Greetings from Istanbul — not as cold as previous days and actually it’s clear (no sun, but not awful) –Feel free to delete these and the subsequent segments of the travelogue. No hard feelings. This is Turkey #3 for those who keep asking.

Began today with an earlier start. Following breakfast at the hotel (where we ran into people from the Bay Area who were running an Eco Cities conference here in Istanbul, and who we know casually in California), we trekked to the spice market, which only seems to be called that by foreigners, since when we got lost and tried to ask for directions no upstanding Turk knew what we were talking about. But we found our way.. and after surveying the many stalls went to a nearby mosque — not a famous one, but quite impressive — where I did need to don a head covering (my scarf did fine).. then walked across the Galata Bridge where literally hundreds of men (and I counted one woman) were lined up fishing from the bridge.. Quite an operation; can only imagine what it seems like for the fish swimming below tempted by bait every inch or two.

We headed to the fish market which is small but has an impressive array of booths with different kinds of fish — all of it looking quite good, but we were on a mission to locate a particular fish restaurant that the NY Times discussed about four years ago… There wasn’t any address, just a general description of the area and the fact that it was located next to a tiny shop that sold bolts — yes, bolts as in hardware. We had the name and the general location, but that was it. We asked many people and we knew we were in the general area. No one could help, but everyone referred us to a fish restaurant that they liked. I have to admit that Mike was tempted by every fish restaurant we passed, but I was determined to find this one… and we did…

The fish market is a series of stalls right near the water.. paralleling the water’s edge. Behind that row of fish stalls interspersed with fish eateries — all outdoor, regardless of weather — is an alley totally lined on both sides with tiny tiny hardware shops.. each specializing in a particular tool or piece of equipment or supply… off of this street is a smaller street, more like a “lane” with several stores that sell bolts… off of that street is an even tinier alley.. and lo and behold, there was the restaurant.. if you can call it that.. two or three tables when you enter and then a rickety spiral staircase to the “upstairs dining room” which has two tiny rooms with about two tables in each. We opted for the upstairs… with the view of the hardware store row… The owner(?) brings out a platter of raw fish and you make your selection… it’s just fish… I had a fantastic snapper cooked in parchment and Mike opted for a swordfish kebab.. we started with an incredibly good fish stew (which could have been the whole meal… Other than that it’s bread and water!

Fortified by lunch we walked back over the Galata Bridge (which at midpoint, when a bus is crossing, feels like an earthquake magnitude about 9!)

I walked back to the Grand Bazaar in search of a few stalls with goods I wanted to take a second look at, and Mike decided to head for the Archaeological Museum (although I think he went to the hotel for a nap).. I strolled around for an hour or so — and then walked back to the hotel (and also for a glass of raki – the anise flavored Turkish liqueur — at the Four Seasons which is across the street from our hotel.)

We then headed out to see the Whirling Dervishes at an old Hamaam… a real snoozer.. I guess if you are Sufi you feel different.. but we were in the first row in a room with chairs around the circle where the guys swirl around… it’s pretty monotonous. Thank god it was only an hour. We walked to the place and once we were pretty close began to ask people where the building was.. No one had a clue. Anyway, we did find it (maybe it would have been better to miss it).. Then it was off to dinner (more eating)… We wanted to go to a particular restaurant we had heard about, but it was closed for the winter.

Hi-
Post script to last night’s message…forgot to mention that the Hagia Sophia was built by 11,000 workers over 6 years working full time… meaning 66,000 x 5 x 8 x 330 —I think… 1,000 skilled technicians and 10,000 worker bees. Don’t even want to know how many hours per day or “benefit package”!!!

So, today (Friday, the 18th) we got off to a good start and walked to the Grand Bazaar which is just as I remembered (having been in Istanbul about 25 years ago).. a catacomb of streets and passageways and hustle and bustle with shops no wider than a closet and hundreds of vendors appearing to sell nearly the same thing at adjacent stalls. We were pretty good resisting the carpet sellers and others.. and whenever really confronted with a pushy salesmen (and they are primarily make) started to speak what minimal Finnish we know — since the vendors speak most languages, but not Finnish. So we emerged nearly unscathed. The Bazaar was packed – mostly men as usual… and many of the roofs were leaking so it was quite a site; but buying and selling went on as usual.

By the time we left the Bazaar (intending to walk to the spice market and then head over to some neighborhoods we wanted to see) it was a virtual downpour. We attempted to walk to the tram, which we eventually did, but as we waited (and no tram arrived) we got wetter and wetter (despite hat, rain gear, gloves, umbrella, etc) and decided to invest in a taxi and go to the Istanbul Modern — a new museum located on the opposite side of the Golden Horn in a warehouse on the water. We figured art was good on a rainy day and we also hoped for a good lunch there (as opposed to eating in the Bazaar).. The taxi got us there, but pulled two fast ones on us: Somehow his meter stopped moving midway into the journey and at the end he gave us a price that didn’t seem plausible, but frankly we just wanted to get lunch and get warm. When I paid, I distinctly remember handing the driver a 50 lira note…but then he said it was a 5 (didn’t really say it, because he didn’t speak any English) and showed me that he had a 5 in his hand… By then I was unsure of what I handed him and we forked over the additional funds.. Geez, my basic NY instincts were certainly not working. Oh well. We did have an earlier “chat” in the taxi and learned from the driver that he knew there was a Sheraton (Cheeratin) in NY and that NY was big.

Anyway, the museum was rather uneventful — but lunch was appreciated; not great, but certainly did the trick. We hoped the rain would let up and we could then head to the Galata Bridge and walk over the bridge, but the rain was unrelenting… so another taxi — this time about 1/4 the cost.

By then, following completing some work (grading papers for my class) it was time for dinner.. again a taxi to the Beygolu area where we had dinner in a very old and established restaurant – Haci Abdullah — where we learned, once we ordered, that the owner is very religious (restaurant is more than a century old).. so there’s no alcohol, no wine. Dinner was quite good but would have tasted much better with a nice glass of red wine.

We had to walk a few blocks to and from the restaurant as it’s located on a walking street (one of many that have been created since we were last here) near Taksim Square… The area was packed with old and young people strolling in the pouring rain; shops were open well past 10 pm (and this for a country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas)… music blaring in the streets, which if it plays in daytine would almost cover the calls to prayer.

Anyway, we joined the strollers and then eventually caught a taxi back to the hotel.
We’re hoping the rain will let up by tomorrow … but who knows.

Our plans for tomorrow include the spice market, the fish market, another walk across the Galata Bridge, and neighborhood explorations.

Mike is still waiting for his express mail package with a new ATM card, which he somehow left at the bank the morning we left the Bay Area.

Hope all is well wherever you all are.
Take care —
Fern

PS – We are getting a lot of exercise going up and down the narrow spiral stairs at the hotel to the 5th floor.

We arrived in Istanbul a bit exhausted having been up for about 40 hours and having put in the better part of Tuesday (Dec 15) as a work day at the office and heading to the airport for a 7 pm flight. Needless to say — what with the open house and a busy weekend, the previous days weren’t all that restful either. Anyway, we got to Heathrow without any problems and were prepared for a three-hour layover… but did not anticipate a nearly six-hour layover. We arrived in Istanbul at about midnight and decided to be wimps and take a taxi to the hotel (which is in the very old section of Istanbul – The Sultanmiet) -and the driver had trouble finding it. The hotel (Empress Zoe) is small — maybe 20 rooms at most, and quite delightful. We are on the top floor with a very sweet balcony that overlooks the life of the area. There are only two or three rooms per floor and five floors. Being on the top floor has advantages (like the balcony) and disadvantages — no elevator and only a very narrow and steep spiral staircase as access. Glad that the staff carried the bags up.. not really sure how they did it (and don’t think I’d even dare try it.)  After doing a rather meager job of unpacking we fell asleep.

This morning (Thursday) we started out late (11ish) and decided to retrace some places we’d been to 20 years ago — the usual monuments that are “must see” but since we’d already seen them I’d say our visits were quite token — Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, etc.

My general impression of Istanbul is that it has gotten much much larger and more sprawling in these two decades and is much more cosmopolitan than I remembered. All of which is making the days here quite interesting.

In late afternoon, we headed to the ferry to meet the brother of a friend. The brother has lived here in Istanbul for about 20 years. Naturally in our sleep-deprived state, we managed to board the wrong ferry — and wound up in a totally other part of the Asian side of Istanbul than we were supposed to be at. Thank god for cell phones (which by the way, everyone 10 years and older seems to have here…) so we connected — but a bit late. Now we are armed with some additional information about the city and the surroundings and tomorrow should be interesting.

For those of you interested — December is a pretty terrible time of year to come here — rain and cold, although it is not quite as cold as we anticipated, but that will change as we rise in elevation and go inland starting on Monday. The good side of traveling in December is that there are far fewer tourists, and mostly from non-North American countries. The best we can hope for is overcast (no rain) which seems to be a pipe dream. Again we already knew this, as our last trip here was also in December.. but oh well.. the mist and clouds add to the drama of an already mystical place.

Catch up with you tomorrow.

Fern

PS — I’m writing this on my netbook as I seem to have a problem with my Blackberry and I didn’t take my laptop. My Blackberry is sending messages but not receiving any. Ah the challenges of technology. According to AT&T this is a “known problem” and it is being fixed, but there is no time as to when that fix might happen. Thus, I’m resorting to reading emails late at night and early in the morning on the netbook.. but I can write at any time…