Mini–OE to Germany–2 Days in Istanbul Day 1

Istanbul – where to start. This city is absolutely crazy. It never sleeps, it is loud, smelly, hectic, loveable, full of life – I could go on forever. I love this city, I love the people and of course I love our friends. So much love? Yes it is love. I know this because I am meanwhile back home and I want to be in Istanbul. This is love.

But I wonder how long I could stand this city. The longest I have been there was a week I think. Every time I visit I am overwhelmed by her. I need to get used to her, I need to adjust. It starts with the traffic. Coming from Germany the traffic in Istanbul is pure chaos. As I said before, the only way for me to cope with it is to sit back and relax. I can only do so because I know Mustafa and I trust him. Would I be in a taxi it might be different.

Modern suburb in Istanbul:

The first day, Mustafa dropped us off in the city centre. Meltem was with us but he had some appointments and he would meet us in the evening. The plan for this day was shopping in the bazars, a visit to the Galata Tower and then meet Mustafa again.

Entering the Spice Bazar or Egyptian Bazar (Mısır Çarşısı) is like diving into another world. In any other situation the masses of people would drive me nuts. Why not here? Is it because I am bombarded with noise, smells and colours? I actually enjoy this. I don’t know where to look first. And of course I have my new camera and shoot pictures like crazy. I am glad that nowadays you don’t have to pay for films and development of pictures anymore. It is a freedom we have today that we can shoot as many pictures as we want.

 

The narrow streets were packed to the limit. We walked along shops with  bags of spices outside, all skilfully arranged and filled to a dome of colours. Meltem bought some coffee at a famous coffee shop. The shop sold coffee through a window onto the street. Inside you could see roasting devices and shop assistants packing coffee into paper bags. They sold coffee so fast that 5 or 6 of the staff had to permanently pack the coffee. There was a long queue but Meltem assured me it will only take a couple of minutes. And she was right. The speed with which they sold the coffee is amazing. And the whole area smelled of coffee. Fresh roasted coffee.

We then made our way to the Covered baazar (Kapalı çarşı). This is probably the best known bazar with tourists. It is huge. It is completely covered and the ceilings show magnificent tiles and paintings. Sadly they thought it would be a good idea to put up flat screen TVs every 20 meters showing advertising. Apart from this the bazar gives you still a feeling of an oriental market out of Arabian Nights.

We did some shopping and bought wonderful soap from one of the stalls. After that we stopped by in the famous Cafe Şark Kahvesi and had a Turkish Coffee. Sitting there and just watching the people around us I could have stayed forever.

When walking the narrow lanes of the grand bazar the shop owners will try to get you into their shops. One common thing  is that they try to guess where you come from. They pride themself to address you in German or French. I always wondered how they do it. And I wondered what will happen this time. And guess what, they couldn’t say where we are from. Very strange. They even approached Lilo with “Russia?” which made her quite upset.

The other thing is that I believe wherever you come from, a Turk always has been there or has a close relative who was there where you live. Of course coming from Germany it is easy since many Turkish people lived and worked in Germany. But my surprise was great when the following conversation happened.

“Hello how are you? Where are you from? German? French? Italian?”
“No, I am from New Zealand”
”Oh my brother was in New Zealand”
I was thinking “Yeah Right!” But he then called over a young chap.
”Here my brother was in New Zealand”
”Oh really where have you been?”
”Masterton! I worked for a Turkish Restaurant”

There you go, Turkish people have been everywhere or at least know someone who knows someone who has been there.

While I was chatting with my new friend from Masterton, Meltem and Lilo disappeared in a shop selling carpets. Uhh Ohh! I quickly joined them to see if I can regain at least some sort of control. They were already looking at Kelims, a Turkish carpet made from wool and Meltem was chatting to the owner in Turish. Lilo wanted to buy a present for our farm sitter. I had my doubts that a Turkish carpet is a nice present for a 25 year old New Zealand chap.

Haggling is an interesting activity. I am not very good at it I must admit. I always get the feeling that the seller is still ripping me off. But it was again an interesting experience. I learn something every time. This time I could sense the feeling the seller had that as soon as we leave his store he won’t make a sale. He started to become a bit more pushy and he wanted to make the deal. In the end we bought a Kelim we brought down from around 300 TL (1 Turkish Lira is about 0.68 NZ$) to 150 TL. Not bad I think.

After that experience we made our way to the place we started. The plan was to catch a taxi and go to the Galata Tower on the other side of the water. I have never been on the tower itself only in the area and only know t from below. The Turkish mentality is an interesting one when it comes to demanding service. I find them almost aggressive in requesting the best service and if they do not get the service they expect it will be followed up by a lot of discussions and verbal fighting. Our lovely friend Meltem, a business woman and one of the kidnest person I know turns into a lioness if she doesn’t get what she wants. This was now the case with the taxi drivers. The situation was that the trip from where we were to the Galata Tower wasn’t exactly crossing town. So the first three or four taxi drivers refused to take us there. They used all sort of excuses but the real reason was that they were hoping for a better trip which makes them more money. But they have some sort of requirement which says they can’t refuse to serve you and take you where you want. So they use all sorts of excuses like the road is closed or there is a traffic jam etc. Meltem got quite upset but eventually found us a taxi. When we were sitting in the car the discussions went on and on and on. I asked her later what it was all about. She basically let off some steam but our driver agreed with her. But it all sounded to me like fighting.

Lilo and I went up the tower to enjoy the view. If I would have known that this thing was built in 1348 I probably wouldn’t have gone up. I am scared of heights and walking on a 50 cm wide rim only secured by rusty metal rails wasn’t my idea of a nice place. I am fine as long as I keep my focus on the view further away. Don’t ask me to look straight down. But it was worth it as the pictures show.

Once back on safe ground we met up with Meltem who meanwhile had another tea and painted her fingernails in a cafe. We strolled through a nice quarter of Istanbul which was crowded with artist shops, second hand stores and a whole street full of shops selling musical instruments. We then entered the fish market and met Mustafa. He joined us for a cold beer and some nibbles.

We then walked down Sıraserviler Caddesi which is a shopping street leading up to Taksim Place. Mustafa told us that every day there are 3 Mill people walking down this street. This shows the dimensions and the population of Istanbul. 3 Mill people, we have 4.5 Mill people living in whole New Zealand. And what I love about Istanbul is that it still feels somehow good to walk these streets. I don’t feel to be in a hurry. I don’t feel any stress. I am completely relaxed even when I am in the middle of a huge crowd.

We then made our way to Mustafa’s car and drove home to their place. After a short shower it was off again. It is hard to keep up with these people. But I was looking forward to our next meeting. We were going to see Meltem’s mum. “Mother” in Turkish is “anne” and this is how I know her. I don’t even know her real name. But anne is to me one of the kindest and open hearted people I have ever met. It was the day before her 79 birthday. She still lives alone. Meltem told us she moved out of her house when her grandson Ugur was old enough. She said there is no need to now stay with her daughter so she took her own apartment. It is only 10 minutes by car from Meltem’s place.

Anne’s apartment is full of colours and flowers and all sort of funny “kitsch” things. It feels like rom from a little girl. She has two witches hanging from a frame and you clap your hands and the witches start laughing. Mustafa used it to make us all laugh when he took a picture. Anne was over the moon to see her “daughter” Lilo again. She always says Lilo is her daughter. Lilo learned a lot of recipes from anne when she was staying in Istanbul for work. I benefited from this, too, a lot of times. It was so good to see her and I am always so filled up with warmth and good feelings when I meet anne.

Back home at about 10pm or later we had dinner.  I told you, the Turkish people don’t know night and day. This day was such a typical day I had many in Istanbul. Full up to the rim. Actually so full that my mind was overflowing. I love this city.