Istanbul Archaeological Museum

I will repeat this again - Paul and I don't do museums. We have tried and tried, but we always seem to find ourselves more bored than we thought we would be and rushing through to see the major sites and get out. I don't know if its overwhelming or just that we have a short attention span, but we usually avoid real, true museums on our travels.

Recently, we made our FIRST visit to an Istanbul Museum - the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. I wasn't expecting much. Not just that I don't enjoy museums, but it's Turkey. I expected it to be disorganised and all over the place (a bit similar to our experiences at the National Museum in Cairo). And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

In no way am I a museum convert. I still found myself at the end running through the Troy exhibit just to say I saw it and get out of that museum. Truth be told, we tired out before visiting the third part of the Museum complex, the Museum of the Ancient Orient. However, they had quite a few nice collections and lots of good signage IN ENGLISH that helped contribute to our enjoyment of the Museum.

The highlights if you want to do the "quick" tour like us?

1. Tiled Kiosk - in addition to the beatiful tiled exterior, the inside of the kiosk includes pottery and tiles from many different parts of Turkey's history. Some of the oldest sections come from the Selcuks reign during the 13th century.

The Arabic over the door explains the
building was built by Sultan Mehmet
the conqueror in 1472

2. The Sarcophagi - there are two sarcophagi here who are the best known of the bunch, but honestly, all the tombs are in pretty great condition. The exhibit for these consists of several rooms, including one for the most famous others for certain periods and one that is to given an idea of what the palace around one of the tombs was like.

Alexander sarcophagus - they originally thought it belonged
to Alexander the great due to the scenes of Alexander
battling and hunting on the sides, it was actually the
final resting place of King Abdalonymos of Sidon

Sarcophagus of the Mourning Women - this is the sarcophagus
of King Straton of Sidon. The women depicted on this are the
women of his harem.

3. Dead People - yes, it might sounds morbid, but they had more intact skeletons here than I had ever seen in a museum. I counted 3 during my quick skim of the museum, but this was the best one on display.

4. Istanbul History - I may have forgotten to take a picture, but this exhibit is fun for visitors to Istanbul. It has history and artifacts of many of the major sites, including Aya Sofia, Chora Church and the Galata Tower.

During our visit, the Greek and Roman statue section was closed for renovations, and I have a feeling there may be some gems there too, you'll have to check it out for yourselves!

The museum is located near Topkapi Palace - exit the tram at the Gulhame stop, walk up past the gardens and around the corner to the Archaeological Museum. Like many of the other tourist stops in Sultanahmet the museum is closed on Mondays.

Chora Church (Kariye Muzesi)

I have always said that Chora Church is one of the most under visited tourist sites in Istanbul. When I asked a native Istanbullu (or is it Istanbullian? Istanbulite?) what I must see in Istanbul and she responded Kariye Museum, I knew I had to be right.

Chora Church is one of my absolute favorite spots to visit, but because its a bit off the beaten path of Sultanahmet, people don't venture out that far.

So what is it that makes Chora Church so special? People flock to Aya Sofia and love the tiled mosaics there but don't even realize that Chora Church is full of similar mosaics that are much better preserved. Because Chora Church's mosaics weren't worked on until the 1950's, they are in great condition compared to Aya Sofia, as if the plaster preserved them in time. Of course they aren't perfect, the building was built in the 11th century and the mosaics added in the 14th century.

Even if you aren't a bible buff (which I make no claims to be - all explanations are thanks to my wonderful and worn Rick Steve's book left by my friend), you can still enjoy the church. Don't forget to take your sunglasses off your head as you will spend most of the time staring up at the ceilings. When you come out at the end with your neck a bit sore, you can use that as your excuse to visit a hamam for a nice massage.

The Resurrection - here Jesus descends into hell and is
saving Adam and Eve from their coffins.

 

Journey of the Magi and presentation of the gifts to Herord

View of the exterior Narthex - in the front
right hand corner you can see the miracle
of Jesus turning water to wine

In the top is the temptation of Christ (devil represented by
the dark angel)

The nativity scene

The Massacre of the innocents is illustrated - when Herod
ordered the murder of male children to find baby Jesus

Biblical Genealogy of Christ - here Christ is surrounded
by figures from the old testament like Adam and Noah

So if it's so hard to get to, how do you get there?

1. Take a taxi - as always, be careful in Sultanahmet to make sure you don't get a gypsy cab. It should have a meter which starts off at 2.70 TL.
2. Take the tram - from Sultanahmet, take the tram to Topaki stop (not to be confused with the stop where Topkapi palace is located. This stop is further down). Here transfer to the rail and ride to Edirnekapi stop. Once you get off, turn to face the city walls and walk towards them across the traffic. Take a left past the bus stop on Viz Sokak and then right on Kariye Camii Sokak.
3. Take the bus - from Taksim, take the #87 bus to the Edirnekapi stop. Here, facing the city wall, the church is in your right. Follow the same instructions as above.

Unless you are like me and a little prone to getting lost, it really isn't too hard to find. While you're in the area, wander the city walls for great views of the city too.

Our First Visitor

After Christmas, my sister Jenny was able to come to Turkey for almost two weeks - making her our first visitor!

We loved having her here. The weather was working against us (cold, although not too cold for January, and rainy for quite a few days).  However, we still were able to get out for some leisurely sight seeing.  We were able to see just about all the sites in Istanbul and had a weekend trip (see this post) to the Gallipoli peninsula.

A few highlights from her visit:

1. Visiting the Grand Bazaar - apparently Jenny or I look like Lady GaGa according to one Turkish person.  I will also say that Jenny is quite the bargainer (at least compared to me - I always leave whenever Paul starts bargaining!)
2. Topkapi Palace - I had not visited here yet, it was beautiful.  I can only imagine it in the summer with all the flowers blooming.  However, after waiting in line in the winter, I think I will leave it to the tourists in the summer! Oh, Jenny also met a friend on a shop nearby who wanted her to move to Turkey and be his girlfriend (or something like that!)
3. Gallipoli Peninsula - Jenny was our heroic driver throughout Turkey.  At least she can mark it off her bucket list and she wasn't afraid to honk like a true Turk.
4. Food - we fed Jenny Turkish food til she (okay, maybe it was me) was tired out of doners, kebaps, fish (for Jenny and Paul) and Efes.

Here are a few pictures from her visit - we can't wait to have her back in the summer so that she can get some Turkish sun!

 Cisterns across from Aya Sofia - definitely need a tripod to get good pictures here

 The courtyard at the Blue Mosque

 On the ferry back from Troy, crossing from the Asian to the European side of Turkey

 Follow the signs to Istanbul!

 Self portrait - pretty tiles at Topkapi Palace

 

 Bosphorous cruise - one of the bridges to cross the Bosphorous in the background

 Drinking mint lemonade at House Cafe - one of my favorites

Belle - World Traveller!

When we decided to move to Turkey, we knew we couldn't go without our lovable golden retriever, Belle. However, when I tried to bring her overseas in November, we had some major problems with American Airlines and had to live without our pup for awhile.

We were so happy to see her when we came home for Christmas and even more excited to have her here in Turkey. Luckily it worked out for my sister to bring her AND visit for a while.

Belle and Jenny safely made it here last week (thank you Lufthansa!!!) and this weekend we decided to bring the dog along for some Turkish explorations.

Belle, Jenny and I in front of some of the ruins in Troy (yes, apparently dogs can also blink in pictures)

One of Paul's coworkers loaned us their truck for the weekend, so Paul, Jenny, Belle and I went out on a drive to the Gallipoli Peninsula. This is the area Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand tried to capture in World War I to gain control over the Dardanelles and Bosphorous Strait for easy access via sea to Russia. The attacks lasted 9 months with over 500,000 casualties on both the Turkish and allied sides. We visited the various cemeteries and monuments.

Lone Pine memorial in Gallipoli - memorial for the ANZAC soliders who died.  The pine tree has an interesting story too - the brother of a solider who died sent home a pine cone to their mother; about 20 years later when the memorial was built, she sent a cone to be planted on the memorial)

We rang in 2012 with a seafood dinner (at least for Jenny and Paul), Raki (a traditional Turkish liquor, like Ouzo from Greece), cake and sparklers :)

Sunday, we drove across from Gelibolu and Eceabat to Cannakkale and Troy. All of us, including Belle, were able to walk around the ruins of Troy. It was city, built upon city, built upon city, literally! It also had a mock Trojan horse like the one the Greeks used to deceive them and burn down the city of Troy. Cannakkale even had the Trojan horse from the movie Troy at the harbor. It was a great opportunity for me to learn more about the history of my new home, and man, there is a lot to learn.

More as Jenny and I explore Istanbul - Mutlu Yillar (or Happy New Year to those English speaking folk) to everyone from Turkey!

Turkey Tourists

Istanbul is a giant city, and Paul and I live no-where near the tourist sites.  Great for everyday living to avoid throngs of tourists; not so convenient when you are trying to be one of thousands in those very throngs.  This weekend, Paul and I set out on a trek to get in some sight-seeing, full of taxi's, trams, and a whole lot of walking!

Sultanahmet is great because all the tourist areas are so close together - from one stop on the tram, you are in walking distance to Aya Sofia, Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazzar.  Two stops down is the Spice Bazaar.   There are other tourist sites in this area that we missed this time (the cisterns, Topkapi palace, historic turkish baths aka hamams)

This was the first time I really felt like a tourist.  Maybe it was the fact that there were sooo many other tourists, even in the off season, or maybe it was that no one even assumed that I was a local and just spoke English right off the bat.  You are also getting hustled like a tourist - from the domar stand on the corner, to the bus tour guides, to the carpet salesman at the Grand Bazaar.  There is always something to see.

We are looking forward to having some visitors now so that we can show you the sites!

Paul in front of Aya Sofia enjoying his tavuk wrap

Inside the Blue Mosque

Inside the Grand Bazaar