Spring Break: Istanbul, Athens, Holland, & Belgium

Apologies, this is going to be a long one.

I was so worried that the taxi I ordered online to take me to the airport the first morning of spring break wouldn't show up- I had to use google translate to order on a Czech website for 4:00 AM and they didn't send me any kind of confirmation. But because things usually work out, it did, and I arrived at the airport in time for my flight to Istanbul (by way of Brussels and Zurich)! Turkey is a place I've vaguely considered visiting since my World History class sophomore year of high school. I couldn't believe I was actually getting to go. All the flights went well, I met the rest of my group in Zurich (for the record, Swiss Airlines gives out some really great Swiss chocolate on board), and we landed in Istanbul at about 4:00 PM. We ate some kebab on the way to our hostel and since it took a while to find and we were all tired from traveling, settled in for the night.

Istanbul really is as beautiful as everyone's always said. The mosques are so ornate and unlike any architecture I've ever seen. Saturday we walked from our hostel down a main shopping street to Galata tower, a lookout tower built on the highest point of the city walls. From there we walked down across the bridge where fishermen were lined up shoulder to shoulder. Later on the way home, they were grilling and selling the freshly caught fish right behind them on the sidewalk. We kept walking, through the famous spice market, lined with barrels of spices and loose leaf tea, through winding streets of shops to the Grand Bazaar. Parts of Istanbul were like a giant garage sale- men selling drills and toilet seats and anything they could get their hands on. But the Grand Bazaar was filled with stalls of hand-painted pottery and dishes, silk scarves, handmade tapestries, rugs, bags, and my favorite, mosaic lamps. The lamp shops were mesmerizing. Luckily, my friend Rachel already brought me one back from her trip to Turkey last fall!

We walked to the Hagia Sophia from there. It was once a church and then became a mosque and is now a museum, open for people to walk through and gawk at the magnificent architecture, artwork, and hundreds of candles hanging from the ceiling. Because it has been both a church and a mosque, there was Islamic artwork and Ottoman style decor amidst Christian paintings of Mary and Jesus. It was an odd and peaceful conglomeration of religions and one of the most gorgeous interiors I have ever stepped foot in. The Blue Mosque was quite an experience too. We took off our shoes upon entering the giant room where all the walls were decorated with hand-painted tiles in different shades of blue and green. From there we went to Topkapi Palace and learned about the past Sultans and Harems. I didn't know about the Queen Mother or the concubines who were brought in from neighboring villages for the Sultan. It is such a foreign culture and history to me, I really enjoyed learning about it. The walls of the Palace were similar to the Blue Mosque, tiled and ornate.

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia Interior

Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque Interior

On Sunday, we woke up around 9 with no plans because we had accomplished what we wanted to do the day before. We decided to go to the Asian side of Istanbul so we headed to the boat dock. We took a half an hour boat ride to Asia, stopped there for an hour, and then came back. Feels good to be able to say I've been to three continents! We had fresh mussels on the dock for lunch. Then we went to a mosque to see a Whirling Dervish ceremony. The Whirling Dervishes are an Islam group of monk-like men who recognize the rotational nature of life- the planets around the sun, electrons around an atom, and humans around a divine creator. They spin for an hour straight honoring submission to God and destruction of their own ego. The tall hats they wear represent a tombstone for the ego and their gowns, a shroud. It was such a different type of meditation. It was beautiful.

We flew from Istanbul to Athens on Monday. Once we got settled in at the hostel, we decided to climb Lykavittos Hill, the highest point in Athens. It was about a 20 minute walk (but after paying 8 euro to ride the metro earlier, we vowed to walk for the rest of the trip). We started climbing through lush trees and yellow flowers. Halfway up, we came out of a clearing and saw the acropolis across the city! We climbed the rest of the way and saw the cute white church and olive tree at the top. It was such a beautiful welcome to Greece.

View of Acropolis from Lykavittos Hill

Tuesday began with a trip to the archeological museum, where the statues and art from the acropolis and other locations around Greece has been moved. Then we walked to the center of it all, stopping first in the Roman Agora, the city center built during the Roman Empire. The Parthenon itself was exactly as I've imagined it. There is the theater of Dionysus on the South slope of the hill, I didn't know about that. It was really cool to see the spot where Sophocles' and Aristophanes' plays were first performed! We wandered around the acropolis ruins for the next few hours then found yet another hill to climb (we're really good at that). It turned out to be Filopappos Hill, where democracy was founded and first practiced. There was a podium build into the rocks where speakers like Pericles would have stood. We took a nap in the grass overlooking the Parthenon. Then we went to the first Olympic Stadium. At this point, we were all exhausted. We had a glass of wine near the acropolis so we could see it all lit up at night then headed for bed.

Parthenon

New day, new country! Wednesday I flew to Amsterdam to meet my parents and grandparents!! I was so excited to see them. We spent the first night in Amsterdam then rented a car and drove to Keukenhof, a beautiful park full of tulips and flowers in The Netherlands. It was such a nice day outside and the park was absolutely gorgeous to stroll around in. Afterwards, we drove through the town my stepdad used to live in, Wassenaar, when he worked overseas for CAT, to The Hague, where we spent the night. I've read/seen somewhere once that The Hague has one of the highest rates of overall happiness in the world. Maybe it's because everyone rides bikes, or because everything is legal in The Netherlands. We were really only there long enough to have a beer and people watch in a busy square then have some wine and cheese for dinner back at the hotel. We woke up early the next day and drove to Bruges, which turned out to be one of my favorite cities I've ever visited. It was such a quaint canal city with green spaces and adorably buildings and swans everywhere. I could've spent a week there just wandering around.

Bruges

The next day, Saturday, we drove to Brussels. Matt also lived near Brussels for a while so it was nice to have a tour guide. First we walked through the Grand Place, the central square with the old town hall and medieval houses. The architecture reminded me of Prague. We saw the Mannequin Pis statue after that, the famous small statue of a boy peeing into a fountain. He was wearing doctor scrubs that day. We strolled through more cathedrals and parks and saw the king's palace. I was becoming exhausted, ten days of traveling was starting to ware me down. I really enjoyed the city but didn't feel all there. On the way out of town the next day, we saw the Atomium, the sculpture built for the Belgian world fair. My friend Erin, who is an incredibly talented artist and lived in Brussels for a while, painted a picture of it once and I've always wanted to see the real thing.

Atomium

After spending a bit more time touring Amsterdam that day, I realized it really didn't do much for me. The buildings and canals are really pretty but it's not a place I need to go back to. We did visit the Anne Frank House and that was really sad and unreal, to be able to match the real place to the book everyone always reads. We had an amazing Thai dinner that night to celebrate my birthday and the next morning, I headed back home to Prague.