Walkabout

So this post is a bit delayed.  It will be about the time between my Residence Permit fiasco and this past weekend.  It will be condensed and action-packed.  Bring your asthma inhaler.

So, last weekend, my friend Nate and I had a great adventure.  On Monday, our designated adventure day, we went back to the Western Districts, which is where the neighborhoods of Eyup, and Fatih are.  Our first journey to the Western Districts took Nate, Zach, and I to Eyup, where we wandered around the 'hood looking quite out of place and drawing some glares from the very traditional and pretty impoverished residents on our way to Pierre Loti Cafe.  We also went to the beautiful and very much in-use Eyup Sultan Mosque, and ate a snack at a Lokantasi across the square from the Camii.  On the way back from that trip on the bus, we ran into a gang of glue-sniffing teenagers, just as our Program Direct, Karanfil, had warned us about.  Luckily, the bus conductor kicked them off.

Well, back to last weekend.  Nate and I decided to go see the Theodosian Walls and Chora Church, two must-sees in Istanbul.  We took the lightrail to the IETT (the semi-privitized company in charge of Istanbul mass transit) offices in Karakoy first, to pick up our student IDs and Akbils, which gets us discounted bus/metro/lighrail/ferry fares.  Compared to the Police Station in Emniyet, where I attempted to get my permit, this was wonderfully easy and well organized.  Nate and walked in, got numbers, were called within 10 minutes, gave the lady our student papers and 5 TL, and got our cards in 2 minutes.  Then we went next door and got our akbils put in to the cards (the akbil is a metal disc, like a watch battery or something, which is used to ride mass transit).  The whole thing took less than half and hour.  Then, we walked accross the Galata bridge, and got on a bus headed to Edirnekapi, in Fatih, where we were to walk from to get to both sites. 

The day was beautiful and sunny, which was a great change from the cold and wet weather we'd had for about a week, which had gotten me a bit sick.  The bus ride took us through much of the Old City on the other side of the Golden Horn, and we got some great looks into life in Fatih, the most conservative district in the inner-city.  We got off one stop beyond Edirnekapi, which meant we had to walk back to the city inside the old walls, along a weird semi-highway thing.  Anyway, once back, we climbed up on the walls and walked around up there.  We took the walls quite a distance northwest, in the direction of the church, and met a Turkish boy named Yunis.  He was about 8/9, wearing a snazzy sports coat, and spoke fairly good English.  We chatted about school, soccer, and then we got off the walls, and left him up (we had to jump down and he didn't want to rough up his coat).

By now, we were right around the corner from the Chora church, which is tucked away in a residential area of Fatih.  Walking on the walls and then to the church gave us a great glimpse into daily life, and having just two of us, on a Monday, before the tourist season, made it easier to feel like we were the only westerners in the whole neighborhood.  At the church, there were only a few other visitors.  All I can say about the church itself is 'WOW'.  Beautiful mosaics and frescos.  You have to see it for yourself.  unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera that day, but I will try to extort some pics from Nate.  I am also 100% sure I'll return and visit again (it's a must-see, so everyone who visits me will go).  The church is small, but we spent quite a while inside, in awe.  Afterward, I convinced Nate to splurge on a nice lunch at Asitane, a famous Ottoman-style restaurant with me.  We split an appetizer, which was a cold dish of large lima-bean type things seasoned with cinnamon and coriander, delicious walnet-nfused bread, and some cheese and spreads.  For a main course, I got lamb stewed with figs, apricots, almonds, and grapes.  Possibly the best meal I've had on the trip, and the restaurant's atmosphere was very nice- almost empty, but well furnished, with unobtrusive service, and our table overlooked a nice patio.  Mainly, the food was delicious, the sun was out, and it felt great to be at a luxurious restaurant for a change. 

After our fantastic meal, we walked back to Edirnekapi, to try to get into a mosque there, which was closed for renovations (like almost 50% of the mosques in the city).  We settled for cay on the square, and asked the proprietor of the hole-in-the-wall for directions to Eyup.  He directed us to some minibuses across the square, and so Nate and I got our first minibus ride of the trip from Fatih to Eyup.  The minibuses are privately owned, casual bus/taxi type things that follow set routes not adequately serviced by the mass transit system.  If you've ever been to a Middle Eastern city you know what I'm talking about.  The minibus drivers are usually suicidal and aggressive and are partly responsible for most of Istanbul's traffic.  The ride was great, and we got off at the Eyup Sultan Mosque, walked through the cemetery to the road along the Golden Horn, and took the funicular up the hill to Pierre Loti.  It was a bit chilly, so we sat inside, drank tea and Turkish coffee, and did some hw.  We visited the giftshop but didn't buy anything on this trip despite the great stuff. 

Well, then we returned home and that is the end of our Western District adventure.  I think Nate and I are the only people on our program to have even attempted or shown any interest in exploring that part of the city, which has been very rewarding.  However, I still haven't been to the Asian side- that will probably happen next weekend.  Anyway,I will try to get some pics from Nate, since I forgot my camera.