Istanbul
City
January
21st, 2010 by Isabella
We traveled from Bulgaria to
Istanbul on an overnight train. It was fun even though I was feeling like my
lungs were going to split any second. I was coming down with the swine flu (so
my mom says). When we got to Istanbul, Cy, Cruz, Papa,
Mama, and I were all sick. We had the flu. I felt bad. I could barely talk. We
just stayed inside our apartment and napped. After a few days it was G-O-N-E!
We could go out and explore.
Traveling in Istanbul is like a
flash. We often went by metro. Mom had a metal pass that she pressed against a
slot and took some money out of it. Sometimes she had to re-charge it in a
machine that recharges them! The pass also lets us get onto trolleys,
trams, funiculars, and ferry boats. We had to take ferry boats a lot because
there is a big strait called the Bosporus that splits the Asian side of
Istanbul from the European side! A funicular is a cable car that goes up hills
in underground tunnels. We used the funicular called Tünel
a lot because it was right by our house. It is the second oldest underground
train line in the world. The oldest one is the London Underground, which we
rode on a lot in London.
Istanbul is like a mosque made of
many mosques. When I was there I could hear many people in minarets singing the
call to prayer at the same time. There was a minaret right outside our window
and the call to prayer woke us up every morning. It sounded like it was right
inside our kitchen. There was a call to prayer five times a day. We went to one
of the biggest mosques in the world! Outside of the Blue Mosque there was a
black kitten. She was cold so she jumped in my lap and started purring. In the
Blue Mosque there was a huge red carpet. People with strange caps were paying
on it. They were Muslims.
Even though we were only in Istanbul
for two weeks, we learned a lot of Turkish. A man whose name is Alper taught us
Turkish at our house. He didn’t want us to pay him anything. He just wanted to
have the experience of meeting new people. Here is some of the Turkish I
remember: Please is “loot-van”, no is “hire”, yes is “evit”,
and hello is “merhaba”. Thank you is “to-shake-your-adedom”, goodbye (when you are leaving) is “oyster-column”,
and goodbye (when someone else is leaving) is gule-gule.
Of all the places we visited in
Istanbul, the Princes’ Islands were the most interesting. We went to the
Princes’ Islands on a ferry. We threw bread to seagulls the bread in mid-air
with their beaks. There were no cars, trucks, or buses. Instead of taxis there
were horse carriages. We rode bikes all around the border of Büyükada, the biggest of the Princes’ Islands. I saw a crow
flying with a piece of pottery in its mouth. There were also a lot of cats: big
cats to small cats. On the way back, Cyrus and Papa saw dolphins jumping out of
the water. I didn’t get to see them. I was disappointed, but I had a great day.
I loved the Princes’ Islands.
Istanbul was fun. There are lots of
new things to learn and places to see. I’ve only seen a tiny bit of Istanbul,
because I was only there for two weeks. When I grow up I want to go back to
visit Istanbul to explore more. I hope to find more surprises. Maybe next time
I’ll get to spot some dolphins.