Topkapi Palace and Istanbul's Rooftops

(Robert) After having checked-off a good number of must-see sites the previous day, we decided to take this day easy and focus solely on Topkapi Palace. This turned out to be a wise decision since the palace, due to its sheer grandeur, can easily absorb the better part of one's day. 

At the height of its power, the palace was once home to 4000 residents including, most importantly, the sultan. In comparison to Versailles, the Topkapi Palace and its grounds is in need of some renovation and left something to be desired. On the other hand, the collection, which includes David's sword (yes that's David, as in David & Goliath), John the Baptist's skull fragment and strains of Mohammad's beard left us awe-struck. The treasury, which houses an 86 caret diamond, the fifth largest in the world, easily gives the Tower of London a run for the money. There are multiple courtyards and patios that provide outstanding views of the Bosporus and outlining areas of greater Istanbul.

Later that night we ventured into the side streets of Beyoglu for a rooftop dinner at Krepen Deki Kadir'in Veri. While the food at the restaurant is average, it strikes a good balance between value and atmosphere. The combination of stunning skyline views and warm Mediterranean nights, has, not surprisingly, spawned an entire industry of rooftop restaurants and bars. After dinner we walked around the corner to Ritim Roof, a rooftop bar, as the name implies, with a sign out on the street advertising 3-TL beer. Sold! By the time we made it up to the top floor, the beer, all-of-a-sudden, became 5-TL. But with ritzier rooftops bars charging a jaw-dropping 13-TL (that's about $9 US) for a single bottle of beer, Katherine and I were not complaining in the least.

The bar was packed with local people enthusiastically dancing to a wide range of world music. Both of these rooftop venues are located in the Balik Pazar section of Beyoglu – less “bobo” than other parts of Beyoglu and therefore a far better value.

The Basilica Cistern, Aya Sofya and Blue Mosque

(Robert) This was our first full day in Istanbul and we set out to make the most of it. After spending close to an hour just to get a handle on the city’s metro system (nice, new, air-conditioned train cars, shocking lack of maps and signs), we landed in the ever-bustling Sultanahmet district, which is home to the majority of Istanbul’s great historical attractions. We made our first stop at the Basilica Cistern which is located just about kitty-corner from the Ayasofya Museum, which I will get to later.

Built in the 6th-century, the Basilica Cistern is a vast underground chamber that once served as a water source for the neighboring palace. Over time the water source became mostly forgotten by authorities, only to be rediscovered in the 16th-century by a scholar who had heard reports of city inhabitants lowering buckets through holes in their floors to retrieve drinking water and in some cases - live fish.  The cistern now serves as a popular tourist attraction, due not just to its architectural marvel but also in part to the cool relief it provides from the city's scorching sun. Over the remainder of our stay in Istanbul, the cistern remains our favorite attraction. Carefully placed lighting provides an ethereal visual effect, revealing scores of Ionic and Corinthian columns that provide structural support. Visitors walk on a platform elevated from shallow waters that are home to thousands of ghostly fish, that are almost as fascinating as the cistern itself.




Among the most popular attractions are two giant Medusa heads which sit at the base of their respective columns. One is situated upside down while the other is on its side. The other main attraction is an ornately-sculpted column with a conveniently-located hole into which many visitors trustingly insert their right thumb and twist clockwise in a full circle for good luck.  In no position to pass up on an opportunity for good luck, Katherine and I both participated in this time-honored tradition.

After exiting the cistern we made our way to the Ayasofia palace which now serves as a museum. After paying a hefty 20-TL admission price for each of our tickets, we felt a bit let down by the condition of the palace. There is no doubt that the palace is an architectural wonder. Built in the 6th-century to serve as the Church of the Devine Wisdom the structure is absolutely massive in scale. The walls are lined with intricate mosaics depicting Jesus, Virgin Mary as well a number of noble dignitaries.

As with the Basilica Cistern there is yet another column with a hole that attracts visitors. Named the Weeping Column, this hole is purported to heal any ailment should your finger become moist after retrieving it from the hole. Let’s try not to draw any parallels please. To my amazement, my thumb was moist from the hole! Time to toss out the heart-burn medication!

After spending a couple of hours in the palace we made our way to the Blue Mosque.  Having planned to visit the mosque that day, we intentionally donned mosque-appropriate attire, which mandates head, shoulder and leg covering for ladies and pants for men. Before entering the mosque through the “Visitors Entrance” or what is more likely referred to as the "heathens" entrance by the mosque's regulars, we were required to remove our shoes and place them in clear plastic bags, generously provided by the mosque. Visitors remain in the rear of the mosque and are respectfully asked to refrain from speaking while Muslim men partake in prayers up in the front. Even Muslim women are required to remain in the rear of mosque among the multitudes of visitors.

Katherine and I were immediately impressed with not just the grandeur of the mosque, which albeit is impressive, but with the ornate decoration inside. Immaculately maintained in comparison to the Ayasofia palace, it doesn’t taker a rocket-scientist to gather which site is receiving more financial support.  We ended our day walking back across the Galata to our neighborhood where we stumbled upon a rooftop cafe called Perla Kallavi Nargile Cafe where we were able to enjoy a bird's eye view of our neighborhood.  It was a great way to unwind and reflect upon all of the tremendous sites we had seen today.

The Virgin Mary House and Ephesus

(Robert) The day began at 8AM when a shuttle van picked us up around the corner of our hotel. After an awkward transfer to a different van we made our way to Selcuk to gather up the remainder of our group. While Selcuk is a bit closer to Ephesus than Kusadasi, there's precious little to do there compared to its more popular seaside sister city.

We made our first stop at what is commonly referred to as The Virgin Mary House. As the story goes, Jesus, upon his resurrection, had asked Saint John to see to the welfare of his mother, Mary. John choose a location safely hidden deep in the hills of Turkey for what would become Mary's final resting place.

More interesting is the story of how the location was re-discovered. In the 19th century, a stigmatic nun had a series of vivid dreams that revealed the location of Mary's resting place. As soon as the Papacy caught wind of the nun's wild claims, they sent representatives to confirm their veracity. To their surprise, the detailed descriptions she provided of the house and its location strikingly resembled a particular location in the hills of Turkey. Since then the location has been visited by three Popes.

The "house" is actually a small and modest chapel, built upon the ruins of the original house's 1st-century foundation. As soon as we entered, we took seats and entertained a moment of silence. Both of us felt a strong spiritual presence, while other visitors entered and payed their respects, some of whom were visibly overwhelmed with emotion.

Before exiting we collected a couple candles and left a donation. Just outside the chapel, I lit a candle for my grandmother, Iris, who, at the age of 93, passed away just a week earlier. It was an appropriate gesture for Iris, who was once raised by nuns in an Irish boarding school. For myself, lighting the candle provided a feeling of closure since I was not able to attend the funeral back in California. From The Virgin Mary House we made our way to Ephesus which was only a stone's throw away.

Neither Katherine nor I knew what to expect once at Ephesus. Having been on the move continuously for months afforded little time for catching up on ancient history. What we had seen in Athens was impressive, but nothing could have prepared us for what we were about to witness on this day. Time's effect on history can be savage. This is particularly evident in Athens, where the result of countless wars coupled with neglect, battered its Acropolis and once glorious temples into a handful of lonesome columns. One is forced to visualize what the collective of ruins would have resembled. Little imagination is required at Ephesus, because the framework of the entire city is still standing before your eyes.

As you walk down what is clearly a city street you are presented with frames of homes, doctor's office, merchant shops, library, stadium, and last but certainly not least, public bathrooms! Everything a small and vibrant city state could ever need is present at Ephesus. The library and stadium are both in extremely good condition and breathtaking in their own right.

Exploring Kreuzberg

We had not done much research on Berlin prior to our arrival (okay, none!) so once we finally left the house we pretty much followed the course that Luscias had driven us the night before in his car. We walked across the Reine river to the East Side Gallery; a section of the Berlin wall that has been turned into an open-air gallery where artists have painted murals on each remaining section. This one above is one of the most famous, and apparently is based on an actual photograph of two politicians.  We then enjoyed a beer on a floating hostel before we headed into our local “trendy” neighborhood, Kreuzberg.

The neighborhood was not as close as our Airbnb host had indicated, but it definitely was a happening spot. Tons of shops, bars and restaurants lined the streets filled with hipster kids wearing their black jackets, ripped jeans and unsymmetrical haircuts. We first stopped for some pho (soup) at Buddha Kitchen, and then wandered further in the neighborhood to stop at a beautiful restaurant called Mirchi Singapore Restaurant. This was one of the most beautiful and Zen restaurants I have ever seen. By contrast, we later wandered into a bar called Roses which took the term “kitch” to a whole new level. There was a terrarium landscape comprised of koosh balls, red fur lining the walls, disco balls, black lights silver streamers, and I’m pretty sure there was a velvet Elvis somewhere. We also treated ourselves to a Belgian waffles covered in Nutella at a wonderful little bakery called Cassonade - simply heavenly! Given that Robert had developed a cold we cut our evening early, but it was clear that our midnight quitting time was just when many of the Berlin kids were getting started!

Transition to Berlin

After arriving at the wrong train station this morning, a wonderful lady at the ticket counter helped us to hop on a train that connected with our original train to Berlin. I was so certain that this would be our first major travel mishap - we were soooo lucky that she helped us to avoid disaster!  The train ride itself was beautiful - we watched good-looking Dutch people riding their bikes all around the countryside, and happy cows grazing along small farms.

We arrived at the Berlin station exactly on schedule and eventually met up with one of Robert’s old friends from Santa Cruz named Luscias who drove us around our neighborhood for a little while. We then dined at a very traditional German restaurant named Markethalle where we both enjoyed some schnitzel. Luscias was kind enough to drop us off at our Airbnb apartment, where we met up with Mariam, the girlfriend of the apartment owner and apparently a pretty famous actress in Germany. She was very sweet and showed us around the apartment - thus began our adventure in Berlin!

Countryside Bike Tour

 (Katherine)  Despite the alarm not going off and waking up only 30 minutes before the start of today’s Countryside Bike tour, we still managed to get to the Mike’s Bike’s only a couple of minutes late and still join the group - whew! Good thing that we did, because it was an amazing tour with a totally different perspective from Monday’s ride. We ended up logging 16 miles which took us through the city center all the way into the countryside until we were surrounded by farmland.

Our first stop on the tour was at nearby windmill which is still in use today. Well, it’s mainly there for the tourists, but the mechanics inside are still functional. Our guide explained that the person who lives there gets to live there for free, but they are responsible for making sure that the windmill is always “photo-ready”. Not a bad job!  We then rode to a farmhouse that produces it’s own cheese and clogs. We got a brief explanation of how the cheese (gouda) is made, and learned you can potentially wait up to 10 years to cut through the waxy seal and it would still be edible; though more of a parmesan at that point. Then a very flirty fellow gave a thorough demonstration of how they make clogs with the use of two machines. The second machine allowed him to also offer some pelvic gyrations for the ladies - a performance you could tell he really enjoys! Naturally we had to purchase a tiny pair of collectors clogs, and a small round of cheese, despite how much I complain about putting on cheese-related weight!

The tour also took us through communities of houseboats, dykes, canal systems, and more farmlands. We finally wound our way back into the city by way of some industrial office buildings, and then back through Vondelpark. After dropping off the bikes, we decided to reward ourselves with pancakes, or Pannekoek. We each got a sweet and s

avory, and I have to say that ham & cheese pancakes are decadent. We continued wandering around the lovely system of canals taking photos, window shopping, and stopping for a pint of beet along the water. We also went by the Anne Frank House though we didn’t have tickets for the tour. It was still very powerful just standing in front of the house where she hid for nearly 3 years. Even just reading the brochure was a strong reminder of the impact that book had on me as a teenager. It was such a tragic story, and now I can visualize exactly where she lived.

We raced home to make dinner, and then wandered back out towards the red light district so I could see what it looks like during the last bit of sunlight. Along the way we also found a mini-Castro street lined with rainbow flags which then turned into a mini-Chinatown. As the sun began to set in the land of red lights, you could see the girls starting to open up their windows and get ready for their night shifts. I learned from a local magazine that the windows rent for $100-150 euros a shift, and that a 15-minute “session” would average around $50 euros. I definitely saw a few men coming in and out of doors, so it’s clear that these girls are definitely getting clients each night. Supposedly the city is trying to shut down the windows, and they have already closed about 25%, but the district is definitely a HUGE draw for tourists so it will be interesting to see what happens. We ventured to the edge of the district to enjoy a nightcap at a hostel bar called The Bulldog where we closed the chapter on our Amsterdam adventure.