So take me back

Istanbul. My favourite stop of the trip. The following are excerpts from my journal.

December 17, 2012

“We reached the city at about noon, and as we were coming into port I stood out on the starboard side of the promenade and watched as we approached the city. Mist enshrouded the buildings, and I heard adhan (the Muslim call to prayer) float eerily across the dark water to meet me. It was an incredible sound, one I have never heard before in life but felt like I had known from forever.

We went to a palace, the Topkapı Palace, built by Medmed II. It was full of interesting things and detailed history, and was very beautiful, but it was the Roman Cistern and the Blue Mosque that so affected me. The Cistern is a couple of stories underground, and it is rows and rows of columns standing in a few feet of water. The ceiling drips, and the columns are lit by a strange red-orange light, and from the steps you can see something moving in the water, which reveals itself to be huge grey fish with silver backs. Indistinct ethereal music floats between the pillars and the whole thing feels quiet eerie and strange. I kept imagining ghosts lurking in the shadows, watching, or taking the form of those big slow fish. It was wonderful and strange.

But it was the Blue Mosque that I will not forget. I came prepared with my head covered, so I just had to slip out of my shoes and step onto the soft red carpet, and I was transfixed and transformed. I raised my eyes and looked and looked, looked at the exquisite painting and architecture, looked at the detail of craftsmanship, looked at every colour in every corner. I looked so hard and it was so beautiful I began to cry. Such beauty and devotion. I did not want to leave, and had to brush tears away as I crossed the threshold. It was a deeply personal and spiritual experience to be there inside the Mosque. As we drove to port, I could faintly hear adhan echoing through the streets, and I closed my eyes and never felt happier.”

December 18, 2012, Deck 13

“The wind is coming from the North, and pushing the clouds ahead of it. The ship’s flags are snapping and the ribbon of my journal fluttering, straining to follow the breeze. I am waiting for adhan, to have those glorious sounds find me on my little perch atop the ship. This ship that’s a small floating city. The sun is trying to break through the clouds, in vain, while seagulls swoop and dip between the boats braving the tumultuous bay, in water that’s so dark the blue is an afterthought. I love the Turkish flag, the bright stamp of red against the brown of winter trees and brick buildings. I love Istanbul. Nothing will compare to the welcoming I received from the city yesterday, but the skyline pricks at my heart with its tall minarets and will leave a treasured scar.

Like the Ottoman kings, I am waxing poetical. I will leave you to your thoughts, and just watch.

My waiting has paid off. Such a wondrous cacophony. I follow the sound as a sunflower follows the sun.”

The rest of the day I wrote about later, and it was wonderful, though in a different way than our first day in Istanbul. Liz, Jacob, Annalicia and I went to the Grand Bazaar by Tram, where I bought two glass tea cups and some apple tea. We just wandered around looking, and though the vendors tried to get our attention no one was ever pushy. In the Bazaar you can get wonderfully lost, and we walked around for a couple of hours, just looking and exploring. At one point adhan echoed through the tunnels with crackling normality, and I was haunted by the sound. Then we got some snacks and returned to the ship.

A grand and glorious adventure I will never forget.