Istanbul, Turkey (Constantinople in the earlier years)

I've taken a long time to share my thoughts and experiences of Istanbul. The trip was fascinating. It will probably be the closest the Middle East I will ever get. This was a supplementary 'field trip' that went along with our 'Islam and the West' class that I had this semester. I have to admit I was a little nervous flying on Turkish Airlines when compared to airlines in Europe and the U.S. But we got there (and back) safely. During the flight I was required read for the course, a book called Istanbul: Memories of the City by Orhan Pamuk. It was interesting to say the least and a great prelude to the trip. Please be warned before continuing on with the read. If you got some free time, read this post. It's lengthy, but worth it. If you don't have all the time in the world to pry, read a shorter post. This one is lengthy and shorter ones are soon to follow.

The main underlying theme behind the book, along with being a memoir of his childhood growing up in the city, was this idea of Huzun: a word in turkish that roughly translates to melancholy. The story was about how the city was under this spell. I thought the author was romanticizing just a little too much, however, after walking the streets, I have to say I feel it also. To contextualize, Turkey is a Republic. It's probably one of the most Westernized countries east of the EU. They have been trying to get a membership to the EU for quite some time now, however to no prevail. Once known as the Imperial capital of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine, and later the Ottoman this city was thriving with large amounts of wealth. It's key positioning, being that connecting the West with Asia, was one of the main reasons that it grew to such a metropolis. Today, it's home to nearly 11 million constituents. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, a final push over the cliff at the end of World War I when they got their butts kicked by the good 'ole Allies, the City and Nation were left in shambles. Ataturk, a main military leader pushed for Kemalism.

It was a term coined by the Turks as a way to create a secular nation-state, democratize the nation and follow in the footsteps of the West and its flagship economies of the global community. Ataturk's reforms were harsh to some degree, bordering fascism at some moments. But he was successful (sort of) to push the country towards a democratic nation. The problem was, he was huge into military stuff so the military had huge influences in shaping the direction of the country. It still does today. Little known factoid: Turkey's government (or the elected party in charge at the time) has been overthrown 4 times from 1960 to 1997. And they want to be a member of the European Union? HA! But, they are clamping down on this. Just recently there were over 40 high ranking military officials arrested for plotting a coup against the government so people are getting keener on the matter.


SOOOOOO, you got a little crude history lesson on Turkey and now you know why they are all in this state of Melancholy or Huzun. Its this constant push and pull mentality. Along with that, most of the population is Islamic. Islam, being the devout religion it is, doesn't mix well with secular democracies, so Turks really lack a sense of identity if you will - explains the prolonged sadness. It's so true, people just look gloomy walking around. Walking without a purpose. It's a weird feeling. But as an outsider, I thought Istanbul was amazing. Now for the good, amazing stuff.

So we arrive at the Hali Hotel late at night and after dinner we crash for the night. Wake up and have breakfast on the top floor overlooking the Bosphorus Strait and the cityscape. Being the lark that I am, I was up sooner than most people and actually got to have a cup of tea with one of my professors. The sunset across the mosques was stellar and galvanizing. It's a lot different than waking up and walking down the steps of my house back home. Here's just a visual aid to prove my point:

Home: Tucker doing his business back in Wisconsin


A comparable view from the hotel lounge on the top floor:

click on image to expand...

But, in all respect, I miss my family and if they're reading, I would have liked it 100 times more if we would had done this has a family. Seeing and doing these things might be good for me, to be a little bit more cultured, but it means so much more to share the experiences with other people, especially the ones you care about. Sorry, I'll get back to the story.

So after breakfast, we are off to the Blue Mosque, the one in the picture above. A large dome with 6 minarets shooting up into the heavens like the older silo-shaped space shuttles from the . Technically called the Sultan Ahmed Mosque the inside of the dome is lined with hand painted blue, flower-patterned tiles. Pretty impressive. It was weird walking the streets and listening to Morning Prayer. Loud speakers throughout the city on the minarets broadcast it. Next stop was actually right down the road, we saw an Egyptian Obelisk that was given to the city for some reason. It is the sister obelisk to the one in Paris, France, the Obelisk of Luxor (Mom & Dad - you guys should remember that). So that was pretty interesting. After that, we crossed the street to the Red Mosque.

The Red Mosque or the Hagia Sophia is an interesting story. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and to have changed the history of architecture. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Seville Cathedral in 1520. Converted into a mosque later in its history, there are paintings of angels that were painted over. Muslims, while they do believe in the same God, don't believe in pictures of God or angels, no depictions of holy figures. However, the mosque isn't an operating mosque anymore. So they are uncovering some of the original artwork draw on the walls during the roman empire.

All in all, it was a great trip. there are a million other things to talk about but I just distilled it down to these couple of things. Anyways. I'll type soon.