I was hoping that today Coen and I could spend more time together hanging out and getting to know each other better. I tend to trust people too much, seeing the better side of them or what I hope is their better side, and not really assessing how I would fit with them. I have cooled a little about traveling with Coen and Vincent, which is to say that I am not letting myself get excited about it until I meet Vincent. There is still no word from him but Coen thinks he will arrive soon enough.
After breakfast at the hostel, I lead Coen around the neighbourhood and show him what I have already seen. I take him to the Hippodrome and to the entrance to the Basilica Cistern. He is happy to be guided and open to exploring. He isn’t too talkative but asks about anything new that interests him. He is more interested in taking things in visually than reading about them in the guide book, which I brought with me to show him as we walk around. His questions are simple, like “Is this Byzantine or Ottoman?” or “How old is this?”
He wants to get to know me too, but his questions are all over the map and devoid of systematic logic. He wants to know what food I have tried here, what I have done and seen since I have been here and if I have met any gay travelers on my trip. I tell him about me giving PJ Karafoil a blow job in Heidelberg and Leif Villars-Dahl and his boyfriend in Oslo. He grins foolishly as I tell these stories. He asks if I have been to a Turkish hamam, which I have not.
What I like most about Coen is that is not competitive in any way, that and the fact that he is quite positive about everything. He is very casual, yet full of interest for anything that catches his eye. He tends to me spontaneous, but when he has errands he makes plans for the day. Today, we are just wandering and exploring. He wants to see the Blue Mosque, which I have been raving about, but I’d rather see the Hagia Sophia which I haven’t seen yet. We agree to separate for the afternoon to see them separately.
Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque face each other, half a kilometre apart. They resemble each other too, or more accurately, the Hagia Sophia, begun in 532 AD by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian, served as inspiration for Ottoman architecture used in mosques a thousand years later. In fact, it was the largest cathedral in the world for over a thousand years until the Sevilla Cathedral was completed in 1580.
Ataturk secularized Hagia Sophia 60 years ago, so it no longer has any religious significance. Now it is used as a museum, and an expensive one at that, but there are lots or grounds and fountains to maintain besides the security and maintenance of the building itself. I could have spend the whole afternoon inside it and strolling around the gardens and fountains, but AFM (Another Fucking Mosque) Syndrome and my tolerance is severely challenged.
I wish I had made arrangements to reconnect with Coen at a set hour, but that was hard to predict and I didn’t want him to hurry through the Blue Mosque to meet some artificial rendezvous schedule. I find myself at loose ends once I have left Hagia Sophia. I drift back to the Hippodrome and run into Ilio again. He has a bit of a cold. I feel protective of him, which is unfortunate since I have no way of protecting him. I offer him $20US to get some medicine, which he accepts but I doubt it will be spent on medicine. Back at the youth hostel, bitch Cindi is hanging around her boyfriend and half a dozen others. How they can put up with her I can’t imagine. She sneers at me and tries to criticize everything I say when I am chatting with the others. I treat her as though she is silent and invisible, which gets her steaming with resentment. She is addicted to resentment. If it wasn’t for me, she’d be focused on someone else.
Coen comes back but doesn’t want to hang around. He doesn’t like conflict, and Cindi thrives on it, so he decided he dislikes her too. He suggests we go for dinner at a falafel restaurant and pig out on Turkish custards for dessert. The two Aussies who share our room come with us.
I am definitely over budget today between the museum and this meal, but it has been worth it. Through my persistent probing, I learn more about Coen’s family, his job as a psych nurse, his girlfriend and his friendship with Vincent. Other than the central Turkish region of Cappadocia, he has no other burning desire of what to see until he gets to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India. He is leaving the planning of what else to see up to Vincent. So, as much as I find Coen perfect to get along with, it is meeting Vincent that will determine it if I travel with him or not.
PHOTO 1: the Hagia Sophia
PHOTO 2: fountain in the courtyard of the Hagia Sophia
PHOTO 3: altar in the Hagia Sophia
PHOTO 4: the interior of the dome
PHOTO 5: the Empress Loge, Hagia Sophia
PHOTO 6: the Imperial Gate, Hagia Sophia
PHOTO 7: a general view of the Nave
PHOTO 8: an ancient marble jar inside the Hagia Sophia
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