Roman aquaducts, dividing four lane bumper to bumper traffic.
Turkish delights everywhere...
Turkish rugs hanging from everything, waiting for a sale,
Arches adorned with deep color designs,
All in all, I did not like Istanbul. I think this is the result of one thing, sales tactics. I hate being sold too and invited in.
In Istanbul as with many of the eastern Mediterranean countries, it is customary for shop attendants and owners to stand outside their shops and verbally offer their wares and invite you in. “Hello Lady. I have beautiful silk for you. You must see. Finest around. Good price. You come in. Come in. Come in.” They can be quite aggressive. This drives me crazy. If I like your stuff I will buy your stuff. If you harass me, I go away, and buy no stuff.
My second trip to the Grand Bazaar, I dressed like a local, meaning black linen pants, sandles, a shirt that had a full closed collar and covered my shoulders. I also left my smile at the door. I walked around with an annoyed look on my face.
The result was mixed. On the one hand very few people approached me or tried to sell me anything. This made my shopping experience more enjoyable. On the other hand, my expression wore on me, I fell into character and I was actually annoyed by the end of the trip. I get annoyed like wandering around pretending to be annoyed. In the end, I didn’t like myself.
Turkey is secular, though 98% of the country is Muslim. They are Muslim the way most of America is Christian, some people go to the mosque, most don’t.
Amongst Istanbul’s claims to fame is being the only modern city on two continents, Asia and Europe. Given that, I guess it is most appropriate that it is a collision of worlds culturally.
OK, pictures:
The Blue Mosque is perhaps the most famous site in Istanbul. It is a central prayer location displaying the finest Islamic architecture and design for god.
Unlike Christianity, the Muslim religion forbids the attempted illustration of god and his profits. Thus mosques interiors are a display of lavish designs rather than picture books of biblical stories.
Me outside the Blue Mosque
The Blue Mosque ceiling:
And the inside of the Blue Mosque, unfortunately I did not get any good pictures of the interior. (In general, getting good pictures was difficult. The Istanbul is busy and snap shots without people crossing in front of you were difficult to get. Hence all the pictures of this entry aren't as good as I would like.) Imagine ornate swirls of vivid blue and red on tile.
The Blue Mosque, as with all Mosques has no seats. Worshipers worship on the ground. The floor is lined with elaborate Turkish rugs. Visitors must dress modestly and remove their shoes to enter. (The result is a mosque that smells like feet.)
Inside the Blue Mosque and everywhere in Istanbul are fountains. This is a fountain in the Grand Bazaar. People stop for water and wash their face.
And in detail
This is just a building I came upon. Many buildings in Istanbul are ornately decorated with blue tile and glass. It is ironic to me that the national flag is red, because the country clearly is illustrated in blue. All designs are blue. The only not blue are the Turkish rugs. They are red, with designs in blue. This is also a good example of the local architecture specifically in regards to the shape of the windows.
Everywhere there were small shops, there were coffee delivery men. They all had the exact same tray and similar shot glass sized coffee cups. They went from shop to shop delivering coffee. (When will Starbuck’s start delivering?)
The above is a standard street scene. The meat hanging on rotisserie skews is shaved for sandwiches on order. On the right is a man with a coffee tray.
My sister should go to Istanbul for a wedding dress. On this one street for literally miles, there was wedding dress store after wedding dress store, all ranging from typical western to more conservative Muslim, where though white and modern style, the woman’s arms, neck and hair are covered as well. Notice the woman in the full burke in the lower left
I wound up on a tour including an ancient church. What you can’t tell from this picture is that it is a mosaic of small tiles.
This is the nave of the same church.
I tried to get a picture of the train station that was the last stop on the Oriental Express. It is a decorative building, now a mauve pink. Unfortunately there is a big Shell Gas Station in front of it. Oh well.
The other item everywhere is the blue eye, an representation of the evil eye concept. It is really a dark blue circle on a lighter blue circle, on a white circle on a translucent blue circle. It comes in magnets, key chains and every imaginable item. I don’t really know the symbolism, but they are everywhere.
I got up at dawn and took pictures of the cityscape from the ship. The first picture is the tourist area which includes a large well maintained park which is why it is so green. The city is surrounded by water and literally cut in half, though link by bridge and ferry, by the straight from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea. (This is the dividing line between continents.) Hence there are large waterways every where.
This second picture is a better representation of the city in general, packed with buildings, mosques, lined by water
I am not inclined to return to Istanbul, but I am glad I have been. It is a strange transition from European to Middle Eastern cultures.
I admit it; I hate cities. And Istanbul’s metropolitan area is amongst the largest in the world. Perhaps a trip to a smaller town would endear me more to the country. But, in truth I have been to smaller towns, and the damn sales people are just as aggressive. It is a pity this one aspect taints my view so dramatically. But it does.
As always, I am glad I have been.
Stupid: Aggressive sales people. This goes on my major annoyance list.
Cool: The beauty of the Turkish architecture and elaborate painted designs in every archway; the old world charm of a coffee delivery man who sits and chats for ten fifteen minutes in the afternoon as he delivers.
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