Our First Days
Istanbul is an ancient, vast, and lively city. There are so many corners to explore, you just can’t see it all. But you can get quite lost, which we did, trying to visit just one more gallery and museum. Fortunately public transportation is good, and some very friendly folks helped us find our way. Traffic is jammed up all day. The city is chock-full of steep streets, many sloping toward the river, as the Bosphorus cuts the city in two. One day we took a sunset river cruise, which is an excellent way to get oriented and see both sides. The Bosphorus, also known as the Strait of Istanbul, is a natural strait that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean. It literally separates Europe and Asia.
Turkey has shifted since my last visit, which is close to 10 years ago. Istanbul feels less cosmopolitan and more conservative, with fewer women out and about wearing Western attire. There are more mosques, including historical, multi-religious sites that have been converted back into mosques.
People seemed to be more willing to talk about how it feels to live in a country where they don’t support their leaders. Turkish people can identify with our political situation in the USA. Turkey is not a passive place. On our way to a Haman (bath house, in this case, active since the 1600’s) we walked around a large, peaceful demonstration in support of Gaza. There’s a photo in the slide show of a demonstrator with an Israeli flag that bore a swastika.
I can still hear the frequent call to prayer. You can’t enter a mosque during prayer sessions. And we learned to be ready to visit a mosque any time, since there so many beautiful, historic sites to see. So women need to carry a large head covering and wear long pants. No hats or shorts for men. There are some available to put on though, if you’re not prepared. It’s handy to wear easy slip-on, slip-off shoes, like in Japan. But never lie down in a mosque, as we learned, no matter how tempting the soft, clean carpets are, or how tired you are. Even if the ceiling murals and mosaics look amazing from a floor view.
Returning to the vast Grand Bazaar, with its overflowing stalls of colorful goods, was exciting, but felt different from the first time there, and more sanitized. On the downside, what hasn’t changed enough, is that there’s still cigarette smoking everywhere.
There are just as many cats all around as ever. Many appear to have regular care and look healthy. They’re very friendly. People put out food, water, and shelter for them around town. Why? The Ottomans, like many Muslim societies, revered cats due to their association with cleanliness and their role in Islamic culture. According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad had a particular fondness for cats, and this reverence translated into a culture of respect and care for these animals.
I can still taste a fresh-squeezed blood-red pomegranate juice, a warm bagel-shaped sesame bread, called simit, sold on every street corner in a little cart, and stacks of honey-oozing varieties of delicious baklava. I love Turkish food. I can’t wait to make a dinner.
As usual while traveling, I had a Barbie with me. This time, I brought my petite mod doll, Babs, with me, one of my favorite traveling Barbies. She’s in many of my photos and you might have seen her on my Instagram posts.
