Turkey (just in time for Thanksgiving)

Hello dear family and friends, 

In the last month of my stay in Saudi Arabia, I embarked on a four-day trip to Istanbul. It has since been my Roman empire (meme reference for those without Tiktok brain rot), though it hasn't been part of the Roman empire since 1453... 

Preface

The idea of the Turkey trip was simple. Convene with Dan and our dear friend Leon,  to explore a magnificent city while my data was processed here at KAUST. This is a 4+ day process in which the computer does its thing and there's nothing I can do to speed it up. Since I have so much data, the timing was perfect. 

A bonus is that plastic surgery tourism (hair implants, veneers, nose jobs) is a surprisingly common practice in Turkey. So, if you see me when I come back to the states and wonder if I've changed... It's the Botox/Turkish Spa package that I purchased through a targeted ad for fourth-year PhD students. Just kidding. 

Karakoy and Kadikoy

Istanbul bridges Europe and Asia, with numerous options to take a ferry, car, or subway from continent to continent. For the first two days, Dan and I stayed in a trendy neighborhood called Karakoy, on the European side. Highlights of Karakoy were ample cocktail bars, artisan shops and a few charming streets with a canopy of rainbow umbrellas as a permanent art installation. The neighborhood also features the historical Galata Tower, built by a Genoese colony in 1348. Standing at 219.5ft, the tower was the highest building in the city at the time. As urban legend goes, the first transcontinental flight was completed by a man who constructed wings of eagle feathers and flew from Galata Tower to the Asian side. We opted for the ferry instead (less hassle and probably cheaper).

The ferry from Karakoy (European side) to Kadikoy (Asian side) conveniently runs every 20 minutes and we took it at sunset. The ferry lets you out at a bustling fish and produce market and we roamed through to admire the local catch. Kadikoy was noticeably more residential than Karakoy and we found some Mediterranean tapas and döner for dinner.

Princes' Islands

Istanbul sits right on the Sea of Marmara and there is a ferry from Karakoy to a small archipelago known as the Princes' Islands. During the Byzantine Empire, out of favor royalty would be exiled to live out their days on the islands. Later, the islands became resort destinations for the rich and famous, including Leon Trotsky, infamous Russian Revolutionary. 

We settled on visiting Büyükada, meaning Big Island in Turkish. One major draw for planning a day trip here was to see the island via horse drawn carriages which were used for transport around the island. However, the blog post I read was written before 2020, when a "serious equine disease" wiped out the practice and the horses were replaced by a small bus. I hope you can sense my disappointment from here. We ended up wandering the island on foot before stumbling upon a curated-hippie-camp-inspired park overlooking the water. Unfortunately, pretty much all beach access points were privatized so we couldn't get to the coast. 

Historic Site Marathon 

Leon joined us on day 3 and we moved locations to the Sultanahmet Old Town portion of Istanbul. From our hotel, you could view the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome in a single stunning panorama. In the center of a few historical landmarks stands the Hippodrome, which is an ancient horse racing track, originally built during the Byzantine empire. Truly incredible for a structure to have seen so much time and still hold so much cultural value in the present day! 

Of the mosques we saw in Istanbul, I want to highlight the Hagia Sophia (basic af, I know). Not necessarily for the scale or the architecture, but for the physical reflection of the cultural fabric of Istanbul. Originally a church built on the foundation of a pagan temple, Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque after Constantinople was conquered by the Turkish in 1453. The faces of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and any other Christian figures were covered in plaster and have only recently been restored and uncovered. Once you see one face, it is addicting to try to find others. I can only compare it to Where's Waldo if Jesus had a hat and glasses. 

The Grand Bazaar and the Egyptian Spice Bazaar

The thing is, I'm sure the Grand Bazaar at one point in time was grand. These days, grand is a generous way to describe row upon row of Turkey's finest Temu wares and counterfeit luxury brands. The Spice Bazaar was considerably more pleasant and had many options for dried vegetables, Turkish delight and spices of course. While Dan and Leon were scammed into buying tea at one of the stalls, I scammed myself by getting yet another scarf since it was quite cold compared to Saudi...

As always, if you've made it through my jokes and descriptions of my experiences, thanks for reading. If you haven't, well... you know who you are. I look forward to my return to the U.S. in a few weeks and seeing a lot of you so soon!

Yours truly, 

Lauren