Exploring the Streets of Fatih and Galata

There is so much to talk about I am not sure where to start, so I’ll just start with…. I had to create a fictional husband today. It was simply the easiest way to steer conversations into better directions. Like other places I have traveled- here in Istanbul, especially in the areas with lots of tourists, there are vendors and hawkers constantly trying to get you to look at their merchandise or sit at their restaurant. They are usually men. As a woman walking around by herself, I am a very approachable target. Couple that with the fact that everyone here is extremely friendly and it should come as no surprise that I have met quite a lot of people (guys) in my short time here. The vendors are in the plazas near the entrances to the major tourist attractions waiting to strike up conversations with people. They are actually very helpful at the same time, happy to answer questions about tickets or how to visit the attraction. Many are surprised (and weirdly delighted) to find out I am an American (the “where are you from” question is the first one up in the conversation). Apparently there are not as many American tourists visiting Istanbul as there has been in the past.  It is also amusing to find out how many of the carpet vendors have some ties, or relatives, running stores in the U.S.  Inevitably, and I am not sure why, the “are you married” question comes up.  I finally learned to say “yes”.  When I said “no” then there were immediate offers to show me around, hand me their business card so I could contact them etc..  It was way beyond the normal “just come to see my shop and we will have tea” standard lure to get you to take a look at their carpets (it is usually carpets). I developed a list of responses to resist their efforts:

–              “I don’t drink tea” followed closely by “I don’t drink coffee either” then followed by the explanation “I don’t drink caffeine” (all true)

–              “I am not going to buy a carpet because I have no house to put it in.” This one usually throws them off a bit.

–              “I am 60, and likely old enough to be your mother.”

Until brilliantly, I created a husband.  It helped to gracefully steer conversations. I was chatting with the waiter at dinner, who even though he just wanted to practice his English, still had to go through the list of questions. Once we got to the married and 60 we could relate like two normal people and had a wonderful conversation.  (He told me I look 45 so apparently I look younger in Turkey than I do in the U.S…….) Similar conversations happen every time I stop to look at a menu in front of a restaurant. Let me be clear, I feel very safe and all of it is low key and I enjoy chatting, but the fictional husband lets me steer the conversation away from awkward topics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I explored the Istanbul Grand Bazaar and promised in yesterday’s post to try to describe the labyrinth of shops and vendor stalls.  The Grand Bazaar has been in existence for over 550 years and is the largest covered bazaar in the world. Wikipedia states that there are 61 streets and over 4000 shops. If that is the case, I have not yet seen the whole thing; I was basically walking adjacent aisles and there were branches that I did not take.  Even so I do not think I walked anywhere near 61 aisles.  Clearly, I will have to go back…. The bazaar has many entrances/exits and I popped out a few times to see what was in the neighborhood.  There was a huge crowd- locals and tourists-in every nook and cranny. Along with the usual tourist souvenirs, you could find jewelry, textiles, handcrafts, leather, carpets -pretty much everything. It was a bit overwhelming, actually. If you like to shop, this is your place!

My goal for the day was to explore the Galata district but before heading across the Halic river to get there, I stopped to see the Basilica Cistern which is the largest of several hundred cisterns hiding underneath Istanbul. The Basilica Cistern is nearby the Hagia Sophia and was built in the 6th century by the Romans. It supplied first the Great Palace of Constantinople and later the Topkapi Palace.  It’s huge in all dimensions and really incredible.  They even have a small amount of water in it so you can get a bit of a feel for what it might have looked like full.  Amazing engineering to witness and experience!

Next up: the Galata district, including the Galata tower, one of the places on my “must visit” list. So I headed across the river to explore.  Not having a feel for the distance, I sorted out how to use the tram and three tram stops later I was at the base of the hill hosting the tower.  The Galata tower, a 205-foot tower built in 1348, served as a watchtower for the city.  It was originally surrounded by walls although most of the walls were destroyed when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople. Some fragments of the walls still exist and I may have stumbled on to some of them today (there were no signs). It is possible to go up to the top of the tower to get some great 360-degree views of Istanbul, but I did not do that today; the line was unreal, snaking all through the small plaza at the base.  I will return first thing in the morning at some point to beat the crowd.

I explored the streets around the tower and eventually, by chance, found myself on Istiklal Street, the famous pedestrian shopping street in the Galata district. I strolled along it, following the bright orange and red streamers that marked the path. Strolling might not be the right term, as it implies a relaxed, easy, carefree walk.  But you cannot be totally relaxed when walking around the older parts of Istanbul.  Even on the pedestrian street, for example, there was a trolley that traversed back and froth between Taksim Squrie and somewhere near the tower. The tracks were right in the middle of the street and it kind of snuck up on you if you were not paying attention.  Occasionally, cars would poke their way out through narrow side streets, inching their way through the crowd to dart across to the other side; the cobblestones were not even and; even worse, for some reason I have yet to discover, small curbs in unexpected places easily caused stumbles.  It was necessary to pay attention at all times.  The benefit of that is I found a small Catholic Church by accident.  I also noticed the consulates of Russia, the Netherlands, and Greece along the street.  I also discovered where the national opera plays.

I stayed on the main pedestrian street, curious about where it was leading, and resisted the temptation to explore the many narrow, intriguing side streets. Imagine my surprise when nearly a mile after starting, I emerged in Taksim Square. I did not immediately recognize it because the last time I had been in the square, I was near the Intercontinental Hotel, which was opposite of where I currently was standing. Also the last time I was there, the square was crowded with protesters and had a completely different look and feel.  Now, looking around the square I noticed multiple giant Turkish flags hanging on buildings everywhere. I found out later, while chatting with the waiter at dinner, that today was “Democracy and National Unity Day”, a national holiday celebrating national unity against the 2016 coup.  That explained the extent of the crowds I saw everywhere…..

 

After a brief look around, I turned and meandered back towards the tower, intentionally exploring the intriguing side streets I had resisted on the walk to the square.  There are a TON of restaurants and cafes dotted around the twisting, narrow streets, including a couple of streets where I found a huge collection of pubs. I was tempted to stop and grab a beer and watch one of the football games, but my plan was to stop at one of the restaurants on the bridge and have dinner and watch the water traffic, so I resisted the temptation. The line was still ridiculously long at the tower, so I walked down the very steep hill (carefully and paying attention to my footing) to figure out how to get to the bridge.  I took the tram over, but I was walking back.

The street level of the bridge is fairly high up to allow the numerous ferries to shuttle back and forth under it. However, there is also a lower level of the bridge that extends out from both shores, which hosts restaurants.  (When you get to the center, you have to climb to the upper level to cross over, then back down to the lower level – this center part is where the ferries pass through.) I chatted my way down the restaurant hawkers on the Galata side of the bridge before stopping at the first place on the Fatih side. I had a great view of the very busy ferry traffic.  As I had climbed up to the upper level to cross over, I passed three guys fishing, which seemed odd given how high up they were— probably had to have lines of 50-60 feet just to hit the water.  Well, as I was eating dinner (fish, of course!) it was amusing to watch their results.  I was confused at first because I saw the lines drop with a large led weight attached and several hooks on the line, but no bait.  No bait? Well, it turns out that did not matter- they were catching small fish, about 2-3 inches long-maybe sardines (?)- regularly, regardless.  Weird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After finishing dinner I continued to the Fatih side of the river, exiting the bridge at the Ferry port.  The port was insanely crowded, tourists and locals, exiting ferries, boarding ferries, and waiting in line for ferries.  While I was walking along the port, headed to the Sultanahmet Square, I located the ticket office for buying a Bosphorus Cruise ticket, also on my list of “things to do” while I am here. I took a detour into the park that backs against the Topkapi Palace (visiting Friday) which was crowded with families enjoying the weather and the holiday.  Exiting the park I walked along the walls of the palace before emerging near the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. I sat down and waited for the lights to come on the Blue Mosque before calling it a day and heading home.