Today we're welcoming Abigail from Crabby Fox: life in this Brooklyn Apartment. Because her Twitter user name is so cool, I only refer to her as The Crabigail when I'm telling stories to Alan about my Twitter and blog friends. His response? "She's so cool." And she is. Picture a kind and witty lady from Canada making her way in book publishing in Brooklyn while raising a very cool kid. Doesn't that just sound like a movie or TV show you'd want to watch? Have I mentioned her amazing mid-century modern furniture? I'm kind of obsessed with about 10 different pieces in her place. And her cat? I love him. I want to be friends with him. Izzy is the best.
I was really excited to have The Crabigail contribute to this series because she's an international lady of mystery. Okay, I just made that up. But she is a seasoned international traveler and I just knew she'd provide some really great insight into a location that many people have at the top of their lists for places to visit - Turkey! Thanks Abigail. Take it away.
I’m so happy to have been asked to share with you one of my
recent travel adventures while Becky is in Scotland (one of my favorite places
in the world)! While it was a few years ago, I’m going to tell you all about
one of the greatest trips I ever went on – Turkey!
Turkey is a fascinating blend of cultures, religions and
continents, with an incredible history and friendly people. Turkey has had some
bad press recently as a tourist destination, and it breaks my heart because
it’s one of the most interesting places that I’ve ever been to.
We started our trip in Istanbul.
I’m thinking that everybody who goes to Turkey will stop
into Istanbul at least once. Or they should stop there. With 5,000 years of history behind it,
Istanbul was once the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, and modern
Istanbul blends both modern Europe and the east.
We stayed at the Central Palace Hotel near Taksim Square, which was a nice little hotel for a good price. In fact,
they even upgraded us to a suite, which made us feel pretty special and
prompted us to take photos of ourselves living it up like royalty. Taksim
Square is a bustling area with many shops and restaurants, and worked as a good
starting point for our adventures around the city.
Obviously when you
go, you’ll visit the Haghia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar and all
that. But we found a few off-the-beaten-path sites that you might like to check
out.
Church
of the Holy Saviour in Chora was one of the most rewarding treks we made. The
Church of St. Saviour is a small church filled with beautiful 14th
Century mosaics and frescoes. To get there, we walked through the neighborhood
of Fener, which gave us a
glimpse of a normal (non touristy) neighborhood. I always enjoy seeing how
normal people live in a city I’m visiting, away from the tourists traps.
Another treat, and a relaxing one, is taking a cruise along
the Bosphorous. The cruise heads up to the Fortress of Asia, which is a bit of
a hike, but worth it for the views across to the Fortress of Europe. Along the
river cruise you’ll get to see many beautiful (and often decrepit) yalıs. If you’ve ever
read Orhan Pamuk’s book Istanbul (and
maybe you should before you go!), you’ll already know a thing or two about
these river-side homes.
If you’re a history buff, you may be interested in the
Theodosian Walls – the 5th century walls around the city. But a word
of warning: go to the ones designated as parks, which you can walk along. H.
and I just chose a random section of wall to explore, and it was scary. There were people living in the
walls, and then a pack of wild dogs walked by and I knew it was time to haul ass out of there.
From Istanbul, we took an overnight train to Ankara, and
hopped on a bus to Kayseri – a seemingly nondescript city, but a good home base
for exploring Cappadocia. The overnight train was a treat in itself – something
that seemed like the kind of old-fashioned travelling that doesn’t exist
anymore.
We chose Göreme and the Göreme Open-Air Museum to explore a
piece of Cappadocia. Göreme holds the greatest concentration of the famous
rock-cut monasteries in Cappadocia – and it was pure magic.
Cappadocia will knock your socks off. It is truly
spectacular and totally weird. And worth the travel (overnight train + 5 hour
bus, as I recall) to get there.
Finally, since you made it this far, let me tell you a
story. Turkey is as famous for its carpets as it is for its aggressive
carpet-sellers. In Istanbul, you can hardly walk 100 feet without a
carpet-seller approaching you. You quickly adapt to ignoring them.
One day while leaving our hotel in Kayseri (the Hilton), we
were approached by a man asking if we were “businessmen” because only
“businessmen” stay at the Hilton. We said no, we just chose it as one of the
only big hotels in town. At first we were wary, thinking he was a carpet-seller.
But he assured us he was just a guy who wanted to talk to visitors, and we
talked about where we were from. He told us about a local version of the
Turkish kebab that we had to try – called the Iksander kebab. He told us that
about a restaurant that had the best Iksander kebab in all of Kayseri, and
offered to walk us there. So we went, and we went into the restaurant, where he
knew everybody, and he told us what to order and sat with us. I think we were
blown away by how friendly it all was. And as we ate, he started talking about
carpets. We told him we weren’t going to buy a carpet, and he told us that
nobody thinks they’re going to buy a carpet. But we assured him we were not in
the market for a carpet, and he said good-bye and left. The Iksander kebab was
delicious though, and we would never have tried it if he hadn’t approached us.
As we were leaving, a young man approached us and asked us
where we were from. We were wary, thinking he was trying to sell us a carpet,
but he said no, he was just practicing his English. He told us he was coming
from the market where he was buying fish for dinner, and showed us his bag of
fish. He was friendly and told us all about Kayseri, and offered to show us the
caravanserai – the 16th Century trading post that was still in use.
So we went with him to this amazing caravanserai where we saw wool being bought
and sold and dyed for the famous carpets. It was so interesting, and we would
have never seen it if this young man hadn’t approached us. As we walked out, we
passed a small carpet store, and our young guide stopped and introduced us to
his friends at the carpet shop who proceeded to try and sell carpets. The whole
thing was an elaborate sales pitch! They told us that a carpet is like love, it
will find us. It was such an impressive sale pitch, if we had the money I would
have bought a carpet.
Anyway, next time I go to Turkey, I will buy a carpet. If
you go to Turkey I highly recommend you budget for a carpet.
I have only good things to say about a trip to Turkey. If you’re looking for an exotic but easy trip – Turkey may be the place for you!
