Every morning we walk to a little cafe down the street and have a coffee latte and a pastry and watch the people walking by. The cafe has an outdoor, heated section and is on a busy corner where people are going to work, meeting friends, having business meetings or just hanging out. Everyone has a story. The staff speaks little English and our Turkish is non-existant except for guydenya (good morning) but we seem to communicate well.
We’ve been running around Istanbul and have seen many of the iconic sights. We went to the Topkapi Palace Museum which is every bit as grand as advertised. It is actually a whole series of beautiful, domed buildings, many inlaid with exquisite tiles in blue and white patterns, all set in lush gardens located right alongside the Bosphorus. One side of the property housed the harem and the other was mainly for ceremonial and administrative purposes. Now the buildings house a varied collection of objects ranging from medieval weapons, bows and arrows, suits of chain mail and intricately carved swords, to precious jewels and textiles. We have had glorious weather since we arrived, sunny, blue skies and temperatures in the mid-fifties so walking around has been a pleasure.
The Topkapi Palace is right next to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia and it is a very impressive sight to see these magnificent structures clustered close enough to walk from one to the other. The area is always crowded with a lively mix of tourists and locals. There are lots of little cafes and shops and the Grand Bazaar is also steps away. We spent a fair amount of time wandering through the Bazaar, which is billed as the largest covered bazaar in the world. Don’t know if that claim is accurate, but it is certainly big. There is tons of shopping there, mostly jewelry, rugs, leather products and tchotchkes of various types. If I were an intellectual property type employed by Gucci or Chanel I’d want to smash most of these places as they carry knock off, not very good quality merchandise, with brand names.
Did I mention how easy it is to get around the city. There is terrific public transportation. My favorite is the tram system, which is above ground so you can sightsee as you go. The trams are modern and clean and although somewhat crowded not uncomfortably so.
I find the city incredibly welcoming and feel very at home here. When we were in Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur I felt very much an outsider in a Muslim country even though many women did not wear headscarves and dressed in western clothes. That is not true in Istanbul. Although there are tons on mosques here and the muezzin’s cries ring out five times a day for prayers, most people here do not break stride when this happens. The men in business suits and women in tight jeans and stiletto heels continue on their way. Even the women in headscarves (a seeming minority) don’t seem to pause. It feels very secular and big city.
A few more random thoughts:
Smoking. Although smoking is banned in restaurants there seems to be a big gray area. Many cafes and even full restaurants have an outdoor space that is used even in the winter. These spaces usually have some sort of flimsy roof and heaters set up so that they’re quite comfortable and fun as you can watch the street scene. Many outdoor areas post the signs about no smoking, but then provide ashtrays on all the tables. So, of course, many people smoke. Although everyone obeys the indoor signs there is a big wink outdoors.
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