Istanbul has had its moments of beauty and grandeur. You can relive a bit of it’s heyday in the Hagia Sophia, the Archaeology Musem and the Topkapi Palace.
While we waited to get into one of the rooms at the Palace (we thought it was the main entrance, but we’d already passed it. It was just one of the rooms!) I sketched a section of the lovely old wall.
We took the ferry north on the Bosphorous today. The busy waterway connecting the Mediteranean with the Black Sea is lined with many palaces and houses. The constant breeze you get on shore is amplified as we head into it, keeping the boat cool in the warm sun.
The Grand Bazaar, also called ‘Covered Bazaar’ in Turkish is one of the world’s largest and oldest covered markets in the world. There are 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops. About 90 million enter the halls every year, the world’s most visited place (http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/worlds-most-visited-tourist-attractions/2)
Peg and Susan at the Grand Baazar
We came on a slow day, fortunately. The place is overwhelming just in terms of the sheer number of shops. Much of it you could buy anywhere, probably most of it. I have no idea if the deals are good. Just being there again was enough for me.
At the Galata Bridge it’s always lively. So many sights and aromas, thousands of people, ferries, trams, cars, scooters. Western dress, some women wearing scarves with western dress, in tradition attire. No hijabs today. Small groups of teen boys, few of teen girls.
Below, a small boat serves as a kitchen. They make fish sandwhiches and pass them to the land. The bones go in the water (not a good idea, as the decomposition removed the oxygen from the water)
Walking around Istanbul I began to get the impressions that there was not a high degree of religiosity. There are some women in ha-jib, but a small percentage; otherwise it’s just head scarves if not just plain western dress. Despite the dominance of the skyline in some areas by minarets and the very loud andcalls to prayer five times a day from more than one mosque at the same time, I did not observe an influx of people heading to the mosques.
I was surprised, given the success of the AKP, an Islamic party although officially secular as the law prohibits religious parties. Even the AKP is pro-Western and pro-American. However they support the Muslim Brotherhood and have been behind efforts to allow women to wear scarves in the public schools- prohibited since the time of Ataturk.
Gallup’s 2012 survey supports my impression: 23% of Turks are religious, 73% are irreligious and 2% are Atheists (not sure what happened to the other 2%). By ‘irreligious’ I mean that religion is not important to these people but they are not (at least openly) convinced atheists. I think Gallup and others mean by ‘atheist’ that you are certain there are no deities. Atheists do not all assert this, but rather that say that the evidence for deities is absent and that condition is unlikely to ever change.
The 75%/23% is a far greater spread than one might expect given that some 95% of the population is officially Muslim. I learned that they are registered as Muslim at birth, and must be so registered, unless their parents can show they have another religion. This is an intrusion into one’s personal affairs we do not tolerate in the rest of the western world (although there are intrusions, they are of a different sort).
I do not have a sense of where Turkey is headed. The continued success of the AKP is worrisome- they have been in power since the early part of this century.
Topkopi Palace, miniature (4″ x 6″) acrylics on postcard stock
October 1, 2015
Our two weeks in Turkey was filled with surprises. I wasn’t so surprised by the Hagia Sophia, built around 550 on same site as two previous churches- my rendition below (on postcard stock). But I was by how un-religious the people are. There are five calls to prayer per day- and they are loud and difficult to ignore. But there’s hardly a rush to the Mosque. I did a bit of research on the topic (blog entry ‘Religion in Turkey).
Another surprise was the cuisine. It is very complex, sophisticated and exquisite. The pastries! I was stunned. Now the coffee, you can have it. Stick to the tea.
The other pleasant surprise – Istanbul Modern. I’ve posted here some photos. Their modern art collection is excellent, not so far out it makes no sense, but experimental enough to hold your attention.
The other pleasant surprise – Istanbul Modern. I’ve posted some photos in another entry. Their modern art collection is excellent, not so far out it makes no sense, but experimental enough to hold your attention.
On the less surprising but very pleasant side of things, The Bosphorus, the strait that divides Turkey between the “European” side and the “Asian” side, is always busy with ferries and ships, making a lovely backdrop for countless numbers, for the city is built on hills.
The main sites include the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. The former is not all that impressive, other than its size and airy feeling, unless you are a fan of their mosaics. They can be beautiful but they seemed overwhelmed by the size of the place. The Hagia is much more interesting not only for the structure but also the lovely (and sufficiently large) mosaics. You’d be surprised by its age and beauty, but I’d been there before. Here’s my rendition:
Hagia Sophia
Being unrestricted by Islamic rules governing art, they can show the human figure. It’s well worn themes, but some are beautifully executed. I was not so surprised as a bit more appreciative than the last time, not that I fell asleep in here then.
Mosaic from Hagia Sophia
I visited the Archaeological Museum, near the Topkapi Palace (it too, but it was so crowded we left before seeing very much of it, although the view alone is almost worth it). I had no idea that there would be some excellent Roman era sculptures, notably Alexander the Great and Sappho. I felt honored to be able to stand and sketch them in my little notebook.
There is an excellent overview of the history of the city, to the dawn of its history, its establishment as the capitol of the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire by Constantine, its sacking by the Crusaders (they thought it was a Muslim city, but it was Christian at that time), and its conquest by the Ottoman Turks. The explanations are in excellent English, here and in fact everywhere we went in Istanbul (a very pleasant surprise). This museum is worth another visit as I did not finish this section and there are two more buildings.
With more time I would try to visit more of the palaces and archaeological sites I learned about at the museum. The palaces you can see along the Bosphorus are both immense and stunningly beautiful (at least from outside).
The old wall is largely gone, but here’s a rendition of it.
Istanbul’s old walls
If you’ve never visited, I suggest you put this city, nay, country (i’ve been elsewhere and it’s fabulous in differing ways) on your list.
We visited the capitol of Estonia, Tallinn, for a week. We’ve become fans of this small city of a small country just 200 kilometers from the Russian border.
At Fat Margaret Square in Tallinn
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We flew from Istanbul to Rome. We’ve rented an apartment on Tiburtina. We are a few steps from a Sicilian bakery, several pizza al talgio (sold by weight) places, tavola calda- ‘hot tables’ meaning you order from the glass case and they weigh and bring it to you, a good and expensive way to eat out. There are restaurants, including a highly rated modestly priced one down the street, and there’s Picolo Molisi right next to it. P.M. is a well known fish restaurant we’ve been to several times. I never knew exactly where it was, having gone there by car only via lots of one way streets. It’s hard to find, too, because there is only a very tiny sign on the side street.
We’ve got a bar downstairs. It’s full of coffee clatchers and every other imaginable type of person. There’s a post office, three grocery stores within a five minute walk. Termini, the main train station, is just 10 minutes or so walking. We have two buses and down the street a bit is the tram that takes you to San Giovane and out to Pigneto.
October
Visit to the bar at Doria Pamphili, a drawing of a Cardinal, probably somebody in the Pamphili family.
We ate out for every meal other than some breakfasts while in Istanbul. We went to three high class restaurants, others that were very good even excellent but the cuisine was not so fancy and the surroundings often less so. I also had kebabs from fast food places. I think I got a good sample of what Turkish cuisine or at least the Istanbul version has to offer.
The cuisine of Istanbul is largely influenced by that of the Ottoman Empire, generally subtly spiced, with more rice than bulgar, although I experienced the opposite. You can get lots of veggie stews (türlü). There are many versions with eggplant. Also there are various meat dishes featuring eggplant, which obviously the Turks really love so right there they had me. I had an eggplant stuffed with meat and others with bits of meat in a stew.
Savoy is a fancy place up the hill from us – very up the hill. Like many places, it was as much outdoor seating as indoor, the walls removed to allow unfettered access to the cool night air. They offered sea bass and a variety of other fish, all excellently prepared. One of us had a sea bass. They had a special on blue fish, which I ordered. It came as several smaller fishes, grilled, with a nice smoky flavor.
In a place owned by a Kurdish family and many of them work there, including the parents, most of the nine brothers, but not the two teen girls. It is not far from Hagia Sophia on a restaurant row. I ordered a meat stew. It came out atop a charcoal burning container. It was boiling when they sat it down. They had to remove the charcoal under the dish so I could approach things without getting burned. It was totally fabulous. I can not begin to describe the subtle blend of flavors. It might have been a Kurdish dish. It looked something like this:
turkish meat dish
We had lunch with Debbie and Kelly, whom we met in Panama. We were all in the Peace Corps. I hope they will share their memories of this lunch.
Appetizers, called mezes when accompanying an alcoholic beverage, are the best part of any meal. On one of the three fance places we visited, up the hill towards a nice selection ran as $40 including wine at $7 a glass, by far the most expensive spot we chose on this trip. It is up the hill towards the Savoy and across the street from a small stand selling tacos. Tacos?
Mezes include hummus, baba ganoush, yogurt sauces, dolams and a few other common things you can get in many places in the US and Europe. Not so easy to find in the West: a tomato/cilantro combo that’s a bit spicy, white goat cheeses, various other eggplant dishes with or without tomatoes. The possibilities are extensive.
Wine is generally expensive in Turkey. The bottle at Savoy ran about $25. Beer was generally inexpensive.
Olive oil is most commonly used in cooking. There are a variety of olives available in the grocery stores.
Kepap /kepabs are everywhere. You can get them in pita bread or a baguette of some sort. They have chicken as well as ‘duram’ (wrap) kepaps. I did not have any that were worth writing home about. Unlike what I have had elsewhere, these were plain, lacking sauce, lettuce, or tomato. They were less than $2 (4 lire). Kebaps as in shish kebaps are another matter. Skewered meat, always succulent and super tender, they came with veggies and rice or bulgar. I never went wrong with one of those.
Our favorite place was just up the street steeply from us. It was run by a couple of guys and someone’s mom, who mostly just sat there sternly. We sat outside on a level spot they’d hacked out, inside a small wall separating us from the sidewalk. They have a wood burning oven. After you order they put in some bread. It’s huge, impressive both in appearance and texture.
Wine is generally expensive in Turkey. The bottle at Savoy ran about $25. Beer was generally inexpensive.
Olive oil is most commonly used in cooking. There are a variety of olives available in the grocery stores.
Kepap /kepabs are everywhere. You can get them in pita bread or a baguette of some sort. They have chicken as well as ‘duram’ (wrap) kepaps. I did not have any that were worth writing home about. Unlike what I have had elsewhere, these were plain, lacking sauce, lettuce, or tomato. They were less than $2 (4 lire). Kebaps as in shish kebaps are another matter. Skewered meat, always succulent and super tender, they came with veggies and rice or bulgar. I never went wrong with one of those.
Our favorite place was just up the street steeply from us. It was run by a couple of guys and someone’s mom, who mostly just sat there sternly. We sat outside on a level spot they’d hacked out, inside a small wall separating us from the sidewalk.
They have a wood burning oven. After you order they put in some bread. It’s huge, impressive both in appearance and texture.
Turkish puffed up bread
They serve up a pide that is out of this world! Reminds me of a pizza, but never a tomato sauce on one of these. They come with cheese or meat, usually with veggies on top too.
Pides
Turkish pizza is a rather limited affair but certainly you can’t go wrong. It’s a light and inexpensive meal.
Turkish pizza (lamacun)
We went down the hill for breakfast several times. There’s a small place that sits below ground level, as did the one up the street; I wonder how they keep the water out when it rains. Three steps down and you’re in this modest restaurant run by two women.
A Turkish breakfast consists of white cheese (probably goat), olives, bread, hard boiled egg, tomato, cucumber, and bread. Tea is typical and probably included in the modest price. I always got the coffee, not being a tea fan. It was the only thing I tried that I did not like very much. I am not talking just about Turkish coffee (here’s a photo I took in the restaurant):
My emply cup of Turkish coffee
They certainly do not skimp on the coffee grounds- that’s a toothpick you see standing up! As you see here they brew it in the cup. The ground sink to the bottom so you never get any in your mouth as long as you are reasonably careful. You can add sugar or mils and stir. The grounds are gone in a few seconds.
Turkish breakfast
You can order scrambled eggs and omelettes. Breakfast here did not cost more than $3 or so, and always very good. Here’s another item you can order for breakfast. My pals really liked it at this place:
Menemen, an egg dish
I’d go back to Istanbul just for the food. And I’ve not gotten to the desserts! That’s next.
Istanbul Modern art — the official title excludes ‘art.’ I went there today. It’s a 20 minute walk from our place. On the way I came across some sort of angry crowd scene. The cops had just arrived when I heard what sounded like 4 gunshots. I retreated and crossed the street. A security guard told me it was not gunshots so I went on. The museum is a bit hard to find. There are big signs on the street but only one with an arrow and it pointed down a lonely decrepit alley. I walked past, looking for a more official looking entrance but there weren’t any. I went down the alley and found the Museum.
I am glad I did. It is small but had an excellent exhibit, mostly of Turkish painters, some of them trained in Turkey, others in the US and Germany, Here are some photos of my favorites:
