Istanbul: Maratonu!

18 Ekim (October) 2009 = Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia Marathon!!! And we all decided to make the journey there, most of us with the intention of running --- whether it was the "fun run" or full marathon. I've never been much of a runner and although I flirted with the idea of doing the 15km, I ultimately decided to fun run it. Which, was quite an interesting situation in itself -- first I'm told its 5km -- no problem. Then it's 6 - still, okay. Then it's 8 - and now I'm starting to get worried. Anything edging over 5 miles does not qualify as "fun" in my book. That's work. And while I enjoy working out and being active, I wanted to see and experience Istanbul, not run.

A lot of the appeal of the Marathon is the opportunity to run across the Bosphorus Bridge. (Let the always trustworth (sarcasm) Wikipedia teach you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosphorus). Normally pedestrians are not allowed to cross the bridge; vehicles/traffic only! Therefore, its a once-in-a-year opportunity and spectacular at that! Not to mention that it's the only marathon ran on two continents. From Europe to Asia! Which I think might be one of the coolest things ever....then again I also get really excited over Planet Earth and chocolate ice cream, so I'm not sure how much that says! Lol.

This first photo would be the first pic of the day (the day of the marathon that is)! The morning wasn't necessarily a bright start - it was freezing cold and raining!!! Not pleasant weather for a jog, or to get up at 7am on a Sunday and catch a 40minute bus from Asia to Europe! -- I just think that's so funny, even though it's not and I'm sure I'm the only one amused by this right now...

As it had turned out, the "Fun Run" could have much more aptly been named "Public Walk". There were tons of people, none to keen on actually running, and dressed in street clothes. We were jammed up at the start line and it was incredibly uncomfortable and difficult to move, but it proved out to be one of the best parts of the run!! Maggie, Kim, Natalie, and I took off running together while some others went their separate ways and it proved to be an entertaining experience as we darted in between the walkers, trying to find a clear path to run. Needless to say, I may or may not have bumped into a few people, but so it goes. We did however take a small break in the middle of the bridge to appreciate the view and snap a few pics! It was a 2 kilometer run to the beginning of the bridge and about another 2km to cross it -- all in all we ran about 5 kilometers and then Maggie and I walked the remaining 3km. We chose to appreciate the experience in slow motion rather than running up the gigantic hill that followed the bridge. It was definitely one of those experiences you remember for a lifetime!

Post run, we had a little snack with friends at a cafe along the bosphorous. It was chill and sadly, being Sunday and all of us having to return to work the next day, our last day in Istanbul. The day before (Saturday) we had been ultra adventurous and explored the many sights to see in Istanbul. Joe, Maggie, Natalie and I found the funikular (I think I spelled it correctly?!) which is one of the weirdest and coolest modes of public transportation I've been on; it takes you under the bosphorous I believe, not really sure though. But it's more of less just a lift that moves at an angle back and forth. It took us from Taxsim, where our hostel was, and to the tram we needed to hope on to get to Sultan Ahmet where all of the historical sights are. And did we have quite a day! We hit up the Blue Mosque (or Sultan Ahmet Mosque), Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, the Grand Bazaar, and Topkapi Palace.

We actually only toured the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar as they were free and we weren't really kosher with paying the entrance fees for the other cites....which resulted in a little mini adventure at the palace. As we are students, teachers, and official residents of Turkey, we were eager to obtain a Museum Card which was only 10TL and would grant us entrance to almost any and all historical cites in Turkey. It was a production and consumed quite a portion of our afternoon. In a nutshell, the tickets sales offices wouldn't accept or student ID cards on the grounds they the said "teacher" instead of "student" even though we both teach and take classes at Bilkent. Yet, Natalie was able to get a museum card with my picture and information with my residency permit --- strange? No, just very Turkish! haha. We eventually found some people more relaxed about the situation who did sell us all museum cards with our appropriate information. Sadly, I have yet to use mine ... although there was quite an interesting predicament in Bodrum, but that is a story to come.

The Blue Mosque was absolutely gorgeous! I've never seen anything like it before. And I don't know if I have words for the Grand Bazaar. It was absolutely huge, oh-so crowded, and had the coolest stuff! I could've spent so much money there, but fortunately I refrained and settled for only a multi-colored set of handmade bowls! Beautiful! All in all, it was a very interesting day, exhausting, and gluttinous; I ate so much food that day: dondurma (Turkish ice cream), some insane cake thing at a bakery, a totally overpriced but delicious dinner, I think I might have had kebap along the way somewhere....just gluttinous!

And that didn't stop on Sunday either! After the marathon, Maggie, Natalie, and I decided to chill out for the day as our bus wasn't to depart for Ankara until midnight, if I remember correctly, that night. Joe and I had previously bought return tickets home so we had to drag ourselves to the bus stop that night to catch the midnight, try to get a decent night sleep on the 6 hour busride back, and prepare ourselves for a fun-filled day of teaching (I realize this might sound sarcastic, but I'm being sincere). The trip was well worth the exhaustion I felt that day without a doubt! Out of all the places I've been to in Europe, so far, Istanbul is hands down my favorite! There is so much to do, to see, so many people, and I've meaning to go back ever since, but haven't had the chance yet. After visiting just for those three days, Ankara definitely wanes in comparison, but I still love it.

I'm thinking this is rather a pathetic blog post, which doesn't quite do Istanbul much justice, but I've waited too long to recap it and my mind is swirling with all of the things, in general, I could say about Turkey and my experiences here......

For now, gule gule, and maybe I will miraculously become more eloquent in my next blog!!!