Istanbul

Ankara is the capitol of Turkey, but Istanbul is seen by many as the cultural heart of Turkey. Originally called Byzantium when it was founded in 660 BC, the city straddles two continents, Europe and Asia with the narrow body of water called the Bosphorus lying between them. In AD 330, the city was renamed Constantinople by Constantine the Great, who made it the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The history of the city includes being sacked by the Crusaders in 1204 and being captured by the Turks in 1453. In 1930, the name of the city was changed to Istanbul. Today Istanbul with its skyline studded with domes and minarets, is home to 14+ million of the 68 million people living in Turkey.

That Istanbul is a crossroads is shown in the way that its inhabitants dress. Men were generally dressed in long pants and a button down shirt, but women’s dress ranged quite widely. One would see women dressed in western clothes next to women wearing headscarves or burqas. One of the people at the conference told me that he had met a couple wearing western clothing and flashy jewelry and he was surprised to learn that they were visitors from Iran. He also told me that he had been up to the pool on the roof of his hotel and was surprised to see women in bathing suits that must have been sold by the centimeter, they were so small.

That women can choose whether or not to wear a headscarf is due to the secular government of Turkey. The constitution of Turkey asserts that the country is a secular and democratic republic, deriving its sovereignty from the people. Although an overwhelming majority of the population, at least nominally, adheres to Islam, the state neither has an official religion nor promotes any, and it actively monitors ("active neutrality") the area between the religions. All of which is why when Abdullah Gül became the 11th president of Turkey on August 28, 2007 there was strong and highly vocal opposition from ardent supporters of secularism in Turkey. Central to the controversy, were concerns that Gül has an Islamist agenda based on views that Gül expressed earlier in his political career. Furthermore, the president’s wife wears a headscarf, which is seen by some as a symbol of political Islam. The army, which has long regarded itself as the guardian of the country's secular constitution, voiced its opposition to Gül’s candidacy during the election process and there were street protests in Istanbul and Ankara leading up to the election.

The parts of the city which I visited were modern and the streets were wide and tree lined. Even the back streets were tree lined. The buildings around Taskim Square where I haunted were mostly four story tall, light colored buildings. The bottom floor of the buildings were mostly shops including cafes, restaurants and electronics stores. The sidewalks on both sides of the street were often busy with people. On the back streets near my hotel, the sidewalk was separated from the road by metal pylons attached to the brick of the sidewalk. However, I saw people loosening these and moving them in order to park the cars on the sidewalk. There were touts on the streets who were more annoying than anything. I was asked several times where I was from and if I would like to see their antique / carpet / souvenir store. The touts were mostly around my hotel and in the old town.

There were a lot of cars on the street, especially at night when the city seemed more alive than during the day. The traffic was more orderly than in China, for example, but not nearly as orderly as New Zealand. There were, however many more people concerned with directing traffic. My hotel was located up a series of small, one way street and I saw men standing at the corners, directing the large busses and the cars one way or another. It seemed that was their job because the men were always there directing traffic.

The public transportation in the city included busses and a subway as well as trams on the European side that rumbled down the street. From Taskim square there was also an underground funicular which only had two stops. I didn’t realize this the first time that I took it and wound up going down then up before going back down. Not such a great ride for 1.20 ($1 US), but it saved me a trip up and down the hill. Only some of the trams cross Golden Bay which divides the European side and none of the trams or trains connect the European and Asian sides. To get across, one must take a ferry or cross over the Bosporus via one of the two bridges. A subway tunnel and a third bridge are planned, but the government does not want to announce its proposed location out of fear that the property values in the area will skyrocket.

The weather was definitely warm when I was there at the end of August, but not terribly so. However, walking up the street when the sun was high in the sky was no fun in a dark, wool suit. I spent most of my time in the city in the Taskim Square area which is the financial center of the city. Radiating off from Taskim Square was a pedestrian mall lined with hip restaurants, cafes and bars where both men and women crowded the streets. The later the hour, the more crowded the pedestrian mall became. However, several people who ventured out of the tourist areas told me that they only saw men on the streets.

My hotel in Taskim had been chosen from a list of hotels on the conference website. I chose one that was about ten minute walk from the conference and certainly not the most expensive on the list. I chose well because a number of other people from the conference were also at the hotel and so it was nice to be around people that I knew. Hotels in Turkey are rated with stars and my hotel was a four star. However, everyone agreed that the hotel would not be four stars elsewhere in the world because the rooms were just ok and exceedingly dark. It was suggested that the number of stars may be an indication of the service offered rather than the quality of the hotel room because the service was very good. Bellboys were all around and I never had a problem communicating or when I needed to get my magnetic key car magnetized again. Breakfast was included and was fantastic. The extensive buffet included about a half dozen olives, both black and green. I have never tasted olives like the ones that I had in Istanbul. There was also an entire shelf of cheese. Most appeared to be variations on feta cheese with some being really creamy. There were also dried dates, apricots and other fruit, a entire honeycomb from which you could break off pieces to get honey and lots of different breads. Breakfast was a treat.

Food was something that was not at all a problem to find in Istanbul and I was sure to visit Saray Muhallebicisi, which translated means "Rosewater Pudding Palace". The name comes from a popular treat enjoyed during Ottoman times. I had been advised to visit the shop to try the baklavas which were absolutely sinful. They were just dripping in syrup to the point where they were simply uber sweet. There were other sweet shops on the streets as well selling sweets such as Turkish Delight from display cases.

There were sit down restaurants, but of course there were also Donner stores where you could buy kebabs. Typically, there would be a large cylindrically shaped piece of processed meat, about two feet high, spinning on a pole in front of a heater. If there were two pieces of meat, one was lamb and the other chicken. Some of these restaurants had tables inside or on the sidewalk. Others were takeaway. If you ordered one of the Donner, the man standing by the rotating pieces of meat would sharpen his long knife before proceeding to shave off several of pieces of meat for you. The meat was put inside a loaf of bread cut in half in addition to lettuce, hot peppers and maybe a pickle.

Many of the restaurants that I saw doing a bustling lunch trade had the food displayed on the widow. You just went in and indicated what you would like to have and it was rung up per item. My friend, Lars-Göran and I went to one of these for lunch and it was a great experience. We indicated what we wanted and were told to pick up a plastic container of water to drink and rolls form a bin. The restaurant was small, but we had arrived at a good time and got seats at one of the few tables inside the restaurant. The place was bustling and we shared the four person table with others and they came and went. I had chosen two of the items from the counter and I was really full when we returned to the conference.

One popular chain restaurant that I saw was several stories tall and always busting. On the first floor was a counter and behind the glass were all sorts of breads. One favorite was a flakey bread stuffed with meat or cheese or olives. There were also really good cakes. The chocolate cake that I had there was one of the best that I have had. You could also get coffee and I first opted for the Turkish coffee. I didn’t realize when I ordered that I would have to specify how much sugar that I wanted and at the staff’s prompting, I went for medium. What you receive is a espresso glass that is half full of coffee grounds. The coffee is really strong and sweet and is good, but you get too little for my tastes. After the first time, I went with regular espresso. Tea is served in clear, curvy glasses that are about four inches tall.

One of my favorite meals that I had on my own was at a hole in the wall near my hotel. I had seen that the restaurant was always bustling and so one night when I saw that there was a table free outside, I decided to give it a go. I entered and the owner shook my hand and gave me a menu. I decided that the mixed grill looked good and turned to go back outside, but the table was snatched by arriving customers. Instead I grabbed an inside table that was on a landing at the back so that I could see everything that was going on in the restaurant. The owner then brought me a big basket of bread which I had just seen him cut up for me. Fortunately, I got a brand new loaf because I saw that any bread leftover on tables after customers left was reissued to other customers. While the bread was being served, the man at the front behind the counter on the side of the restaurant was busy on the grill. A few minutes later, the waiter appeared with a plate full of grilled chicken, beef, rice and an assortment of grilled vegetables including hot peppers. A sealed cup of water also appeared. The meal was really good and fun because I could watch everyone else. As I finished up, the busy waiter appeared and swept off the cleared plate and my remaining bread and brought me a glass of strong, black tea. The whole meal cost 12 Lira ($10 US) and was really good.

I had little problem communicating with people during my stay. I am hesitant to ask people to speak English to me in a foreign country and when in doubt, I try to communicate by gestures. This usually works, especially if I can point to the food that I want. When I once got a Donner, when the waiter appeared, I pointed to the meat that I wanted and indicated one. He then showed me the bread and the vegetables and asked “ok?” to which I nodded yes. However, a lot of the people that I interfaced with could speak some English and would do so. In fact, I probably could have conducted the entire transaction in English if I had started it that way. The only time that I really needed to be able to understand 100% of what was being said was when I was trying to figure out the trams. I would say the name of where I was going and conductors would point me in the correct direction and so I managed.

ilkopedia, Lonely Planet Turkey and the BBC website were all referenced for this blog.