Behramkale (Assos)

In about 500 BCE, Greek settlers founded a small town on the western shore of Turkey called Assos. The most famous resident is probably the philosopher Aristotle, but apart from that it is not that notable. At some point, the town was attacked by the Persians, and although Alexander would eventually drive them out, Assos became just another village and went to ruin. Eventually the Turks settled in the area, and their village; occupying much of the same area is called Behramkale.

It's a sleepy village, especially now in the off season. It has two parts, the larger village on the hillside, and a smaller port area. Apparently during the weekends in Summer and between July and September, it is full of tourists, with places booked out weeks in advance. In between, not much seems to happen.

We are staying at a nice boutique hotel - Biber Evi, or chilli house; with amazing views of the area, including the Aegean Sea and great accommodation. It's a nice relaxing space - and the ruins of the Greek town make it interesting place to explore.

The winding road between Behramkale and Ayvacik

The roads around the northern Aegean coast of Turkey are good - generally well kept and scenic. Filled with lush countryside, valleys and the occasional glimpses of the sea, it is overall a great drive.

The road connecting Behramkale and the nearest large town - Ayvacik - is a narrow, twisty mountain road with amazing views, and one of those amazing drives that scares and exhilarates. There are parts that are on mountain edges with no safety barriers; there are lush valleys and small villages; but above all an enjoyable drive.

Troy

Troy is one of the most famous cities of the ancient era - vividly captured in Homer's Iliad. Whether the battle happened, or whether Troy was brought down by a Trojan horse is a mystery, but Troy itself is a real city on the Aegean coast of Turkey, and now part of a small national park to protect the archeological dig site.

Troy has a history going back to over 3000 BCE, and there is evidence of a conquest that destroyed the city; which would fit Homer's tale. In fact many of features described by Homer is present and visible - from the massive walls, to the ramp where Achilles would perish. 

Troy is strategically located, and in later years Constantine even considered making it his capital - which would have changed the history of Istanbul dramatically. Thus, why it was eventually completely forgotten for so long is a mystery.

As for the Trojan horse, the replica suggests that it would be possible to craft a massive structure which could contain soldiers. Whether it happened or not, we will never know.

Final thoughts on Istanbul

Istanbul has been one of my "places to go" for a log time, and I think 4 nights has been enough to just scratch the surface. It is a massive metropolis, and we effectively explored parts of 2 suburbs. The entire Asian side, yes with lesser tourist attractions, was just a pass through.

It is an interesting city, with a lot of busy energy. It is clean, and public transport is effective. Most people are friendly and it's generally a great atmosphere.

I would like to come back, but I would not stay in Sultanahmet or even really visit the area. There are many other experiences to have - but as an introduction to Istanbul, this was great!

Bosphorus Tour

Throughout Sultanahmet, there are hawkers selling tours of the Bosphorus, ranging from 15 Eur a person to over 50 Eur, for trips with museum stop overs. In fact there seem to be more tour hawkers than carpet sellers! 

Istanbul's ferry operator also offers a Bosphorus tour, although in less glamorous boats (they use standard ferries), and their long tour is the only one I saw that actually traversed the majority of the Bosphorus Straight. At 25 Liras, plus 10 Liras for a GPS enabled audio guide, it's a bargain.

The trip starts at the Eminounu docks and calls at a number of docks along the way, before a 3 hour layover at Anadolu Kavağı.

Apart from the Bosphorus itself, there are a number of palaces and a few ruins to look at from the boat, which tracks the shoreline quite a bit. We even managed to spot a small school of dolphins - which is apparently very rare occurrence.

Whirling Dervish

Across Istanbul, there are ads to go see performances of Whirling Dervishes. These are mainly not the original religious performances, but rather tourist performances at restaurants etc. While walking around a market nearby last night, we came across one such performance - it's interesting to see, music is beautiful, but not something I could stand to see for an hour or so!

Yoros Castle

The ruins of an old Byzantine castle is located on a hill overlooking a small fishing village called Anadolu Kavağı, just outside Istambul (on the Asia side). The village itself is easily accessible by the Istanbul Long Bosphorus Tour; and it's a short, but steep walk up the hill from the docks.

The castle provides amazing views of both  the village and the confluence of the the Bosphorus straight with the Black Sea. The castle is itself closed to visitors (there are apparently architectural dogs underway), but access is free and worth it for the views alone. There are also two restaurants up there, with great fresh seafood, at awesome prices.

Taksim Square at Night

One of the trendier, more modern parts I Istanbul, Taksim Square was the site of protests last year. There were no protests tonight, but people did throng the area which is full of clubs, bars, restaurants and shops. The older style of shops still persist in this area though, blending the modern with the old. And the signs of protest are still around in the graffiti around the area.

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar

Probably one of the most famous shopping centres in the world, Istanbul's Grand Bazaar is a maze of shops selling a wide range of goods; although jewelery, clothing, housewares and carpets seemed to be the most common goods. 

There are lots of sellers hustling to entice people into their shops, and it is a busy place for both locals and foreigners. Interestingly, for a secular country there were almost no women shopkeepers or even shop attendants. This is in stark contrast to more modern parts of Istanbul (such as Taksim square area) where there is more gender equality in shop attendants.

Topkapi Palace

Commissioned by the first Ottoman Sultan, and enlarged by every subsequent sultan, the Topkapi Palace is located at the corner overlooking the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus Straight. It is a massive complex, but instead of the western style of a single building, it is composed of multiple smaller buildings.

It's size and variety of sights means that it takes a long time to go through. There are magnificent rooms with amazing decorations, there are collections of jewels and treasures (including some huge diamonds, emeralds etc), collection of gifts and spoils of war, and a great display of armaments across the reign. 

There is also an interesting collection of religious artefacts, which unlike the other artefacts are not covered with detail on authenticity - with good reason when considering the claims I suppose. There is a collection of items supposedly from the prophets before Mohammed (in the Islamic tradition) including Moses and David; while there is a room of items from Mohammed and the first caliphs also. All these were effectively spoils of war when the Ottoman sultans took over the caliphate, so I suppose there is some degree in authenticity on the latter items.

Within the museum complex, but a separate entry, is the Harem - or private residence of the Sultan and his family. After the hot sun outside, the harem complex was amazingly cool - a testament to the architecture I suppose. These spaces were equally impressive in decor and design, and also showed the most stark changes in style across the centuries.

It took us close to 4 hours to cover the palace, and we didn't see all the ceramic collections. The jewels and the opulent rooms make it a worthwhile visit but it is not something to do again and again.

Sultan Ahmet Mosque

Also known as the Blue Mosque, the Sultan Ahmet mosque dominates the skyline with its impressive structure. In contrast to Christian cathedrals and Hindu temples, there are no images of gods or their disciples - but rather decorations are more patterns and calligraphy. This doesn't mean it is any less decorated or ornate - and the patterns actually enable the entire internal structure to be decorated.

Hippodrome

Situated outside the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, it was used by the Byzantines for horse racing; but is now just a large plaza. Not much remains of the hippodrome itself except for a few columns, most notably an Egyptian Obelisk. A more recent fountain, donated by German emperor Kaiser Willem II in the early 1900's provides a very elaborate contrast to the simplicity of the obelisks.

Aya (Hagia) Sophia

This is really the reason I wanted to come to Istanbul - I had read a lot about the Hagia Sophia; that it was once the main church of the Roman Empire, which then got converted to a mosque by the Ottomans - but they still preserved much of the church.

The outside is not as impressive as the inside with its amazing murals, mosaics and the amazingly decorated dome. It's probably one of the few places on earth where statements praising both Jesus and Allah are next to each other, in almost perfect harmony.

There is quite a lot of restoration work underway, but that doesn't detract from the amazing views of the interior.

The tombs at Aya Sophia

The ottoman emperors created a number of tombs next to the Aya Sophia, which are mostly notable for their ceramic decorations. It's free entry, and a quick visit.

Basilica Cistern

I first learnt about Emperor Justinian (of the Eastern Roman Empire) during my PhD work - specifically on his legal statutes that became the basis for codified Roman law. He was also responsible for many of the Byzantinian structures that have survived in Istanbul - the two most prominent examples being the Aya (Hagia) Sophia and the Basilica Cistern.

The cistern is a massive water storage tank, that supplied drinkin water to this part of Istanbul for many years, until the Ottomans built their own running water system. 

The soft lighting, the fishes am te two Medusa heads, apparently transported from elsewhere, makes this into an interesting historical attraction.

Lost in the streets of Sultanahmet

We are staying in a small hotel steps away from the Aya Sophia, but the first thing I managed, after alighting from the tram was to get lost in the alleyways. Unlike Turkish Airlines, people are very friendly, and even if they didn't know the hotel, or even know English, they offered to help. 

Sultanahmet feels like a cleaner version of India; same throngs of people, same feel of the alleyways, some stray dogs and cats; but far cleaner. There is a feeling of life that seemed to be missing from Berlin.

Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines is trying to promote itself up to as a competitor of Emirates and the other gulf airlines. It has a far more aggressive marketing campaign (staring Messi and Kobe, and previously staring George Clooney), and has one of the largey route networks.

So it's a pity that its service is so bad. We have taken three flights so far, and the service in each has been far below the levels of the Gulf competitors. Most of the attendants seemed surly and without any smiles - be it talking in Turkish or in English. Their food cart doesn't seem to have the items listed on the menu - whether we were served first or later. In fact, during one drink service they ran out - said they would be back, and never returned (this was 90 mins before the flight landed). 

So, despite the ads; they have a long way to go.

Apocalyptic Symphony

I have always considered Finnish band, Apocalyptica to be at the forefront of pushing the boundaries - for both metal and classical music. Together with the Finnish 25 member Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, they are currently on a short tour in Europe playing a number of original and cover songs from their repertoire. 

Last night they played at Berlin's Tempodrom. The venue itself, shaped like a circus tent (an homage to its more temporary original) is an excellent space for concerts; catering for a good size crowd (of about 4000) but retaining a feeling of intimacy. 

The crowd was varied - from people dressed in suits, to metal heads with piercings and leather clothes. By the end of the concert, everyone was up and jumping, even the old lady next to me (who was literally jumping on her seat). It was a great combination of their major hits, and overall a much better concert than the last performance I attended (when the played first act for Nightwish in 2009). 

It was a great night, and a fitting end to our time in Berlin.  

Tacheles

One of my favorite places in Berlin was Tacheles - a near derelict building in the Mitte district primarily serving as an artist colony. It embodied the weirdness and strangeness present in Berlin, that makes it such an interesting city. 

Sadly, Tacheles is no more; and the entire site is boarded up. Much of the graffiti seems to have been cleaned up/faded away and the entire area seems duller as a result. Perhaps it's a sign that Berlin is growing up, a sign that it is loosing its edge, that it's coming to its senses - since the other "underground" areas are far less accessible. 

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Known colloquialy as the Holocaust memorial, it is certainly the most prominent of the memorials for World War 2 victims in Germany. 

In my previous visits, I have never gone inside the underground memorial centre - and that is really a missing piece in the conceptualisation of the memorial. It is with the context provided that the seemingly endless rows of concrete blocks turn to unmarked, anonymous, numerous, markers for the many that perished. 

It is also strange to see the stark numbers - that the most of the Jews that were murdered were not German, but rather more Polish, Soviet, Hungarian, Czechoslovakian and  Romanian Jews died than German Jews. The operation of persecution seems more of a hunt, than just neighbors turning on each other.

Ultimately, the sadest commentary for me was in the very beginning - a quote from Primo Levi "It happened, therefore it an happen again: this is the core of what we have to say". Given what has happened since - Serbia, Rwanda and what is happening now in Syria - as the human race we haven't learnt anything. As the saying goes, history repeats itself.