Istanbul (or, My First Trip Abroad)
Our family and friends thought we were crazy. My dad said we would be attacked by terrorists. We invited a friend who would not go because it would flag him as a security breach at his job. Others never even heard of Istanbul.
But that’s where we were headed. My mom and I. For both of our first trip outside North America and for my mom’s first trip needing a passport, we were flying to Istanbul, Turkey.
My mom and I had decided to go on a Mediterranean cruise in April 2008. We had many to choose from, but for some reason we were drawn to the more “off the beaten path” itineraries instead of a typical Western European cruise. The one we chose on Norwegian cruise lines went from Istanbul to Athens, including stops on several of the Greek Islands and in Alexandria Egypt with an opportunity to get down to Cairo. It was a pretty good deal and we thought it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see some of these places in a relatively stress-free and comfortable way on a cruise.
But, cruise or no cruise, we still had to start of the trip on our own with two nights in Istanbul. I guess we could have arranged everything through the cruise, with airport transfers and hotel stay, but we decided to be a little more independent. We found a boutique hotel, Hotel Mena, in the historic Sultanahmet area of the city and took a taxi in from the airport after surviving our first long haul flight ever.
I remember the first few things that struck me after arriving in a bit of a daze after an all night flight. One was that it didn’t seem all that strange or different or far away. Sure, the architecture was different and people spoke Turkish, but the sky was blue and the grass was green, and I didn’t feel far from home like I expected I would.
Since I really didn’t know what to expect of Turkey, I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable I felt there and about the lack of culture shock. Also, people had told us about how friendly and helpful the Turks were, but I was still surprised at how welcome I felt there.
When we first got to our hotel, we looked out the window to find a minaret with it’s speaker pointed right at our window. We knew we wouldn’t have to go far to hear the call to prayer, which was just as exotic and haunting as it sounds on Youtube. Especially when it’s echoing from several different mosques all over the city!
We took a little nap and then decided we felt well enough to go out for the evening. We asked the front desk where we could see some belly dancing, and the next thing we knew, we were being whisked off in a van through the narrow winding Istanbul streets. We went to a pretty generic, touristy belly dancing dinner show, but we had a great time there!
The place asked everyone’s nationalities when they sat down, and put their country’s flag on their tables so we could see where everyone was from. My mom and I sat next two a chain smoking Swedish mother and daughter pair on one side, and a table of rowdy Iraqi businessmen on the other. It was definitely an interesting night when the Iraqis started getting drunk and asking us why we hated their country. It was a little awkward. Later they had quite a fun night of dancing!
The show and dancing were excellent, and we were very impressed with the skills of the ladies. They also had a great MC who spoke so many languages it made my head spin. It was alot of fun seeing other audience members from all over the world. Yes, it was a very touristy insulated experience, but it was perfect for our first night out in Istanbul.
The next day we wandered around Sultanahmet on a beautiful sunny spring day. We were lucky enough to be in Istanbul during the annual tulip festival, and there were millions of gorgeous tulips of all colors all over the city. Despite being warned by every person and guidebook, we let ourselves get latched on to by a carpet store representative. He did show us all around the historic district and take our pictures everywhere before taking us to his carpet store. It really wasn’t a bad experience and my mom wanted to buy a rug anyway (she did!) and we did enjoy ourselves in the shop drinking apple tea and watching the salesman throw the rugs around. They really are spectacular! We were fortunate to end up in a shop we’d heard of and knew as reputable.
That evening we ended up having a blast out in the Taksim area of Istanbul, where they have a pedestrian street full of shopping and lots of bars and restaurants. We enjoyed talking with the young owner of a bar down one of the side streets in Taksim and spent the rest of the night upstairs in the bar listening to a live two man band play traditional Turkish music. We were the only foreigners in the place and it was really a wonderful way to experience a night out in Turkey. We ended up staying out until 3 am drinking Raki and enjoying the music.
The next day, we had just enough time to wander around the spice market and snap a few final photos before our ship sailed. We had definitely fallen in love with Istanbul and were very sorry to have to leave. There are still so many things I want to do there that we didn’t get to: a Turkish bath, Topkapi palace, Hagia Sofia, and just spending more time wandering around this beautiful city.
I think I learned a lot from this trip. It certainly made me want to continue to travel and see places off the beaten path. I’m really glad we got out of our comfort zone and took a risk on a destination that was “questionable” to some. I really loved how friendly and fun the Turks we met were, and enjoyed their sense of humor. Also, I did learn the ropes of the squat toilet there – that’s definitely come in handy since!
For anyone thinking of visiting Istanbul, do not hesitate! I felt very safe there, and the city is perfectly modern and developed. Many things are still a good bargain since Turkey is not on the Euro, and there are endless things to see and do. The history of Istanbul and the surrounding region is just fascinating, and the different empires that Istanbul has been under have left their marks on the city.
Where was your first trip abroad? Which destinations weren’t what you expected?