Istanbul 1995

Friday May 19

The sound and light show at the Blue Mosque could be heard from the roof terrace of the Ramis Restaurant where the four of us had dinner. The restaurant is a short walk from the Valide Sultan Hotel, which was built only a few months ago. Our rooms smell of fresh paint still. The rates are very reasonable, especially when compared to the smaller and less attractive Alp Guest House where we had stopped on first arriving in Istanbul. The whole area behind the Blue Mosque abounds in cheap bed-and-breakfast places that seem to cater more to the younger backpacking crowd.
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Saturday May 20

At five in the morning the loudspeakers from the minaret of the mosque blare out the call to prayer. We had breakfast at the hotel — toast, cereal, hard-boiled eggs. Then we went out to the square between the Sultanahmet and Ayasofya mosques. From there we followed the tramlines on Divan Yolu Caddesi to the covered market, spotting a few likely restaurants along the way, for future reference.

The bazaar has 18 entrances and 4000 shops — a veritable nightmare for non-shoppers like me, and a paradise for shoppers like my wife. After an hour or two of braving the crowds we went downhill in the general direction of the Bosphorus and the Galata Bridge, and lo and behold, we found ourselves at the entrance to the Misr Casesi, the Egyptian Spice Bazaar, through which we wandered, buying some dried fruit and spices, and meeting some Portuguese tourists. The bazaar opens out onto the waterfront with the New Mosque to one side and the Galata Bridge right in front.

All around are tourists galore, alongside shoeshine boys, and sellers of punch in colorful traditional garb.

A bright day, warm and a bit hazy. We walked to the ferry piers, but not knowing the language or their destinations, did not venture aboard any of the ferries.

We took a taxi back to the Blue Mosque, which upon first entering would have been much more impressive were it not for the major flooring construction that required the area beneath the huge dome to be cordoned off. From there we walked to Topkapi Sarayi ($5 admission) and spent the better part of several hours touring the museum. We were charmed by Turkish kids wanting to practise their English on us.