By Adar
Istanbul is a messy, sticky place that never ends. With a listed population of 14 million and a reality far beyond that, it’s difficult to fathom just how expansive it is. Even so, I\ve found that there is something distinctly Istanbul-y about every street | have been on. For starters, it is very upfront and personal. There is no chance of walking down the street without bumping into someone passing. And the tourist-reliant businesses do not count on your patronage based on calm encounters. They will very readily walk up to you and try to win your wallet. They’ll even come up to you and offer you something at someone’s store that is two blocks away. As in Israeli touristy areas, there are many places that sell the exact same wares, all in the same area. The Grand Bazaar, for instance, has 4,000 store fronts and about 4 kinds of stores: jewellry. scarves amd rugs, ceramics and housewares, and American brand sneakers. They are all very beautiful and exciting, but there are really only so many you can see before calling it a day. The same can be said for the spice and tea bazaar, which houses dozens of stands with dozens of spices, all potentially owned by the same people. And restaurants have a very bizarre setup where an entire street will use the same kitchen facilities, and you’ll get your food carried in from a block away. The Sultanhamet neighborhood is really one of the most incredible centers I’ve seen. Moque after mosque, built with the grandeur of monarchies, stud the neighborhood. Streets and massive walls are finely decorated, brick and red stone are hallmarks of this area. We stayed for the majority of our time in Istanbul at a hostel right in the heart of Sultanahmet, behind the Aya Sofia, on a street filled with restaurant-cafes with terraces and outdoor seating. It was a very cool place to be, just to absorb the amazing influence of the ottomans.
In contrast to that was the Taksim neighborhood; a wide and bright area filled with high-end stores and indie cafes. One side street is populated with music stores with hundreds of instruments hanging from the ceiling. Our first night in Taksim it was pouring rain so we spent time inside stores, checking out bookshops and wandering around. But our second time in Taksim the streets were flooded with people who were all meeting and meandering. The neighborhood has hundreds of bars and restaurants that are all open well into the night and have multiple floors that are crammed full with people. On nice evenings there are often street performers, and we came across incredibly beautiful Turkish instrumental music playing in the main square on instruments that look a little like guitar and keyboard but are much more distinct in their sounds, adding some twangs and played with very cool but unfamiliar timing.
Down the hill from Taksim is the Galata bridge, which connects Sultanahmet with the newer neighborhoods and hits the spice bazaar at the bottom. The whole area is filled with stands that sell bagels (simit) and roasted chestnuts which are surprisingly dry and bland. Men make Turkish Ice Cream by tossing around a slab of something suspiciously doughy on a stick and calling it frozen.
There is so much to see in Istanbul that we absolutely couldn’t see it all. People who live there for 25 years can’t. But I think spending as much time as I did there gave me a pretty good feel for the city: how it runs, how people interact, what the reaction is to Americans, and what are some of the important things in Turkish culture.Istanbul is unique in that it straddles two continents. The European side is where all of the sites are and all of the recommended neighborhoods. But crossing over to Asia was actually a very cool experience. The ferry from Europe to Asia takes about twenty minutes and leaves every half hour. I went to Kadikoy, which is buzzing with local and international chain stores, parks and places to eat. There was a rally going on and music playing on the street. It was very nice to have a change of scenery and not have tchotsky vendors come up to me every few seconds because the whole area is local.