wendywitch

Lincoln Park Zoo is the oldest free zoo in the United States, and it shows. I’ve been to the zoo a few times, and I cannot recommend it to visitors. It’s depressing; the animals are kept in enclosures that are far too small. If you must visit a zoo, go to Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, IL. They have 200 acres, and the animals have much more space, in a far more modern facility.

I attended Drake University, living in Des Moines for 4 years. It’s a lovely, friendly city, with all sorts of things to do. The capital building is beautiful and the art museum is great. A lot of people think Iowa has nothing to offer but corn and cows and it’s simply not true! It’s a great state, and the capital city is a wonderful place to visit.

If you go, be sure to get one of the enormous cinnamon rolls from the Drake Diner, near the university campus! A walk through the campus grounds after a big breakfast is a perfect way to spend a fall day.

Kervansaray Restaurant and Night Club is located in the Taksim district of Istanbul. They have a Turkish Night with folk and belly dancers. The show comes with a meal, which was good but not fabulous. The real treat was seeing the dancers.

We found the folk dancers to be marvelous, and got pulled up onstage with the Anatolian dancers. The male troupe of Caucasus dancers were incredible. There were four belly dancers, the star was Asena, currently Istanbul’s most famous dancer. We found them to be rather indifferent. One of the girls was chewing gum (I swear it!), and most had a rather bored attitude. Asena was quite good, but she posed more than she danced. It was a little disappointing, but hey! We can say we saw Turkish belly dancers in Instanbul!

The cost (in Sept. ‘05) was about 35 Euros, about 45 US dollars. For a meal, wine, and a show, it was more than reasonably priced.

Once a Byzantine church (the name means “Church of Holy Wisdom”), then converted to a mosque, now a museum, it’s one of the treasures of Sultanahmet. It cost us 15YTL to get in, about 10US dollars, and is quite large. Directly under the big dome is a scaffolding that runs all the way up, obscuring the view a bit. Some Turkish friends told us that the scaffolding had been in place for many years, that politics was keeping some of the restoration from being completed.

Frankly, that shows. Some of the things you’ll see are magnificent, like the gilded mosaics (best seen from the upper gallery) from its time as a Christian church. Other things show the wear and tear of time and a million tourists. The architecture is magnificent. This building is nearly 1500 years old, and has survived earthquakes and wars.

I don’t like crowds. And even though I really don’t want to go back to Taksim Square, I think it’s important to have seen it once. They say that Sultanahmet is the heart of Old Istanbul; Taksim is the heart of Modern Istanbul.

At night, there are so many young people club-hopping that you can hardly move. Our friends who live in Turkey say it’s like that almost every night, especially when the weather is nice. Shoulder to shoulder, it was almost as crowded as the French Quarter at Mardi Gras.

Looking at the shops that line the streets, you can scarcely believe that you’re not in a major American city: Swatch, Benetton, fast food… It’s very “Western.” If crowds bother you a lot, you can probably give this part of Istanbul a pass. Personally, I believe everything should be experienced, even if that experience isn’t always completely pleasant. At least then you know whether you want to go back!

One of the nicest things about the cistern is that it’s cool down there! After a hot walk above, it’s a nice cool walk through more than 300 columns. The Medusa heads are the star attraction, and they are pretty amazing.

My friends and I thought the ambiance would have been improved by Turkish classical music, Sufi perhaps, rather than the Bach they were playing over a discreet sound system. There’s a café down there, and concerts are held down there as well. It’s a little pricey to get into, 10 YTL (compared to 4YTL for the Mosaic Museum, or 15YTL for Hagia Sophia), but it’s really too fascinating to miss.

I can’t say I 100% enjoyed the bazaar experience. It’s crowded. It’s loud. Men are shouting at you in multiple languages, trying to entice you into their shops for tea and heavy bargaining (“I make you very good price!”). If you’re not a haggler, you’re going to pay too much, period. That’s just how it’s done. Even though it’s very much sensory-overload, I think if you’re going to visit Istanbul, you have to see the Bazaar, if for no other reason than it has to be seen to be believed: it’s huge, massively enormous, and if you can’t find it in one shop, the shopkeeper will send a boy to find it in another shop.

Because it’s crowded and confusing, watch your wallet/purse. We never felt unsafe in Istanbul, never got pickpocketed, but we were very (very) careful. Be sensible with your money and don’t flash it around, if for no other reason than if the shopkeeper sees you’re flush with cash, he might not be as inclined to bargain with you. :)

1. Wear comfortable walking shoes! The grounds are immense, and you will want something comfortable to walk in.

2. Be prepared to pay two admission fees; one for the general palace with the armory, treasury, etc; and a second for admittance to the harem. The harem is a guided-tour only, and tickets are sold for an hourly walk through the harem with a guide who explains what you’re seeing.

3. Be prepared to spend most of a day; there’s a lot to see!

There are headphone sets that you can rent that will act as a tourguide while you follow a numbered map of the grounds. We chose not to use them, but we saw a number of people who did. With a decent guidebook, I wouldn’t think you needed it.

Astonishingly, the fee to get into the Mosaic Museum was only 4YTL (Sept. ‘05), a mere pittance for what you get to see. The mosaics are from the 5th and 6th century, from a Byzantine palace. They were part of a massive courtyard, excavated (rediscovered) in 1935. The colors of the tiles are remarkably vibrant, and one can only imagine how glorious they were once upon a time.

It doesn’t take long to go through the museum, which is located behind the Arasta Bazaar, in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul. It’s easy to find, and with the admission so low, there’s no reason not to visit. I was moved enough by the beauty of the mosaics, that I confused the ticket man (one of the few people whose English was not very good) and insisted on buying a second ticket, because there was no word for “donation” in my phrasebook.

Can you go to Turkey and not take in a Turkish bath? It’s an odd concept to many Westerners, but it’s a fabulous experience. To bake on a hot marble slab, staring up into a dome pierced to let in sunlight, in a steamy room with the echoes of water splashing from fountains all around the perimeter… It’s an indulgent time, a chance to relax and experience and reflect. It was something I did our last day in Istanbul, and well worth it. A perfect end to a perfect vacation.

For a bit more info: http://www.cemberlitashamami.com.tr/ (available in Turkish, English or Spanish)—also pictures, mainly of the men’s side of the baths, but ladies, you’ll get the idea!