Turkey Day Three ((T-Square))

Michelle and I signed up for an SAS excursion for today and we decided to skip breakfast, sleep in a little, and grabbed lunch on the ship, the cheapest option. Our bus left at 1PM and drove to a tiny little motor boat which would proceed to take a handful of SASers down the Bosphorus. This body of water connects the Asian and European side of Turkey, so technically, I was in two places at once today – Asia and Europe. The Asian side actually looked a bit cleaner and nicer than the European side…but maybe it was just my imagination.

The ride took about 1.5 hours and we were served Apple Tea (go figure!), which I swallowed in one gulp. I think I might have an addiction to this tea…it could be worse, eh? I haven’t tried the Hookah bars yet, but I’m thinking this tea has me hooked…

We got off the boat to tour around a private museum which was once inhabited by the wealthiest family in all of Turkey, which I found quite cool. This was by far the most interesting museum that I’ve toured in thus far because the artifacts showcased were just unique, and the rooms were actually bedrooms and bathrooms until the early 19th century. There was one room called the “Circumcision Room”, and the bed showcased was decorated with brightly colored draperies and linens. Apparently when the boys back then were about to be circumcised, they would have to ride a horse through town wearing obnoxious outfits announcing that this big day was coming up. I felt embarrassed just reading about it.

After we came back to the ship, we grabbed dinner and met up with Emily to maybe catch another movie. We got directions from a girl to the Taxsim Square because that was where we were supposed to find a handful of different theaters. Up the cobblestone alleys we walked, up and up and up until my knees ached and my brow glistened. This one man stopped me and asked where we were going, so I showed him the place on a piece of paper because I wanted to make sure we were going in the right direction (since this cobblestone alley was not touristy and rather scary), and he nodded his head and grinned.

“Keep to left, left, left…”

“Okay, left, left, left.” I nodded to the girls. “We have to keep left.”

“If you want right, there sex shop on right. I can give you tour…”

“No! No, no, no!” I shook my head vigorously. “No sex shop. We keep left, left, left!” I began to talk in his broken English.

We kept walking and passed by various meat shops with skinned animals hanging by their hind legs outside. If I wanted an entire lamb, skinned and hanging by its legs, this alley would certainly be the place to buy one. We passed by music stores and men playing instruments with dogs by their side, and women holding out their hands for money with sleeping children in their laps. This was not the touristy section at all.

Finally, finally, we made it to Taxsim Square, which looked more like a business district than a place to find a movie theater. Buses zoomed past with bored looking passengers aboard and Taxi drivers smoked cigarettes outside of their cars, waiting to go somewhere, anywhere. We looked around and stopped in the center of the square.

“Well,” I said, looking around. “I don’t see a theater anywhere.”

Michelle looked about half-terrified, probably from the seedy alleyways we had just come from, and Emily glanced around us.

“I would honestly feel more comfortable just taking a cab back to the ship, you know? This isn’t the kind of place to really hang out.” Emily looked a little unsettled herself.

So, we came back to the ship in a cab and ended our night a bit early. It was nice for a change, coming back to the ship when all of the other SASer’s were leaving it. I climbed up the stairs and stationed myself on the 7th deck.

I brought my laptop and my newly acquired Bouzouki and watched Istanbul’s nightlife light up before my eyes.

A.