Today’s the last day of Ramadan and next week is a holiday,
so a lot of the people are gone to visit family and the downtown area hasn’t
been all that crowded. I took the opportunity to do the cheesy thing and get a
Big Red Bus tour of my own town.
Probably it was a waste of $35, but I enjoyed it. It gave me
a pretty good lay of the land and a running narration on the history, of which
there is much. Walls built in the fourth century! Wow – civilization started
here. It’s amazing.
Of course, I’m not ready to be tested on it or anything.
There’s just too much. As I sat on the bus listening to it, I was pretty
thankful to be born in a relatively new country. I cannot imagine having to
learn all that in middle school. Byzantine, Ottomans, Turks … it was a lot to
grasp.
I couldn’t find anyone to go with me on the tour but one of
my colleague had to go a market that morning so I went down to meet the bus
with her. There is a metro/tram system here, but since I walk work, I haven’t
had a chance to use it.
I have yet to take the metro trains, but now I know where to
catch a bus that will take me to a tram that will take me down to the Blue
Mosque area, which is where the big tours and stuff stars. It’s a nice area,
and was far more crowded in the afternoon than it was in the morning. There was
no one there when we got there, and we were in the towel shop before anyone
else work up, I think.
When I met the bus, there were a total of three people on
it. I went as far as Takism Square initially and got off and wandered there
before getting back on and stopping at Hard Rock for lunch. I realize that was
also a bit cheesy, but I was playing tourist and had a free drink.
After that, I had some trouble finding the next bus stop. I
was aiming at one church and thought I found the road, but promptly got as lost
as you can while armed with a GPS and wound up finding a totally different bus
stop and getting on there. I’d tried to meet the bus at stop No. 11 or
something, but wound up getting back on at No. 3 and had to go through the
whole let’s-go-to-Asia routine again. Let’s face it, that’ll never get old, but
this driver had no idea one of those pedals at his feet could make the bus go
faster. We were going to so slow, he actually stopped at one point.
That route put me behind about an hour, but since I’m here
two years it’s all good. I finally got off that route and got on the other one,
which took you around the Golden Horn area. I knew there was something called a
“Dolphinarium,” but I didn’t know you could scuba dive with dolphins. I
seriously might have to do that.
At that point in the tour, I was starting to get a raging
headache and it was close to being over, so I didn’t get off and do the cable
car or the miniature city or anything like that. I just soaked in the history
and wound down back at the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, where I started to get
hassled for sales, which is when it’s time to make my departure.
The trip back, solo, was way more complicated than the way
there. I found the tram all right but when I went to the end, I had no idea
where the bus stop was. When we got off, the tram was right there, but all I
saw on the other side of the road was taxis.
So I figured I’d just start walking down the road. It was
right by the water, and as long as the water stayed on my right, I knew I was
heading in the right direction. (I used “right” three times in that sentence,
and it still sounded right, right?)
Right on. Anyway, at no point was the water on my left, so I
knew I was correct, but it sure seemed weird – and long. You know how in
America, buses stop something like every 30 feet? Well, I knew I was headed in
the – um, not wrong – direction because one of my buses passed me, and I knew
they were 15 minutes apart. I swear I did not see another stop. I just kept
walking and walking. I finally got to this bus jam stop in front of one what
appeared to be popular area. I thought it was a bus stop, but then realized all
those buses were the same number, so I walked on.
No sooner did I cross in front of all the bus 30As than I saw
an actual bus stop. I was so relieved, but then when I checked the “upcoming”
buses, I did not see my bus, No. 22. I couldn’t figure out why not, because it
sure seemed like 15 minutes had passed by since I’d seen the bus. And then I
realized that while I was standing there, a bus pulled up, and it was mine.
I was so happy to sit down. And the, I hit Istanbul traffic.
I had stopped to get a bottle of water and some cookies, so I no longer felt
like I was going to starve. (The Hard Rock fish and chips only lasted so long.
It was 7:30 by that point, and I didn’t get home until almost 9 p.m.
So I was really happy to not have to work today. I didn’t
sleep late or anything, but after getting up, running 6k, doing laundry,
cooking and going to the grocery store, I did take a nap. Now I am up and
getting ready to tackle the metro on the way to the airport. I’m headed to Baku
for a couple of days. Back on Friday.
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