Istanbul is a city on 2 continents, straddling the Bosporus, a body of water connecting the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Roy and I spent 3 days there on our way to Baku in mid April. The airport we flew in to was on the Asian side, but we were staying on the European side where most of the tourist sites are.

We were lucky to have timed it perfectly to see the tulips in bloom! Tulips originally came from central Asia and were taken to Europe in the 15th century. They are now the symbol of Turkey and Istanbul. This is the 13th year of Istanbul’s tulip festival and they plant around 30 million bulbs. That’s hard to even imagine isn’t it? The tulips are in many locations throughout the city but the biggest concentration of them that we saw was in Sultanahmet Square. There we saw the world’s largest tulip carpet, which looks like a traditional Turkish carpet. This square is between two big mosques, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia,  actually a museum now.

We had read about the carpet sellers in Istanbul and how persuasive they can be and now we can confirm that it is all true. For us it started in Sultanahmet Square with a young man asking how we were and what were our plans in Istanbul. I naively expressed interest in seeing the carpet museum and he accompanied us there and paid our entrance fee.

We suspected that at some point we would be looking at a carpet shop with this guy. I really did want to buy a carpet but needed to learn what to look for and how to determine quality. The carpet museum had many antique carpets on display and some good explanations of the patterns in them. After seeing the museum we were asked if we would like to see his “uncle’s” shop. We said sure and were escorted into a big display room brimming with carpets. We were served apple tea in little glasses and taught how to hold the glasses to avoid being burned. The sellers know that it is overwhelming to see so many carpets so they have profiles for what people from different parts of the world usually like.

They start throwing down carpets in front of you and asking which ones you like better. We did not buy a carpet here but we learned a lot about what to look for when shopping for a carpet. I had also done a little research prior to our trip so I had a general idea of what prices should be.

Before long we were out on the street again and approached by another man asking about our welfare. He asked if we would like to see his shop and when Roy declined he acted offended. I acquiesced and agreed to go see his shop. I have since read that this is a common technique used by these guys because it works! This shop didn’t have carpets but many other beautiful things.

After more tea and a plate of fruit we made our way to leave only to be asked to visit his “brother’s” shop. We got to look at more carpets and again left without a purchase but learning more all the time. Then we were asked to visit his “cousin’s” shop which was again – a carpet shop. By the way, these guys were not all related but they were all Kurds.

The next shop had a huge selection of the most beautiful Turkish carpets.  After lots of tea and many offers and rejections, they finally made an offer that I felt was pretty decent. We finally decided to buy some carpets and then the wining and dining started!  The merchant, Sahin took us up to a rooftop bar to watch the sunset over a glass of wine. He also arranged for his driver to take us on a tour of Istanbul the next day.

The next morning right on schedule our driver, Mahmet was waiting for us outside the hotel. He took us to some interesting places that were a little off the beaten tourist path. One place was the Süleymaniye Mosque, the second largest mosque in Istanbul. We had to remove our shoes and I had to cover my head (they provide scarves) before entering. We learned there are more than 3,000 mosques in Istanbul and none are allowed to have more minarets than the mosque in Mecca (which has seven) according to our guide. No wonder we were hearing the call to prayer everywhere we went. Mahmet told us when we walked past the cemetery that the gravestones with flowers pointing down were virgins’ graves and the ones with the flowers pointing up were the married women. This left a lot of questions in my mind.

We visited the recently renovated Bulgarian Orthodox St. Stephen church near the Golden Horn. It is also known as the iron church. There used to be prefab churches that could be purchased. The infrastructure is prefabricated cast iron and  is one of the last remaining churches of this type in the world. There were a few people visiting when we arrived, but as we were leaving  2 buses from Bulgaria were arriving.

Next up was the old Greek high school, an imposing red brick building built in 1881. It was up a narrow street in the old Greek district. We also visited the St. George Cathedral  known as the patriarchal church of St. George. It is the spiritual seat of the Eastern Orthodox church. It was very ornate and has a portion of the column that the church claims Christ was bound to and whipped before being crucified. We were the only people visiting at that time. St. George is a popular saint in Europe and many countries claim him as their patron saint. In Catalonia he is known as Sant Jordi.

By then we were ready for some tea so Mahmet took us to a lovely spot where we sat at shaded outdoor tables overlooking the Golden Horn. Next on the tour was Miniaturk at our request. It’s an outdoor miniature park containing  100+ models of buildings all over Turkey built to  1/25th scale. They are really beautiful models and it seems to be a popular place to take children. We enjoyed it too.

Mahmet then took us back to have lunch with Sahin. He then arranged for us to go to a hamam or Turkish bath which was quite a wonderful experience. Later Mahmet took us to the Grand Bazaar and I was glad to have him along as it would be very easy to get lost in there! That evening we were invited to have a drink and snack with Sahin. We exchanged emails and promised to stay in touch.

The next morning there was Mahmet ready to take us to the airport. It was an amazing experience in Istanbul!

The next blog will talk about the next leg of the trip in Azerbaijan.