On the streets of Istanbul

Almost two years ago, I found myself taking a roundabout route from Copenhagen to New York, via Istanbul. Yes, the route added quite a number of unnecessary miles and flying time, but compared to the other options available at the time, saved me some money and sitting-around-waiting-in-transit-airports time. The additional appeal of my chosen route was that Turkish Airline provides a complimentary tour of the city (being of course, Istanbul) if one had a long enough stopover at the right time. I made sure I did and took advantage of the offer. I had a full twelve hours in Istanbul, which included breakfast and lunch, and entries to all the sights, courtesy of Turkish Airlines (a little bit of advertising here...). It was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed, and which gave me enough of a taste of Istanbul for me to know that I wanted to go back.

I did last year (so this post is very much overdue), this time en route from Copenhagen to Kuala Lumpur. I was due to arrive in the late afternoon and depart sometime after midnight. This did not match any of the Turkish Airlines tours, which was fine by me really. I had seen all the main tourist attractions on the last tour, and did not really need to see them all again. I was after a different experience. I say "I was after" but truth be told, I did not even stop to think about it until weekend before my Monday morning flight. Late Friday night, while casually surfing around for guided tours or just generally things to do in Istanbul in the evenings that did not involve clubbing, I stumbled upon a post on tripadvisor for a local guided walking tour. A Taste Turkey on Two Continents, it was called and run by My Local Guide Istanbul. It was basically a tasting tour: we would be guided through the streets of Istanbul, crossing over from the European side to the Asian side, having a taste of local cuisine as we go along. It was to begin at 6pm and finish at about 11 pm, or as late as you wanted. It sounded like the perfect tour for me. I signed up and paid before the weekend was over.

On Monday afternoon local time, I found myself in search of the Metro at the Istanbul Atatürk Airport. A nice young man working at the Metro station helped me figure out the incomprehensible ticket machines and wished me a good trip and sent me along on my merry way. I had a 40 minute journey with one change to make. I took advantage of the few minutes I had while waiting for the connecting Metro to put on my contact lenses and don my sunglasses - they were necessary in the late afternoon sun. The meeting point was a restaurant close to the tourist center. I had about half an hour to kill before the meeting time, so I took a walk around the area. And that, is one of the things I love about travelling. I had awoken that morning in Sweden. By late afternoon, I was strolling in the gardens between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque in the warm sunshine. It had been a very warm summer in Sweden, but it was a great deal more humid in Istanbul than Malmö and the sun a lot more direct. The atmosphere around me was also completely different. The number of people I saw, both locals and tourists, far exceeded the number of people I would generally see at any one time in Malmö, though that admittedly, is not difficult. There was also such a vibrant energy to the city that I felt like I was being charged.

I eventually met the guide, Salih, at the restaurant. He was friendly in the manner of someone who had done what he was doing many, many times that he did not need to be entirely switched on for it. That added to the informal and relaxed feel of the tour, which I think is what it was intended to be. When everyone who had signed up for the group were accounted for, off we set. We headed towards the Metro with Salih letting us through the barrier with his multiple-use card. When we alighted from the Metro, a noticeably different atmosphere surrounded us. The people around us were your average residents of Istanbul, going about their everyday lives, doing everyday things. 

We caught a passenger ferry to carry us and many an Istanbulite commuter across the Bosphorus to the not so distant Asian shore where a completely different Istanbul awaited us. As one of the other persons in the group pointed out, albeit much later in the night, it was the first she walked down a busy street in Istanbul and felt that nobody cared that she was white, or a tourist, or whether she wanted to buy a carpet. I thought we stuck out like sore thumbs because we so obviously did not look local what with our (my) incessant photo-taking of coffee stalls, but really, nobody cared. Nobody stared, nobody tried to talk to us. The only people who came up to us to try to sell us things did it in Turkish, so I’d hazard a guess that they weren’t trying to profit off the tourists. 

  

My favourite part of that day was walking through the markets. We made our way through the busy market with shops on both sides and people going about their business. Again, contrary to expectations, no one called out their wares to us; no one offered special prices and special deals on anything, no one shoved products beneath our noses or into our hands. We got a few glances because we obviously did not belong, but that was it. We were left to take it our surroundings in peace. And oh, what surroundings! The food on display! The variety, the choice, the colours the aromas! It was an awakening of senses. 

There was a shop that only sold pickled food. The owner would pickle anything you wanted for you. 

Another shop only sold dried food. 

There was a shop with more variety of honey than I had ever conceived. 

And more olives than I had ever seen.

 And a hairy cheese. Yes, a hairy cheese. As in, cheese with hair on it.

And the largest, most giantest peach ever! Seriously, it was the size of a small cantaloupe. Salih bought two of them which we shared later in the evening and it was more than enough to go between us. I would have gone crazy and bought everything but for the fact that I was on transit and did not therefore have the luxury of unlimited baggage space. Salih had to remind us more than once, this was not a shopping tour, so we did not have time to indulge as much as we wanted. Now, a shopping tour in Istanbul, wouldn’t that be something!

Our first food stop was at one of those little shops along the market where we were offered stuffed mussels. Now, I have never really been a mussel / oyster / clam fan. I don’t rule out shellfish altogether because I like scallops and abalone. I have had an oyster once- in champagne as a pre-starter of a tasting menu. It was all right, but it did not rock my world. Being on tours then to make me game for almost anything. After all, how do I know if I will have a chance again? I picked up a mussel, the first in our group. Salih demonstrated the procedure: pick up a mussel, remove the top shell to reveal the mussel baked with rice and spices inside, squeeze some lemon juice on the whole thing, then use the top shell to scoop the filling off the bottom shell and into your mouth. I followed suit, with somewhat less finesse. It was delicious!! Soo, soo, sooo good. I had to have another one! It transpired that everyone else in the group had the same relationship with mussels as I did and were hesitating. My reaction nudged them in the right direction, and everyone loved it. If not for of appearing greedy, I would have had more. Salih also warned us not to fill our bellies just yet because there was more to come.

The next stop was the restaurant for dinner. And here we finally saw some other tourists; the first tourists I had noticed on this side of the Bosphorus. Even so, there wasn’t really a “touristy” feel. The food was more in the vein of what I know as “Turkish food”. There’s a lot of good Turkish food in Germany, seeing as there is a very healthy population of Turks there. I cannot vouch for how authentic it really is, but the food we had at the restaurant was similar and comparable to what I had come to associate as being Turkish food from Germany. We had several different dishes and many different …what do you call them? Sauces? Dips? Yogurt based accompaniments in different flavours? Unfortunately, I can’t really remember what we had. Salih ordered, or possibly had some arrangement with the restaurant. All I know is, I never saw a menu and the food just appeared on the table! There was lamb, and something wrapped in wine leaves. Whatever it all was, it was good! So was the Turkish bread, although I guess in Turkey it’s just known as bread. I was so busy stuffing my face, I completely forgot about photographing the food. One of the others in the group remembered and reminded me but by that time, most of the plates were empty.  Ah well, the experience remains, even if not photo-documented.

At the end of dinner, we had each our cup of tea from our little tulip glasses which I must say for the record, that I love. I would have bought a set for myself to take home, but for the fact that the set of glasses would have had to travel halfway around the globe with me. After dinner, we headed back towards the ferry via a different route. By this time, it was dark. The streets were still busy, though there was decidedly less bustling and more ambling now. Traditional tea stalls had popped up on the corners, surrounded by local enjoying a warm brew in the balmy heat. People seemed to just be leaning back, enjoying their tea and watching the world go by. Although, to be honest, I suspect that my memory might be slightly influenced by how I felt at that time. With my belly a-filled with good food and nowhere to hurry to, I lazily sauntered through the streets and just soaked it all in. Oh, perhaps this was my favourite part of the day!

As we neared the river, we passed a little fish sandwich stall. It was intriguing. They get the fish fresh off the boats, fry them and stuff them into bread for the hungry passersby. We stopped to have a look at the fish sandwiches and I suspect more than one of us would have been tempted to have a taste, had we not been stuffed. 

There was supposedly some disharmony in the world of the fish sandwich stalls. Do not quote me on this because it has been a while since I was there, and the details are fuzzy and so I might just have made some of this up, but I think Salih something about there being a so-called “fish sandwich place” on the other side of the river where a collection of fish sandwich stalls on boats which bright decorations had become a tourist attraction of sorts. This inevitably negatively affects the business of other fish sandwich stalls around the city, even though their sandwiches more often taste better.

We had a bit of a wait before our ferry, so we hung around by the water, watching some street performers while admiring the lights of the harbour and from across the river. I spent the return trip on the ferry taking hundreds of photos of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. 

Salih said that the view makes Istanbul, in his books, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I am not sure if I agree entirely, but it was definitely hard to disagree with him. It was a beautiful sight, especially from the ferry with the sound of the water lapping and the gentle breeze. It had a very calming, sedating effect. This could also well have been my favourite part of the day. People say looking at art reduces stress levels or something like that, don’t they? Or was it pain? I don’t know, but beautiful scenery definitely calms me down incredibly.

Back on the European side, though along a different branch of the river than where we left from, we headed to a baklava shop. That’s all they sell, and claimed to have been doing it for ever. Ok, not ever, but a very long time. It was late by then and I was tired and still quite full, so my ability to appreciate more food was somewhat compromised. And though I expected it to be sweet, I still found it a bit too sweet for me. Also, I think I still prefer the Arabian baklava. I am not sure I know the difference, but I bought some while flying through Dubai some years back which were very, very good. Notwithstanding all the above, there is no denying that these were also very good.

From there, we got back on the Metro towards the last stop of the day – a shisha bar! It was about 10pm by this time. I was tired and starting to keep an eye on the time to make sure that I headed back to the airport in good time, but I was keen to visit the shisha bar all the same. I was not keen on having a go on the shisha pipe, I still am not. I mean, what’s the difference is between smoking cigarettes and smoking a pipe? But I loved the bar. It seemed to be some form of inner courtyard, with a makeshift cover overhead. I want to say it was just cloth, but surely there must be something more rain resistant as well? There was still a very, very slight breeze of fresh air every now and then. The décor was great. I love the little colour lamps hung in a spiral. It was nice to just sit there. I did try the shisha. The one Salih ordered was rose flavoured and had a very, very nice aroma. But with my asthma and the whole cigarette v shisha pipes debate going on in my head, I only had a few puffs before I started to make my way back to the airport. Salih walked me to the Metro station to make sure that I found my way there. I did want to give him a tip because it had been such a good tour, but had not planned ahead and did not have the right amount of cash on me. I did not have enough Turkish liras and only large notes in US dollars.

It had been a long day and a tiring tour. We walked a lot and the humidity got to me. But what an incredible experience! As before, I left Istanbul wanting to return with more time to spend. One day, I tell myself, I will return with Istanbul as a destination.