Springtime in Istanbul, Turkey

Quaint, old, organic, modern, safe, a labyrinth of small mazes, friendly, entrepreneurial, huge city and a joining of the seas are words that we would use to describe our impressions of Istanbul Turkey.



buildings are vertical and go below ground too

The weather was definitely spring like; crisp, clear, showers, and much cooler than Jeddah. Layered up, we explored every day. On our first day, we navigated our way to the waters of the Marmara Sea. Following the great wall around the Topkapi Palace we found ourselves at another waterway called The Golden Horn. The Horn is an inlet shaped like a horn. There are many ferries, passenger tour boats and cargo ships all using the waterway.

Tired after our 10 km. hike, we stopped for a rest and a drink and enjoyed a ridiculously good (bad) pastry. When he asked if I wanted sugar, I said, “Sure”. Opps!! Yummy layers of warm filo pastry accompanied with a delicious cappuccino rejuvenated our tired legs.

Weaving our way through narrow streets and various vendors, we stopped in a shop to purchase some famous Turkish Delight.  There was little resemblance to the Turkish Delight I use to eat as a kid. Authentic Delight is a chewy consistency with or without nuts. Personally, if I am going to eat countless calories, I would pick another item. Street vendors are common. We purchased a small bag of roasted chestnuts from a street merchant. Cooked on a tin plate until they split, they proved to be interesting. The nuts were warm chewy. Don’t try to eat them a few days later; they harden to be teeth breakers!!



vendor selling roasted chestnuts and roasted corn. Blue Mosque in the background.

With no sense of direction or desired destination, we ended up in the Egyptian souk which is also known as the spice bazaar. Oh my, one can purchase everything from Indian to Turkish saffron to belly dancing costumes! Of course each shop owner offered us his ‘best price’. This souk resembles a farmer’s market. The shops each sell their own specialty. Outside you could purchase, cheese, bread, fish, nuts, fruit juice and meat. Inside the market, the shops cater to the tourists with packaged products, costume and custom jewellery, ceramics, and Istanbul souvenirs.  



cheese, sausage and olive store




one of the alleys inside the Egyptian Bazaar




donar chef

 Taking the tram around the city was easy. In fact, one of the ways we like to explore a city is to jump on the rapid transit, ride it to the end of the line and then make our way back. We did that on day two. We discovered the city has an enormous textile section. Stores covered many blocks and offered a multitude of colours and textures of bolts of materials. We also discovered the Kale Outlet mall, to be investigated another day.



a beautiful domed tile roof inside the Grand Bazaar

 Returning to the Grand Bazaar tram stop gave us a new appreciation for the Middle Eastern souk shopping experience! The building itself covers several kms. It originated from a single shopping site under a domed roof and grew over the years. The old shopping site is completely covered and has 28 points of entry, offers work for 30,000 people, has over 60 inside streets and claims to have over 4000 shops.  Scarves, leather goods, jewellery, pottery, gold, silver, carpets, nick-knacks, shoes, belts, spices, Turkish Delight,  hats, fabric and the list goes on.  It proved to be an adventure as we wandered and bartered.  The best line of the day came from a young entrepreneur. He asked with a smile on his face, “Can I sell you something you don’t need today?”  We laughed with him. Most shop keepers are pretty intense. Don’t look like you might be interested in something – you will spend the next five minutes politely saying “No thank you!” Aside from things to purchase, you could also find restaurants, shoe shiners and even a place for Muslims to wash their feet prior to going to pray at the massive mosque located just outside the Bazaar. We were completely lost inside the souk and found a point of exit. We ‘shopped’ our way through outside streets until we found the tram again.


shopkeeper inside Grand Bazaar - heavy negotiations - win win - everyone is smiling!

 On Sunday we got up early and made our way to the Topkapi Palace. Some people are just too rich!! This palace is atop a hill overlooking the Marmara Sea and the Bosphorus (Istanbul Strait leading to the Black Sea).  It was the Imperial residence of the Sultans from the 15^th to the 19^th century during the Ottoman age. Sprawling grounds with many separate buildings make up this spectacular castle. To give us a perspective of how many residents and how busy this castle was, the kitchen alone had 1000 workers! At present the kitchen(s) were being renovated. We were fortunate to see the treasury! One diamond that was bigger than my fist sparkled like the sun! Emeralds, sapphires, jade, diamonds, rubies, and gold were displayed in four separate rooms. There were two gold candle sticks taller than me and as wide as me which were inlaid with thousands of diamonds.

The library, courtroom, bedroom, harem and sitting rooms all had their own buildings. The grounds must have been an incredible sight of beauty when operational. Today there are still flower beds, fountains, sun dials, balconies and spectacular views of the enormous city of Istanbul.

From the Palace, we visited the Kale Outlet Mall. The shopping was quite disappointing. What we found interesting was this modern mall amidst what we had been immersed in – Old Istanbul. Somewhat different than haggling over a scarf price!

Tomorrow we go to Europe!

The European side of Istanbul had more modern stores on a street called Istiklal. It is blocked from traffic apart from one old red tram and emergency vehicles. We found a pair of runners for Glenn, a Starbucks coffee shop and some fresh nuts, figs, and mixed fruits. Off of this modern strip, are more narrow hilly side streets. One never knows what merchandise will be for sale on any one street. We have seen streets dedicated to rope lights, rivets of all sizes shapes and colours, ironing boards, men’s shoes, wholesale shoe section and knock-offs of every kind.

In Europe, we got caught in the rain. Bartering over umbrellas was fun. One man wanted to sell us one lime green and one purple umbrella. Not really Glenn’s colours! Tucked under a couple of regular umbrellas we made our way back to the Asia side of Istanbul. We had lunch in a quaint little restaurant, with Turkish tea and homemade soup to warm us up.



coffee man before his sore neck!

 Every space in Istanbul is creatively used. We walked across one of the bridges that connect Asia to Europe. Off the top deck, the fishermen catch fish to sell to the local markets. There were several different types of fish and they were kept in various containers. One man who was selling coffee to the local fishermen, was sternly reminded (by a whack on the back of the neck) that he was imposing on another man’s coffee territory. He quickly scooted off to the other side of the road rubbing his sore neck. The local vendors walk back and forth across the bridge selling bread, coffee and sweet buns to the fishermen. Under the bridge there are different restaurants, probably selling the fresh fish.

There are so many things to purchase. What looks like the same thing, has different price ‘tags’. Of course few things are marked or labelled with a price. It really is overwhelming! We bought a beautiful tile from the Egyptian Spice Market. It is actually a piece of certified art. Glenn plans to put a few pieces in the home that he wants to build. I have decided to purchase some scarves from the old ladies who set up shop in front of the Blue Mosque in the early evening. We have looked at leather jackets, jewellery, bowls, rugs, spices, teas, watches, shoes and the list goes on. High on my purchase list is a pair of Turkish leather shoes.



Galata Tower - look up, way up . . . .





dinner at the Tower - only Canadians!



Enough shopping! Tuesday evening was time for more history. We visited the Galata Tower for dinner and a Turkish Show. It is one of the oldest towers in the world. Built as a lighthouse out of wood in 528, it was reconstructed in 1348 using stacking stones. In 1964 it was closed for 3 years and completely restored. Walking around the narrow ledge outside, the tower seemed to be swaying. It was somewhat unnerving but offered an amazing view of the sprawling city. The evening also included belly dancers, twirling Dervish dancers, a folk singer, and one Sultan feeding his harem girls!



another artistic roof - this one at the bath house





A final cultural piece I participated in was the traditional Turkish bath. (Glenn wasn’t feeling well so I went solo.) What a lovely experience! Shuttled to and from the Gedikpasa Bath was a bonus! Wrapped in a rough cotton towel, I went into the depths and steamy marble bath room. The bath room is made up of many little rooms with one large marble slab in the middle. The multiple domed rooms were made completely of marble. WOW~ every room had low lying benches and three or four marble sinks. Sitting on a marble bench, the woman poured warm water over me and then off I went into the hot sauna room. Toasted up, I was hailed out of the sauna and asked to lie on the heated marble slab. The large square was big enough for four women to enjoy their ‘bath’ which included a peel (exfoliation scrub), soap massage and relaxing. The women masseuses of every shape and size were clothed in skimpy underwear. The hamam is no place for the shy or humble! The soap massage was delightful. The masseuse used a wet pillow case full of soapy suds in a most unique way. Occasionally they opened it up to let the air in, twisted the top to make a ‘balloon’ and then while putting the air bubble on me, they pushed the air out. This created more bubbles and the cloth felt much like silk. I highly recommend a Turkish bath experience to anyone who travels to Turkey!



old building in Old Istanbul (outside our hotel room)

amateur Turkish rug weaver!

Our adventures were not over when we left Istanbul. Flying into Medinah for a connecting flight to Jeddah, proved to be an eerie experience. It was dark but not black night dark. Neither was it cloudy, foggy or misty. As we descended the unfamiliar darkness continued. We quickly discovered what brought the mysterious haze. It was the sand storm that originated in Kuwait a couple of days earlier. After spending a couple of hours breathing very dirty air inside a dusty airport building, amidst the Middle Eastern chaos, I was informed we could catch a plane at 4:00 a.m.  I went directly back to the supervisor and asked for a hotel room. “No problem Miss.” We were whisked off in a cab at about 10:00. We both wondered what kind of hotel we might get . . . .  Oh my goodness, it was just short of the palace we had visited in Istanbul!! The elegant room gave us ideas of how our new bedroom might unfold!

mosque in the middle of the hotel

We requested a wake up call at 2:00. With no incoming call, I woke up at 3:00 and we scurried to the lobby, bags in tow. We needed to walk a country mile because there were weddings going strong and ‘the man’ can’t be near the women’s party room. Reception explained they didn’t call us because the airport was still shut down. Back to bed we went.



fresh flowers taped on car, window visibility only through butterfly!

 We continued to enjoy the hotel and their service for another day and night. We were told over and over, “No communication from the airport.” Saturday morning we packed up, found a seat to Jeddah and closed the chapter of our extended trip to Istanbul Turkey.