This article was first published on the website of the BBC show, By Any Means, in 2008.
Where Asia meets Europe, Istanbul has been the epicenter for cultural integration for two thousand years. The fourth largest city in the world with a population of just over eleven million, Istanbul is an ideal stepping stone for those looking to ease themselves into Eastern culture. The people compliment the surroundings and there is a generosity of beauty seen in few other places. As the French poet Alphonse de Lamartine once said, “If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should gaze on Istanbul.”
Though a predominantly Muslim country, contemporary Turkey has a cafe culture that mirrors its Mediterranean neighbours with rows of coffee shops with boys and girls laden in sunglasses and designer clothes smoking water pipes. The aroma of the different flavoured tobaccos used to smoke is a refreshing change to the pollution that engulfs you throughout the city. Apple tobacco is the easiest on the lungs and is always found to be the most fragrant. Find a spot in a rooftop cafe, many hostels in Istanbul offer this, get your hookah, order your tobacco and watch the sun set over the Sea of Marmara.
Where Asia meets Europe, Istanbul has been the epicenter for cultural integration for two thousand years. The fourth largest city in the world with a population of just over eleven million, Istanbul is an ideal stepping stone for those looking to ease themselves into Eastern culture. The people compliment the surroundings and there is a generosity of beauty seen in few other places. As the French poet Alphonse de Lamartine once said, “If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should gaze on Istanbul.”
Though a predominantly Muslim country, contemporary Turkey has a cafe culture that mirrors its Mediterranean neighbours with rows of coffee shops with boys and girls laden in sunglasses and designer clothes smoking water pipes. The aroma of the different flavoured tobaccos used to smoke is a refreshing change to the pollution that engulfs you throughout the city. Apple tobacco is the easiest on the lungs and is always found to be the most fragrant. Find a spot in a rooftop cafe, many hostels in Istanbul offer this, get your hookah, order your tobacco and watch the sun set over the Sea of Marmara.
Daytime hookah in the overly competitive environment of backgammon game can be taken in at the Nargile Cafe just off from Taksin Square in the European part of the city. Taksin Square is the location of the main New Year’s celebration in Istanbul and with Beyoglu next to it, offering a more contemporary Istanbul that thrives on art. The Pera Museum offers a permanent collection of work from the Ottoman period and hosts spectacular temporary exhibits ranging from Rembrandt to Constable. The Dogancay Museum in the area is a must see, though established as a showroom for only a single artist there is now a floor solely offering his father’s work to accompany it. Beware though, Beyoglu for all its artisan vibe is predominately controlled by the Islamic AK Party so an amount of conservatism and restraint is always appreciated in the area.
Islamic control of Turkey doesn’t mean a disregard to people wanting to indulge in the odd alcoholic beverage. In every city, in every country, in every continent across the world...there lies an Irish bar waiting for unsuspecting Americans who think they’re Irish, British travellers too scared to experience the real country and stag weekends. The James Joyce Irish bar caters for all of the above but most feel that travelling would be a far more worthwhile experience if the above listed just didn’t bother.
Experience of the East has shown that you should put some faith in the internet, guidebooks and reviews from other travellers when deciding where to stay, as wandering the streets and staying somewhere you imagine Jim Hendrix would have slept can get tedious and is too hit and miss for most. You don’t lose any kudos by sleeping in one of the many adequate hostels and you don’t have to pick cockroaches out of your ears when you wake up. Stay in the Sultanahmet district of the city, it lies on the coast and offers the best opportunity absorb a plethora of colours and shapes only Istanbul can offer.
The district offers you easy access to many of the sights that make Istanbul the destination of choice for visitors the world over regardless of creed or religion. Never, ever forget though that when entering a Mosque you should remove your shoes and whatever your views on the hijab, if you are a woman make sure you cover your shoulders, legs and arms as well as remembering to take a scarf with you wherever you go, and men should wear loose trousers and a shirt so you can move freely through religious monuments. The Blue Mosque, named so because of the blue tiles that cover its floors is one of Istanbul’s main tourist attractions but for those who veer away from the mainstream, don’t. For this is a building many find unmatchable throughout the world for its aesthetics.
The mother of all architecture to be found in Istanbul is the Ayasofya, located on the edge of the Sultanahmet district. Originally built as a Christian Church it was converted into a Mosque over 500 years ago. The epic stature of the building can keep you occupied for hours but if you get a chance see if you can find what is thought to be Turkeys oldest example of Viking graffiti tagging, somewhere on the Ayasofya is inscrolled, ‘Halvdan was here’ in runes. Tour guides estimate that this graffiti was carved sometime in the 9th Century. You wonder how the Ottoman Empire coped with this type of blatant vandalism? It begs the question just how many ASBO’s did the Turks serve before those pesky Vikings stopped writing all over their religious monuments?
Waking up is often a forced activity in Istanbul. Ear plugs will drown out the sound of loudspeakers calling people for Morning Prayer but it can also be a sign that you’ve all ready began to waste away your day if you aren’t up with the locals. Breakfast will not be a complicated affair, yogurt, cheese, bread and cha but enjoy it as the traffic within Istanbul means you will be rushing nowhere unless you walk it.
The first thing you notice when you arrive in Istanbul is the choking car fumes and the fact that whether you’re a smoker or not you will second hand smoke at least twenty cigarettes a day. Every traveller no matter of sex will need to take several...dozen handipacks of wet wipes, firstly to keep you cool in the heat and secondly to make sure you can get car exhaust fumes from every crack and pore of your face at the end of the day. For those of a more health conscious persuasion an old wife once said, to alleviate the negative effects of passive smoking, eat a clove of garlic a day to help clear the lungs. Bottles of mineral water are essential to a happy and diarrhoea free trip to Turkey. Say no to ice cubes in your drinks, don’t buy bottled water with no seal and boil anything from the tap before you drink it. All very general and obvious tips for anywhere but nevertheless worth the thirty seconds it took to write down. After all it is you who will blame everyone else but yourself if you get the runs and no one wants to be regaled with stories of an ailing traveler’s bowel.
You will be offered tea wherever you go. A simple, pleasurable sugary version of what comes in a bag in the west. It also offers you an original and exceptionally tasting present for all those waiting for you at home, go to a tea shop and buy packets of crystallised tea. Crystallised is recommended for several reasons, it tastes better, it keeps longer and it will stop any awkward conversations if you carry several bags of suspicious smelling green leaves through customs. When you sit in a tea house your cup will be filled and filled no matter how many times you shake your head in refusal, so to stop this, place your teaspoon upside down on top of your cup. Many a traveller has developed a bad case of full bladders before realising this locals trick, also many have been seen to look in confusion at an array of teaspoons resting on the top of glass mugs.
The Grand Bazaar is a shopping experience beyond all others and found a short walk from the Blue Mosque. Home to twenty five thousand workers, three hundred thousand visitors a day and an almost infinite avenue of stalls that change shape everyday as each stall holder bustles for prime points of sale. Be aware of quality standards but never be afraid to haggle if you really want something. No one will sell below what they can afford so never think you’re ripping them off. If you want to bring a tea set home the locals, well not the market workers, but anyone else will recommend buying one at a supermarket as they are of a level of quality you cannot guarantee finding on the market and at an affordable price. Visit Eminönü where you will find the flower market and the spice market where you can buy all the spices needed to impress your friends at dinner parties on your return. When in any Bazaar arrange to meet the people you’re with at an outside point at a set time as the intricate pathways of the bazaar means you will lose everyone you’re with.
As with all major cities, Istanbul only offers an insight into Turkish culture. Istanbul serves as a gateway from West to East, but beyond here lays Turkey’s capital city, Ankara and a thousand years of history that has conspired to make the world what it is today. Nearly a hundred years has passed since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of a united Turkey, it is time to explore Turkey and to stop feeling threatened by a lack of understanding of its two continental ties and embrace walking out of a Mosque and drinking a nice cup of tea.
The Good: Eminönü, the Spice Bazaar, the only place in the world to buy Turkish Delight. Those not fans of rose flavoured candy can feast their noses and tongues on a variety of delicacies. For those not a fan of shopping take a riverboat down the Bosporus that sails on the crack of Europe and Asia, excellent views and the thrill of drifting between continents in a matter of minutes.
The Bad: Tension between Muslims and the Christian and Jewish population can make walking around the city a traumatic affair should you wander into unknown territory. It also makes finding a good pork butcher a devastatingly barren endeavour.
The Ugly: Beware bad quality gifts you buy at the Bazaar’s just to feel like you’ve ‘experienced’ Turkey that break upon your return home. People appreciate quality above where you bought it as you can visit the bazaars anyway, instead look to the teashops for better quality gifts.
Experience of the East has shown that you should put some faith in the internet, guidebooks and reviews from other travellers when deciding where to stay, as wandering the streets and staying somewhere you imagine Jim Hendrix would have slept can get tedious and is too hit and miss for most. You don’t lose any kudos by sleeping in one of the many adequate hostels and you don’t have to pick cockroaches out of your ears when you wake up. Stay in the Sultanahmet district of the city, it lies on the coast and offers the best opportunity absorb a plethora of colours and shapes only Istanbul can offer.
The district offers you easy access to many of the sights that make Istanbul the destination of choice for visitors the world over regardless of creed or religion. Never, ever forget though that when entering a Mosque you should remove your shoes and whatever your views on the hijab, if you are a woman make sure you cover your shoulders, legs and arms as well as remembering to take a scarf with you wherever you go, and men should wear loose trousers and a shirt so you can move freely through religious monuments. The Blue Mosque, named so because of the blue tiles that cover its floors is one of Istanbul’s main tourist attractions but for those who veer away from the mainstream, don’t. For this is a building many find unmatchable throughout the world for its aesthetics.
The mother of all architecture to be found in Istanbul is the Ayasofya, located on the edge of the Sultanahmet district. Originally built as a Christian Church it was converted into a Mosque over 500 years ago. The epic stature of the building can keep you occupied for hours but if you get a chance see if you can find what is thought to be Turkeys oldest example of Viking graffiti tagging, somewhere on the Ayasofya is inscrolled, ‘Halvdan was here’ in runes. Tour guides estimate that this graffiti was carved sometime in the 9th Century. You wonder how the Ottoman Empire coped with this type of blatant vandalism? It begs the question just how many ASBO’s did the Turks serve before those pesky Vikings stopped writing all over their religious monuments?
Waking up is often a forced activity in Istanbul. Ear plugs will drown out the sound of loudspeakers calling people for Morning Prayer but it can also be a sign that you’ve all ready began to waste away your day if you aren’t up with the locals. Breakfast will not be a complicated affair, yogurt, cheese, bread and cha but enjoy it as the traffic within Istanbul means you will be rushing nowhere unless you walk it.
The first thing you notice when you arrive in Istanbul is the choking car fumes and the fact that whether you’re a smoker or not you will second hand smoke at least twenty cigarettes a day. Every traveller no matter of sex will need to take several...dozen handipacks of wet wipes, firstly to keep you cool in the heat and secondly to make sure you can get car exhaust fumes from every crack and pore of your face at the end of the day. For those of a more health conscious persuasion an old wife once said, to alleviate the negative effects of passive smoking, eat a clove of garlic a day to help clear the lungs. Bottles of mineral water are essential to a happy and diarrhoea free trip to Turkey. Say no to ice cubes in your drinks, don’t buy bottled water with no seal and boil anything from the tap before you drink it. All very general and obvious tips for anywhere but nevertheless worth the thirty seconds it took to write down. After all it is you who will blame everyone else but yourself if you get the runs and no one wants to be regaled with stories of an ailing traveler’s bowel.
You will be offered tea wherever you go. A simple, pleasurable sugary version of what comes in a bag in the west. It also offers you an original and exceptionally tasting present for all those waiting for you at home, go to a tea shop and buy packets of crystallised tea. Crystallised is recommended for several reasons, it tastes better, it keeps longer and it will stop any awkward conversations if you carry several bags of suspicious smelling green leaves through customs. When you sit in a tea house your cup will be filled and filled no matter how many times you shake your head in refusal, so to stop this, place your teaspoon upside down on top of your cup. Many a traveller has developed a bad case of full bladders before realising this locals trick, also many have been seen to look in confusion at an array of teaspoons resting on the top of glass mugs.
The Grand Bazaar is a shopping experience beyond all others and found a short walk from the Blue Mosque. Home to twenty five thousand workers, three hundred thousand visitors a day and an almost infinite avenue of stalls that change shape everyday as each stall holder bustles for prime points of sale. Be aware of quality standards but never be afraid to haggle if you really want something. No one will sell below what they can afford so never think you’re ripping them off. If you want to bring a tea set home the locals, well not the market workers, but anyone else will recommend buying one at a supermarket as they are of a level of quality you cannot guarantee finding on the market and at an affordable price. Visit Eminönü where you will find the flower market and the spice market where you can buy all the spices needed to impress your friends at dinner parties on your return. When in any Bazaar arrange to meet the people you’re with at an outside point at a set time as the intricate pathways of the bazaar means you will lose everyone you’re with.
As with all major cities, Istanbul only offers an insight into Turkish culture. Istanbul serves as a gateway from West to East, but beyond here lays Turkey’s capital city, Ankara and a thousand years of history that has conspired to make the world what it is today. Nearly a hundred years has passed since the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of a united Turkey, it is time to explore Turkey and to stop feeling threatened by a lack of understanding of its two continental ties and embrace walking out of a Mosque and drinking a nice cup of tea.
The Good: Eminönü, the Spice Bazaar, the only place in the world to buy Turkish Delight. Those not fans of rose flavoured candy can feast their noses and tongues on a variety of delicacies. For those not a fan of shopping take a riverboat down the Bosporus that sails on the crack of Europe and Asia, excellent views and the thrill of drifting between continents in a matter of minutes.
The Bad: Tension between Muslims and the Christian and Jewish population can make walking around the city a traumatic affair should you wander into unknown territory. It also makes finding a good pork butcher a devastatingly barren endeavour.
The Ugly: Beware bad quality gifts you buy at the Bazaar’s just to feel like you’ve ‘experienced’ Turkey that break upon your return home. People appreciate quality above where you bought it as you can visit the bazaars anyway, instead look to the teashops for better quality gifts.
