Week Two: Istanbul's Treasures

Monday was a holiday, and Jeff's last day off, so we wanted to take advantage of our time. We decided to venture to the Grand Bazaar! I mentioned the Spice Bazaar in my last post, and when I was planning this trip, I thought they were one and the same, but boy, was I wrong! 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 19 miles, attracting between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. In 2014, it was listed as No.1 among the world's most-visited tourist attractions, with 91,250,000 annual visitors. It is often regarded as one of the first shopping malls in the world!

Our friend told us to go the first time and look around - not buy anything. Just experience it and make a note of what we like, and then we can come back again. So that was our plan. We stopped first to get lunch so we'd have enough fuel. This is what Jeff and I shared - YUM!

Grilled Turkish Kabobs with blugar pilaf and grilled veggies...I'm still dreaming about this...

Soon, we were looking at all the shops and doing our best to ignore the extra friendly (read pushy) salesmen. We did okay until I stopped to admire a Turkish rug. Before we knew it, we were sitting down for tea with the owner of the shop, seriously contemplating buying a rug to be shipped home (actually, the shop owner said he would deliver it as he goes to the US twice a year 😆)! Man, they are good!

As I've said before, the work ethic of these people is just incredible! This man climbed up and pulled down so many rugs to show us and even removed one of them from the wall so we could see it. We didn't ask for this, and it all happened so fast, so I tried really hard not to feel guilty that we didn't buy one.

They served us Apple Tea (herbal tea that tasted just like apple cider) in a traditional tulip-shaped glass called an ince belli. Regular tea is called çay, which is pronounced like the English word "chai." It is a very strong tea with an average of 71 milligrams of caffeine in each tiny cup. We see people serving and drinking from these cups everywhere! It is a huge part of the culture here.

Some Muslim Barbies with traditional hijab scarves. The girls loved them.

One thing we did purchase is beautiful headscarves. We had the kindest salesman here. He loved helping the girls and me decide on colors and patterns. We cannot enter the mosques without our heads covered, so these were a priority. I have two now. One from my dear friend Nicole Robertson in Idaho and now a new one from the Grand Bazaar. I looked up the symbolism of the hijab and learned that it is a head covering worn by Muslim women as an outward manifestation of their commitment to worship God. It is a symbol of modesty, privacy, morality, and empowerment.

After scarf shopping, we headed to a nearby mosque. On the way, we saw Istanbul University. We noticed lots of flags and people wearing scarves with Palestinian flags on one side and Turkish flags on the other. We now realize they must have just come from the protest at the Galata Bridge that I talked about last week.

This is the scarf we saw on so many students around Istanbul University. This is a photo of Turkish President Erdoğan and his wife at a protest (I found it on Google). He is a very controversial figure here. Many feel that he is ruining Turkey, but many love and support him. One of our tour guides told us that he and his wife can't talk about Erdoğan because it always ends in an argument.

We got to test out our brand-new scarves just a few minutes away at a beautiful mosque.

We made it just in time for the call to prayer (this happens five times per day), so we got to witness both Muslim women and men (separately) pray. It felt very special, and I felt such a love for all of these faithful people! We have been trying to learn more about Muslims, Islam, and the prophet Muhammad. I've been really surprised by how much our faith traditions have in common. Of course, there are some major differences, too. If you are interested, Here's a link we found helpful to learn about their basic beliefs.

Tuesday was our first official day back to work and school. Our plan has been to sightsee in the mornings and be home in the afternoon to do our bookwork and for Jeff to start his 8-hour work day. He was hoping he could work from 2-10 pm, but his manager told him recently he needs him to be available for questions, etc., until 1 am our time. So we are still trying to be home by 2 pm to give him time to take a good, long nap before he starts work at 4 pm. It will get better when we leave Istanbul and head north, but for now, that's the way it is. I am so thankful for my ever-hardworking, ever-loyal, ever-consistent Jeff!

The kids do a few online classes - we love Dennison Math.

Maisy practicing her viola.

We're all doing two travel journals. One is just writing about our experiences daily, and another is an art journal of things we are seeing.

Laurel painting the fresh fruit market we go to often.

My first journal page

Wednesday, we ventured out to see Topkapi Palace.

Topkapi Palace is one of the world's largest surviving palaces and was built between 1460 and 1478 under the orders of Sultan Mehmed II, a few years after he conquered Constantinople. The palace served as the home of 24 different Ottoman Sultans for almost four centuries. The grounds are vast, and the architecture, like so many other buildings here, is beautiful. This is the gate the Sultan would enter.

This is the signature of the last Sultan to live here. Everything is in Arabic in these historical buildings. In 1928, the Republic of Turkey underwent a huge language reform, and in the space of just a few months, the country completely replaced the old Ottoman and its Arabic script with an early version of the Romanized Turkish used today. If you're interested in learning more, I found this article really helpful.

I'll share some details from the palace:

This is the kitchen area. We learned that the Sultan and his family (four legal wives and many concubines and children) and all those who worked to keep the palace going totaled about 4,000 people on average. That's a lot of people to feed!

I loved these rock paths.

The details! It was just so incredible!!

Eunuchs took care of the Harem - the women and children, including the mother, sisters, wives, concubines, daughters, entertainers, and servants.

We thought this was a bed, but this is where the Sultan would sit to meet with other government leaders. They would stand while he sat.

Where beheadings took place, the rock is where the head was placed and a convenient place to wash up after the deed was done, right behind. 😳

The tiles and Maisy are so beautiful!

Taking a break. I think the girls are so cute with their headscarves.

Where the children slept, it's like a huge dormitory! The younger kids on the bottom, and the older ones on the top.

Inside the Harem. It was like its own little village.

Just some more patterns for your viewing pleasure 😊

We learned about the sacred symbolism of Arabic calligraphy, the geometric and arabesque patterns, and Islamic art in general, and it inspires me even more! If you're interested in learning more, this is a great overview, or this is a quick and beautiful insight, and this video is great, too.

Our last stop in the palace was the Treasury, where we looked at relics captured through years of war and conquests. We saw:

Muhammad's footprint

Moses' staff (the one that turned into a serpent).

John the Baptist's hand/arm

A piece of John the Baptist's skull

King David's sword

Original handwritten Quran

And listened to a man chanting from the Quran. They have been reading/chanting from the Quran here 24/7 for 500 years! Who knows if these relics were legit, but it was fun feeling like Indiana Jones for a little bit. 😉

We had an awesome guide. The Turkish government has official guides who study for many years to be able to teach tourists about the historical treasures here.

Ollie's art journal page of the Topkapi Palace

Friday, Laurel, Maisy, and I ventured out to find an art supplies shop (poor Norah got what has been going around our family). It was an adventure figuring out the Metro and getting to the other side of town without Jeff, but we did it! These two are such fun traveling companions.

Maisy on the Metro

Lots of dogs and cats to pet on the way.

We found it! The art supplies were really inexpensive, so we had to keep reminding ourselves that we couldn't buy everything. 😁

We stopped at Fatih Park on the way home and saw the Memorial of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror.

In 2023, Istanbul celebrated 100 years of being the Republic of Turkey. This is also part of Fatih Park.

We came home to Jeff and Ollie with, I think, the best haircuts they ever have ever had! Jeff said the barber used a long razor blade on him; Ollie said his guy was "very aggressive." I don't know. I think it paid off! 😁

There was a call to prayer as we walked home, so we got to witness many of the men we saw running shops close to us put down a mat and take off their shoes to pray. It was quite a sight to see streets full of men stopping everything to take time to pray.

Very common sight. I love the cool tea carriers, and I'm always amazed at how they swing them when they walk, and nothing spills!

Saturday, Jeff took everyone but Norah and me (poor Norah was really sick and I didn't feel comfortable leaving her for the whole day) to the Princess Islands. Here are some pictures Laurel shared:

The kids all loved getting away from the busy city for a day and breathing fresh ocean air.

Sunday, we took a taxi to church because we were running late, and it was pouring rain. I really thought I was Indiana Jones the way the taxi driver was driving! Stop signs, crosswalks, and do not enter signs have zero meaning here. It is a JUNGLE!! So many insane drivers. But we made it only a few minutes late to a full room. So many more people this week including the mission president and his wife. Turkey is part of the Frankfurt, Germany mission, so the missionaries and President visit about once a month - the missionaries do a lot of teaching through Zoom. It was a testimony meeting this week, so we had the treat of listening to members share their hearts and experiences. Listening to so many different accents from vastly different cultures and experiences was so inspiring and brought tears of gratitude for the amazing gospel of Jesus Christ that brings us all together as one.

We met the Krolls from Texas, who have been on the road doing both the US and World Schooling for the past 2.5 years. It was great to have some youth there, and we plan to get together while we're both here together!

And I'll end with our friend from last week, Favor. She walked with us to the Metro and helped us get more money on our cards. She is the most beautiful person (inside and out). She's from Ivory Coast, knows three languages, and is studying nursing here in Istanbul, far from her family (she does have an aunt here). We LOVE her!

Well, those are the treasures we've found in Turkey so far. Can't wait to see what we see next week. Love to all of you! ❤️