December 21, 2019: Istanbul

Greetings or as they say here in Istanbul ”Merhaba!”

Thanks for all the good karma regarding our luggage. We received the bags at our hotel in Istanbul last night. It’s been hectic here in one of our favorite cities. We’re staying at the Hotel Georges, a delightful 21-room, 150-year-old former residence of a prominent physician/psychiatrist. It’s located on a very narrow, cobblestone street in the maze of the Galata District and the Beyoglu neighborhood. It’s four stories (and we are on the top floor with a delightful little balcony) and they have a rooftop restaurant – where after our ordeal with the bags and getting from the airport to the hotel (at around 10 pm) we decided to try it, rather than strolling for another restaurant. Food was great. We shared two appetizers and a main course of octopus (which was prepared with a light citrus sauce, but with a bit of spice).

It was a lot easier to settle into the room without our baggage! So we crashed at about midnight or so (although we did tune into CNN to get a little overview of what the Democratic Presidential Debate was like.

On Saturday morning we had breakfast up on the roof – which has great views across the Golden Horn and also into the maze of streets of the Galata District. The weather is fantastic – last two times we were here in winter, it rained and was pretty cold. But it’s been in the 60s which was also helpful since most of my sweaters were in the luggage that hadn’t arrived. Since we are only here for 2.5 days (as a transfer point between Geneva and Tashkent – long story about the route we are taking), we decided not to revisit any of the major points (Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, or even the Galata Tower which is basically around the corner, etc.) and to stroll through our neighborhood (first time we’ve stayed on the European side of Istanbul) and then cross the Galata Bridge to visit the one place I’d always go to when in Istanbul – the Grand Bazaar.

We strolled though many small streets and passageways, and eventually made our way over the bridge, passing about 200 fisherman (and women – something I don’t think I saw ten years ago) and then survived the hordes of Turks going through the tunnels to get across major roadways and over to the packed streets around the Grand Bazaar. Made it back to the Georges just as the evening call to prayer sounded outside. And then we decided on dinner. Actually it was Mike’s birthday, so we initially planned to go to Asitane – and interesting house-based restaurant that prepares food from the Ottoman period. We had eaten there before and were fascinated by the menu. But it was very difficult to get a taxi and the very friendly and interesting manager of the hotel suggested an amazing restaurant within walking distance of the hotel, so we opted for that one – Yeni Lokanta and we were not disappointed.

We feasted on four appetizers and the octopus for the main course. It’s apparently octopus season and all the restaurants are featuring an octopus dish.  We had what they called Kefta Decomposed which was a wonderful steak tartar that came with a crusted potato on the top – in the shape of a golf ball – and when you cut into it there was an egg with the yolk totally raw and swimming into the meat; manti (of course!); a fried local cheese with honey, chili oil, tamarind, and hazelnuts; lamb sweetbreads with some kind of carrot spread and walnuts. The meal was great and it was a much livelier place than Asitane would have been. We walked back to the Georges, admiring the amazing Galata Tower always in our view.

Oh… my gift to Mike – a personal trainer at God’s Gym in Oakland.. an interesting, old fashioned gym without the newfangled machines. So be on the lookout for a new Mike (but give him some time…)

Today, we started with breakfast on the rooftop again (shakshuka for me; poached eggs over spicy avocado for Mike) and then headed out to visit the Rustem Pasha Mosque which we had heard was quite beautiful and much less of a tourist attraction than the major mosques. This one is located amid a thriving market with hundreds of stalls surrounding the complex and shops built into the wall as well. We walked from our hotel (about 1.5 miles) and finally located the entrance to the mosque – through a narrow passageway within the market and up a flight of stairs. But alas, the mosque is undergoing some restoration, so it was closed. We then strolled to the Spice Market and stumbled onto a beautifully restored courtyard that had recently been restored and converted into an outdoor café circled by small shops that sell the same things on the menu – baklava, halvah, coffee, teas, and a large assortment of nuts, along with traditional coffeepots and other tea and coffee paraphernalia.

We are now trying to decide where to eat (Sundays are challenging) and then need to re-pack (fortunately since the bags didn’t arrive with us, we really didn’t unpack too much). Our flight tomorrow to Geneva is in the morning.

Now for a bit of local politics … What we are hearing is that while there is grave concern about Erdogan, there is also great excitement about the new mayor of Istanbul – a proven progressive and the successful campaigns of progressives in several of the major Turkish cities. There is concern about the growing authoritarianism throughout Europe, and shock and dismay about what is happening in the US. Trump is described as a total fool and embarrassment. And in conversation, people bring up the fact that it is impossible to understand how the US cannot have universal healthcare. No big surprise here.

Take care

Next travelogue will be from Geneva.

Fern