Istanbul – European City

Our first day in Istanbul. Here is our street by day. It seems quieter than when we first saw it.

Joe has our day planned out, a tram ride, a promenade, a tower; but first breakfast on the roof of Hotel Niles. What a lovely spot and lovely to have our girl and her friend back with us if only for a couple of weeks, they have scrubbed up well:

Great views over breakfast – of the Sea of Mamara:

and of the Beyazit Mosque:

But enough eating and lolling about. Time to get to know this place. We caught the tram from Beyazit Square to Kavatas. The tram runs directly alongside the footpaths in many places so you are travelling next to people walking beside you and very close to the shops. We went through Sultanahmet which is where the Blue Mosque is and which is very touristry. We went right to the end of line where there was a ferry. But we took the funicular up to Taksim Square. This is huge, dominated by a statue of Ataturk – the father of modern Turkey. The great moderniser. He introduced surnames and Latin script; abolished the Fez and polygamy and changed Turkey’s day of rest from Friday to Sunday. Here he is:

We walked down the hill via the main promenade Istiklal Caddesi. Here’s the traveling party. Quite a hot day – it got to 31 degrees.

This is the Byoglu district, originally one of the most European sections of the city Joe tells me. The Greek, Russian and Swedish embassies are situated on this street, with the Italian and Dutch ones nearby. Many beautiful old buildings. Some being done up but many seem to be crumbling in situ. These ones have big wire safety nets at first floor level, maybe to stop falling masonry. They stand alongside modern concrete structures that sort of fit in. We only saw one really shocking modern monstrosity. There was an exquisite, tiny three storied building with two carved statues in the portico – squashed between two modern places. A Catholic Church sat behind gates and down some steps. An old house set a little off the street was marked as of historical import for its relationship to a number of people, one of whom I recognised. A famous Istanbul novelist, Tanpinar, author of a novel called Peace. He is one of four melancholic writers, referred to by Orhan Pamuk in his book Istanbul which I am part way through and enjoying very much. I was pleased to see this house which was reachedvthrough a little arch on the street. Ihope the gentleman sitting on the verandah didn’t mind me taking the picture.

We didn’t take many photos as we walked along because the seasoned travellers (Eleanor and Ruby) were charging along and it was an effort to to keep up. The headquarters of the Turkish Communist Party excited Joe’s interest, being an old lefty still. Such a diverse lot of things along this boulevard. Places selling food – kebabs, sweets, ice-cream (looked strange), restaurants, training colleges, clothes shops, bookstores (one with all Oran Pamuk’s books in the window), mobile phone places – everything familiar to a modern Western city.

We were flying along so fast we missed the turn off to the Pera Palace Hotel, that Joe had selected for our lunch. But we retraced our steps and found it easily enough. This was built by the man who established the Orient Express because he didn’t think there was a good enough hotel for travelers in Istanbul. Actually Joe had thought the Istanbul Culinary Institute that was nearby would have been better for eating a meal, and the Pera Palace better for afternoon tea. Which would have been the case but our time had slipped away. The hotel was a regular spot for the literary set and Ernest Hemingway was an habitué in the Orient Bar.

We ate on the terrace where the view was nice. The best part of the meal was the platter of Turkish sweets. We saw the afternoon tea assembled in the lounge, shades of The Windsor in Melbourne but ten times grander. There was even a Piano Man.

The Pera had the first elevator in Turkey, installed just three years after the Eiffel Tower was built.

We then made our way to the Galata Tower, and I took some pictures on the way, including one of the side streets showing the architectural style. Later we came through a musical district and I loved the instruments. There were both traditional and modern. Also wooden toys and fruit shops for juices. I had pomegranate – a bit tart, but nice for a hot day. We bought Eleanor some Turkish trousers in a modish little shop. Designed and part made in Turkey with part production in India – globalised world.

And finally to the tower we came! I’ll leave that to another post.