admit I didn't really reckon with this particular "back is out" logistical problem before I was faced with it, but I managed and just hoped there would be convenient steps the next time too.
After the Blue Mosque we took some time to eat our lunch under a tree in the square. Then we headed to the Hagia Sophia which has seen some changes in its nearly 1500 year history. It was built on the foundations of a pagan temple as a christian church which became a cathedral for the Eastern Orthodox, then taken in crusades by the Roman Catholic church, then converted into a mosque with the Turkish conquest, then turned into a museum with Ataturk reforms and now functioning today as a mosque again after Erdogan's changes. Hong-Yen had seen it on a previous trip while it was still a museum and we saw it months before visiting became more restrictive. This meant that there were certain areas which were now off limits to tourists, some of the Christian iconography from the building's pre mosque days had white sheets sort of covering some of the images, and during prayer times you were asked to leave...well not really...you were asked to go to the back and be quiet while people prayed. We stayed for a little bit of the service but quickly bowed out and Ben waited for me to struggle into my shoes.
It was time for more caffeine and we wanted to get closer to the Bosphorus. We wandered towards the water and found a small little shop. Well, really a nice old man shouted to come on in so I think they found us. We enjoyed some tea and complimentary baklava. Finally, we made it to the water side where we paused in the sun, played with some cats, and pondered long timelines.
Maria, Scott and Hong-Yen were ready to head home but Ben and I wanted to swing back through the Hagia Sophia so we split up.
We still didn't time it quite right (there are a lot of prayer times in Islam) so Ben and I still felt like we needed a bit more time in this space to stare at the tile work, play find the Christian references, and generally stand in awe in a building that was so heavy with human history the walls sagged...or maybe that was earthquake damage.
After the Hagia Sophia part two, it was time to head back home. Ben and I headed home through the Grand Bazaar. I gave into vanity and bought myself a beautiful scarf, Ben bought souvenirs for nieces and nephews. It was nice to move through a busy maze like this as just the two of us. Much easier to keep track of just Ben. When we got home we discovered that Scott had acquired a backgammon set in his signature colors! We played some rounds. Maria beat me far too many times for my competitive pride. I don't remember if I did pull the "my back hurts no more rounds" or if I just considered pulling that card so I would stop getting backgammoned.
The next day it was time for Hong-Yen's number one to-do: the Basilica Cistern. Time for us rats to visit a sewer! We decided to take the tram again over to the tourist area. We get off at the Topkapi Palace which Hong-Yen refers to as opulence palace. We walked through the grounds but we decided not to go inside as the tickets were steep. Ben and I are still unsure about how we feel about paying to see how rich folk live. So we walked away from that one and headed to the cistern.
The Basilica Cistern is a very cool space. I hope one day they host an Unsound style music festival there. The roof is held up by beautifully carved columns even though this space was never meant to be a public space. Today, there are art pieces scattered amongst the columns. The dark lighting and reflections on the water added to the pieces.
With the cistern done, Hong-Yen and Maria were ready to call it a day. Ben, Scott and I wanted to check out the archaeology museum still. So we split into two groups and Ben, Scott and I checked out some sarcophagi and mummies. The most impressive ones were excavated from Sidon, Lebanon, by Türkiye's first archeologist, partly just to show western powers that Türkiye could have impressive archeological exhibits, too. As often happens in museums the lyrics from Kimya Dawson's song "Underground" kept running through my head "don't ever put this body is a casket Burn it and put the ashes in a basket And throw them in the Puget Sound I don't ever want to be [on display]"
The next day we were ready for a break from all this sightseeing so it was time for a Turkish bath. Hong-Yen had arranged for all of us to have a spa day. But first we stop for coffee. Then we headed to the bath. This space is gender separated so Ben and Scott head to the men's area and the three of us head to the women' where we start in a steam room, before being scrubbed down in bubbles and massaged by some strong women. I was nervous about the massage and my back, but my back felt MUCH better after this.
After the spa, we headed out to search for a restaurant Scott had found that was known to handle gluten allergies. Along the way we pass restaurant after restaurant with a man outside inviting us in, some more in your space than others. We had gotten so used to side stepping them that when the man for Scott's restaurant invited us in we all reflexively said no and stepped past him only to follow the line on google maps straight into his restaurant. Thanks to the spa I managed to sit for the whole meal!
We ended the day with a lovely walk along the waterfront and some wine at the apartment. The wine glasses were turned into musical instruments by Ben and Hong-Yen who created silly noises and laughter that perfectly captured the joy of that moment. It was a good send off for Maria who was getting on a very early plane that night to start her trip home.
On our last day in Istanbul Scott wanted to check out some old churches. So we set off in a different direction and ended up on a street lined with international brand store fronts. Tucked in there amongst the Decathlon and Nike stores was the Roman Catholic Church of Santa Maria Draperis and the Saint Anthoney of Padua Catholic church. It was while visiting these Ben and I had a realization that we are now approximately the same age as Jesus when he died. Istanbul had us reflecting on a variety of timelines.
After the churches we started walking towards the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. On the way, we found another cute street with some very cute artsy shops. We wish we had found this street sooner. We also stopped at a bakery with gluten free baklava.
The art museum was really good. It featured an immersive room which I now want to seek out more when searching for art. It also ended with a reflective pool on the roof with a great view of the Bosphorus. We ended the day with our walk home and cooking, eating, chatting and packing. Scott had an early morning flight so we said goodbye that night. But Hong-Yen would be joining us for some climbing in Antalya.
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