Scavenger hunts can be anything from tedious to downright scary. Luckily, the one today fell somewhere in the middle.
We met with Sarah at 10:30 at Galata Tower and after somewhat randomly dividing up into teams, we were off. A scavenger hunt spanning two continents and a megacity? We had until 6:30 p.m. to run all over the city and it was hot. Let me repeat that. It was hot. This isn't your lazy summer day hot. This is your "I got work to do hot and my clothes are all sticking to me and I know I smell bad hot." David, Kristina, Kelly, and I were together on a team. Later, I had a revelation that our team name should be from the Legends of the Hidden Temple. Silver Snakes or Blue Barracudas anyone?
Our first act was to run back to our apartment. Well, kind of run. It's hard to run when you're hiking up five flights of stairs, you kind of wear out by the third floor. David and I both got our Turkey guides, which was a very smart move. We then met this British lady by complete accident. Also a smart move. She went through our list and answered most of our immediate questions. After that, we were off across Galata Bridge, on the tram, and hitting up Topkapi Palace and the things we needed to find in its vicinity.
Walking through the historic stretch of Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, and the Blue Mosque, we still stood out despite all the other tourists. I muse now with Kristina and Kelly, and I think really its because we're that age; young adults and out on our own. The groups of Turkish children on tour there loved us; though perhaps they loved Kristina the most because she did receive a declaration of love from one eight year old boy.
They're quite cute as they shout "Hello" or "Hallo" depending on their accent, while announcing "I'm Germany!" They loved to pose for the camera; one girl even posed model-style while we took pictures of them outside of the palace. Their curiosity for anything Western is evident. Perhaps it's the exoticism of a foreign culture, perhaps it's part of one side of Turkish belief and drive to Westernize as much as possible. In any case, we got a kick out of them and vice versa.
We did hit a low point. None of us had eaten since breakfast because we kept saying that we would eat once we got to Asia. It became a sort of a mantra: We'll eat when we get to Asia. We'll eat when we get to Asia.
We didn't get to Asia until 4:00 p.m.
Still on the European side, we were trying to find our way back to a familiar place after leaving Suleymaniiye (a famous mosque that's kind of out of the way). Looking at the map, we thought we could cut through some streets instead of having to backtrack our way to the tram. This didn't work out so well as we ended up inside a maze of small streets, shops, and mosques. One thing you have to understand about Istanbul. The sidewalks are for the shops, and the streets are for walking, which is also why somebody (like me) is almost always getting hit by a car. None of the sellers are ever actually inside their shops, but hawking people like us ("Yes, please!") to look at their wares. "Yes, please!" is their common phrase to use on Westerners, but often time it's some form of garbled English.
Oh, funny story. The other day when we were walking through the Grand Bazaar. One seller sees me and goes "I saw you on Facebook last night." I did a double take, was slightly creeped out, and kept on moving with a disturbed laugh.
Anyway, back to the scavenger hunt. We're lost amongst the streets with shops numbering in the thousands. We were definitely feeling the lack of food and the sun. Somehow we survived without killing each other. Or getting hit by a taksi (taxi).
We ended up back in familiar territory of the Grand Bazaar (Egyptian Spice Market) and being to exhausted to walk all the way to our next location we took a picture of it from a distance. Finally, we were on our way to Asia, our scavenger hunt almost complete, and food was imminent.
Unfortunately, team Blue Barracuda thought getting on the tram at the historic train station that was the beginning of the Orient Express would lead to the market area we had walked through yesterday. The train was not a tram and in truth, it would have taken us all the way to Syria if we had remained on it for another day and a half. Luckily we did get off at the next stop. Aw, maybe next time Syria; though I hear you're not so kind to women.
Not so luckily, we walked out and had not a clue as to where we were. We were right near the huge Fenerbache stadium, but that didn't help us any. Until Kelly figured out that the empty parking lot we were in was the location of the huge market we were in yesterday.
Whew.
We got some food and some Efes and everything was good. We also met a goose that's like the pet of the series of streets we were on. Kristina and David almost made friends with the goose, who was trippin' the entire time, but then another Turk motioned that it would bite them if they tried.
After getting ice cream in Asia, we had finished our scavenger hunt. Except for Babylon. Where the hell is Babylon? Our scavenger hunt sent us all over the core of Istanbul, across the Bosphorus, on the tram, walking for miles, and we did it all. We were exhausted by the end from walking almost non stop for seven hours, but we found everything on the scavenger hunt. All of it except Babylon. Which turned out to be some sort of cultural arts and music center.
Anyway, we victoriously arrived to Sarah and William's apartment for dinner. Team Blue Barracuda owns.
