Mahanics on the Road: October 2015

Istanbul on our Own

Hagia Sophia, cathedral built by Emperor Justinian in a.d 532

Istanbul! Roger had been here years ago and wondered how much of the city he would recognize. Linda had never visited here before and was excited to see it all. We arrived at the SAW airport on the Asian side of the city on the last day of the Muslim holiday. A Saudi from Ohio we met on the plane said it was the local equivalent of traveling the day after Thanksgiving. All 13 million residents of the Istanbul happened to be on the freeway at that moment, returning home to the city. Vendors stood between the lanes of stopped traffic, selling cold water and bread. Beggars sat on the median strip, holding signs with outstretched hands. Our first thought: we have something to learn from these people! Two and a half hours later, we arrived at our hotel, weary but ready to explore.

Our small hotel was ideally situated for seeing the "big three"- Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the Topkapi Palace. The challenge was running the gauntlet of rug merchants on the way. We're a little out of practice handling persistent strangers since most of our recent trips have been to more laid- back cultures. Istanbul street hustlers are similar to those in India and the ganja sellers in Jamaica; they just don't understand the word “no”. Every one of them knows someone in Detroit, wants us to see "his" shop although he doesn't care if we buy anything, and just wants to be our friend, "A cup of tea, perhaps?" Some look like grandfatherly businessmen, fooling us until they mention the word "carpet". They are smart and creative and should be in a better line of work.

We were nearly caught in a scam just last night. After an evening of walking in the rain around Taksim Square, we were tired and ready to get "home". We hustled toward the tram line through the nearly deserted underground arcade, noticing two shoe-shine guys who had packed up their kits and were walking well ahead of us. One dropped a brush “unnoticed”, so Roger called out to him, “Sir! You dropped something.” He was very appreciative. He insisted on brushing off Roger's shoes to show his gratitude. We had ZERO interest in any kind of shoeshine since our hiking boots were wet and we don't get shoeshines. However, Roger was guilted into putting his foot up on the little stand, allowing the man to save face and show his gratitude. His partner insisted on doing the same to Linda. We didn't want to be rude and offend their generosity, this being a different culture and all. We cut the session short, and, of course, they wanted money. They expected us to give them a few Turkish lira for their trouble. As if. Clearly they didn’t know who they were dealing with. We figured out that the whole thing was a ruse, a new one for us. Clever people! Now that we're on to this ploy, I'm sure we'll see another.

Roger in front of the Pudding Shop in Istanbul 40 years after
boarding a bus for Iran with Brent Hunt, Barry Laney,
and Linnea Dudley

A highlight of our wandering was finding a landmark from Roger's first trip to the city, the Pudding Shop. This iconic shop, opened in 1957, was a hippie hangout back in the day. It was also the place to hook up with the Amsterdam to Delhi "Magic Bus". For $120 you could travel from Amsterdam to India by bus, and many people did just that. This is the location where Roger, Brent, Barry, and Linnea caught the bus to Iran back in the 1970's. The Pudding Shop is more upscale now, but it is filled with photos from the old days, and has a message board with old and new notes, things like,"Jerry, I'll see you in Afghanistan in three weeks". Way cool!

Food Coma- Eating our way through Istanbul

Linda, right eye nearly normal,
bumps into fellow foodie Christy (an
Aussie) next day outside Grand Bazaar

Connie, Carmen, Debbie, Linda, Roger, and Christie- ready for food!

A highlight of our time in the city was a walking food tour. When we researched the trip, this was one of the top three recommended things to do in the city. Our daughter Kate and her boyfriend Mike did a different tour with the same company, Istanbul on Food, earlier this year, and loved it. So we met with Latif, our tour guide, and Connie, Debbie, Carmen, and Christie, our fellow tourists, for our day of eating. Our tour was called A Taste of Two Continents, and began in the Spice Market for a market tour and breakfast on the European side of the city. We then boarded a commuter ferry and 20 minutes later, we were in Asia in the Kadikoy market area. The Asian side of the city is modern and less touristy, more hip and upscale. We made eleven stops and tried an enormous variety of food. Latif cautioned us to pace ourselves. I'll let photos tell the story, but a few items we tried were pickled everything, sausages and cheeses, fresh hazelnut butter, lamb intestine sandwiches, tongue soup, candy made from vegetables,
ice cream eaten with a knife and fork, creamy pudding-like dessert that contained chicken, rose water drinks, and literally dozens of other dishes. Most were delicious. All were interesting. By the time we returned to our room at 6:30 pm, we were done for the day and didn't move until morning. If you come to Istanbul, you must do this tour. You must!

We began with a tour of the Spice Market.

We meet with our tour group at our new hotel this afternoon, right around the block from our current place. We will have three more days in the city with them. We'll be a little more scheduled, but much better informed. Those tour guides try to pour so much information into our heads! We love the combination of independent travel and group travel. When we are on out own, there is more risk and challenge, but we have unexpected adventures and meet so many interesting folks. The group travel is more insulated but way less stressful, and so much more is packed into our days. We learn so much!