Heat painfully intensified by splashes of wild colour, poignant smells of flowers and kebab, dark eyes piercing through bushes of black eye brows and mustachy smirks, tea offered everywhere one went, vendors of leather, of golden jewellery, of tea...
This is my memory of Istanbul in 1993, when I and my parents traveled on a shopping spree through Turkey.
Fourteen years later, I am in Istanbul once more... Heat delightfully softened by splashes of wild colour, poignant smells of flowers and kebab (which I don't eat!), dark eyes piercing through bushes of black eye brows and brilliant smiles, tea offered everywhere, especially in carpet shops where your tea comes with a carpet or two :-)
Not too different, yet new to me.
There was much to make me wonder and delight in this ancient city: the oriental charm, often skillfully used to sell a wide range of goods - from dinner to a boat tour, or a boat, the beguiling waters of the Bosphorus, the elegant touches in the architecture (pieces of colorful clay dishes in the facades), baklava (most delicate and unforgettable of all sweets!), and even the call of the muezzins (when not blasting out of high tech speakers of rivaling mosques at 4:00 a.m.)
The Turkish bath we wandered into was quite an unique experience, for me, not as dramatic as for Misha, as I preferred to explore it on my own. For those of you with strong nerves and a taste for thrillers, I will only hint that a Turkish Hamam with a masseur can be a rough cavalcade of stunts, especially when the service is offered to an unsuspecting of what is to come next gentle man from another part of the world.
( see Misha's account of the Hamams at http://journals.worldnomads.com/misha/ )
One of the highlights of our visit to Istanbul was the discovery of this fascinating place just a step away from the tourist centre. Steep paved streets were barren of any greenery. The only colour trapped between the dilapidated concrete buildings were the garlands of laundry.
Flocks of children and sheep took turns sweeping the streets, leaving dust and happy sounds behind to linger for awhile. Women wearing lace scarves on their heads sat in groups on the door steps and it seemed leisurely gossiped... may be about us, the only tourists in sight.
This was not the exotic world of sultans full of unimaginable wealth and opulence. This semi ruined buildings housed "ordinary" lives, I would love to know more about...
For more pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/69781927@N00/sets/72157601861580137/detail/
