Istanbul, Constantinople, the center of the Byzantine Empire, the bridge between Europe and Asia, the needle hole for every trade going from east to the west and vice versa! Istanbul, where Christians and Muslins live together for centuries, where the western and eastern influences mix, where spices and gold were traded, where many different languages were spoken, Istanbul is truely a one-of-a-kind in every way.
We left the cruise ship today, said good-bye to our comfortable room, and headed straight into the next adventure.
We found our hotel, checked in and couldn’t wait to visit the grand bazaar! 35 years ago I was in Turkey for 6 weeks and loved it! The people were so friendly and welcoming, by the mentioning of being German, they bend over backwards to tell me their connection to my home country: VW for 17 years, Mercedes for 10 years, Audi for 20 years, etc. Many of them had worked in the German Automobile industry, after the Italians in the 1950s and the Greeks in the 1960s and early 1970s.
There are still many Turkish people in Germany, marking the second biggest ethnic group there. You can find lots of Turkish restaurants and delicious street food (“Döner Kebab“) everywhere.
The grand Bazaar just swallowed us in! According to Wikipedia, „The Grand Bazaar (Turkish: Kapalıçarşı, meaning ‘Covered Market’; also Büyük Çarşı, meaning ‘Grand Market’) in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops on a total area of 30,700 m2, attracting between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.“ It has 21 entrances! So it’s easy to float around and/or get lost…
Fortunately our hotel is just a 15min walk away from the Grand Bazaar, so I head back to our hotel after a late lunch in order to teach; somebody has to work….. The good thing is the time difference: we are 10hours ahead of time from California to Turkey, so my classes are from 6pm until midnight. Meaning I can explore during daylight and teach at night 🥳
Over 3000 mosques are in Istanbul and when they call for prayer, 5 times a day, I’m getting goose bumps all over my body. I’m not religious, but this prayer calling has a special sensation that goes under my skin – I love it!
Time for my classes – more tomorrow!