6 October, Istanbul
Haci Mimi Apartment 53TL
One can probably get as much pleasure walking the
streets of Istanbul as visiting her many historical sites. Today we sauntered
from our apartment south to Galata Tower, crossed the Golden Horn estuary via
the Galata bridge and strolled the Sultanahmet historical area before getting a
tram home in the chilly dusk. We late-lunched near the Galata Bridge, driven to
our restaurant choice by a promise made to a man who took us home for cinnamon
tea in the eastern town of Diyadin. His brother has a medium-sized kebab place
near the water. By chance, the father of the two brothers, whom we had met during
our Diyadin home-visit, was in town and remembered us. He shook hands with
Charl after which I thoughtlessly put out my hand to follow suit. As a
conservative Kurdish man he would not touch me, tapping his closed fist to his
heart instead. The Galata bridge has two levels: the upper containing the road,
the lower a slew of fish restaurants with views of the Golden Horn and the
Bosphorus into which it flows. Fishermen clutter the upper bridge, their lines dangling
beside the walkway below. Major draws on the Sultanahmet peninsula are the Aya
Sophia, the Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque. We admired these from the
outside only, enjoying the hotter weather and the beautifully renovated wood
buildings near them – an attractive area of hotels, restaurants and souvenir
shops. We stopped outside one carpet shop, gasping at the beauty displayed in
the window. A man seated outside invited us to enter. When I said that hand-knotted
silk carpets were out of my price range, he said perhaps I was wrong and asked
me to guess at the price of the carpet on display. When I said $1,000, he
immediately understood I was out of my depth ... when I got to $10,000 he began
to nod that I was in the ballpark.
Haci Mimi - Istanbul
Galata Tower
Galata bridge
Galata bridge
Istanbul - Turkish delight
Istanbul - baklava
Istanbul - Sultanahmet
Istanbul - Sultanahmet
Istanbul - Sultanahmet
Istanbul - Sultanahmet
Istanbul - Sultanahmet
Istanbul - Sultanahmet
Istanbul - Sultanahmet