Istanbul, Turkey: Day 1

After only one day at sea, we arrived in Istanbul, Turkey. After COMPLETELY losing my voice and nearly causing my stomach to spasm with coughs, I paid a second visit to the ship doctor, who gave me cough medicine and told me to stop talking (yeah, right) and rest (okay). I spent the entire day in bed, and at 5 PM finally emerged from my hibernation to watch the whirling dervishes (Muslim performances) with Jill. We took the metro (crowded and anxiety-inducing) across the bridge and made our way to the train station, where the ceremony was held, to buy tickets. After purchasing them, we walked in search of an ice cream cone, my current craving. On the way I decided to give in and buy a digital camera (remember, mine broke on the first day in Spain), so I could have one for at least half of my trip.

After finally buying an ice cream cone we went back into the train station for the performance. Now I do not pretend to know anything about the whirling dervishes, so forgive my interpretation. I am not sure what I was expecting, but it was surprisingly simple. First, six singers/musicians came out and performed several songs for us. After about fifteen minutes, they left and returned shortly, with black robes on and followed by another group, the dancers (also robed in black). The music began again and the dancers discarded their black robes, revealing colorful ones, and began whirling with their arms raised and heads cocked to one side like marionettes. As they twirled, I marveled at their endurance. They spun for minutes on end, arms raised the entire time. Now, for anyone who has ever done yoga, you know that holding one’s arms up for any period of time longer than a minute is painfully near impossible.

After about an hour, they finished and Jill and I decided to wander around the Old City (where we were). We found that the stores in Istanbul were fun and relatively cheap; I bought a tapestry (though I have no idea what I am going to do with it..), some treats from a candy store filled with Turkish Delight (a very interesting candy for those who haven’t tried it), and a kilogram of cherries from a vendor for 4 lyra (less than three dollars). After walking we decided to stop at a local hookah bar and try the local treat. We ended up staying close to four hours, making friends with the waiters and enjoying the cherries I’d purchased. The waiters fell quite in love with us and not only gave us a discount, but got us half price on a taxi back to the ship. We arrived back at about 1:30 and I was out by 2.