Istanbul - the finale
It may be a little anti-climatic, but I spent my final day in Istanbul shopping on the Asian side. I went to a flea market in Kadikoy, then up what is called "Baghdad Street" (not sure why), the Istanbul equivalent of Melrose or Haight Street. I got some cool things, tops, presents for friends, etc. Excellent sales - in one place I bought 3 tops and a hat for 58 lira, or about $40. I also stumbled across the bakery that has been making Turkish Delight for the longest time (since 1777) while wandering down a side street, and bought a box to share with my friends.
What I liked best about this day was the absence of man hos and the hard sell. Even on Buyukuda and when I was in Andalou Kavagi, while there were no guys trying to hit on me, there were many trying to sell me something, or get me into their restaurant. But in Kadikoy, on Baghdad Street, the shop people were all women, and while they may offer to hold items for you while you look around, they do not bother you or try to get you to buy anything. On the Asian shore, most of the customers are local and there is no commission for sales, so they don't work you they way they do in Sultanahmet.
Back in Sultanahmet, I bought some kitschy souvenir things, and made my last, and most impressive, bargain for Mejane's birthday present. It's a little intimidating when you walk into a store full of whatever it's full of and not see one price listed on anything. I've found that with bargaining, it's easiest if you have some idea of the quality of an item and what the going rate is or should be. When they talk to me about carpet quality, for example, I'm lost. But there are certain goods I feel at least marginally good about judging quality and worth, and so it was easier for me to pick a starting bargain price because I could tell what they were initially asking was the greatly marked-up "tourist" price.
For our my last dinner in Turkey, Anna and I went to a restaurant off the main drag in Taksim called "5 kat" (pronounced "besh kat") bes is the word for 5 and kat means floor, so the restaurant is literally, "5th Floor" and it is on the fifth and sixth floors of a weird little building - no idea why she thought a restaurant would be a good bet there, but the owner has made something that's rather turkish in feel, but would hold up against some world class restaurants in cities like San Francisco, New York, Paris or London. She's an actress and singer. We sat on the roof terrace, and I got to mark off another "thing I want to see before I die" and that is the full moon rising, blood red in color, over the Bosphorus. Stunning.
When we were done, we walked to the Orient Hotel, where Agatha Christie stayed, and penned some of her novels. A taxi ride back to Sultanahmet, and we said our goodbyes and agreed to get together in San Francisco.
I went back to my hotel to finish packing. At 1:30 in the morning, I checked out and one of the reception guys from the hotel drove me to Sabhia Gokcen (pronounced sah-bee-a go-chen) where, at the 3rd of 3 security checkpoints, one of the security people dropped and broke my brand new digital camera. I bought it for the trip, sure - but I was hoping to have it afterward, too. Fuckers.
I love Easy Jet. It's great that they make you go through this elaborate "line up in the line with the correct letter, A, B, C, or D, written on your boarding ticket" process that takes half an hour, just to load you onto a bus to drive you MAYBE 50 meters.
What the hell?
***
I'm not sure I like leaving someplace on a flight that takes off in the middle of the night, well before dawn and still in the pitch black. It doesn't give you the chance to look down and recognize anything and say your final goodbye. It's a little jarring.
On the other hand, it feels less like leaving something behind.
What I liked best about this day was the absence of man hos and the hard sell. Even on Buyukuda and when I was in Andalou Kavagi, while there were no guys trying to hit on me, there were many trying to sell me something, or get me into their restaurant. But in Kadikoy, on Baghdad Street, the shop people were all women, and while they may offer to hold items for you while you look around, they do not bother you or try to get you to buy anything. On the Asian shore, most of the customers are local and there is no commission for sales, so they don't work you they way they do in Sultanahmet.
Back in Sultanahmet, I bought some kitschy souvenir things, and made my last, and most impressive, bargain for Mejane's birthday present. It's a little intimidating when you walk into a store full of whatever it's full of and not see one price listed on anything. I've found that with bargaining, it's easiest if you have some idea of the quality of an item and what the going rate is or should be. When they talk to me about carpet quality, for example, I'm lost. But there are certain goods I feel at least marginally good about judging quality and worth, and so it was easier for me to pick a starting bargain price because I could tell what they were initially asking was the greatly marked-up "tourist" price.
For our my last dinner in Turkey, Anna and I went to a restaurant off the main drag in Taksim called "5 kat" (pronounced "besh kat") bes is the word for 5 and kat means floor, so the restaurant is literally, "5th Floor" and it is on the fifth and sixth floors of a weird little building - no idea why she thought a restaurant would be a good bet there, but the owner has made something that's rather turkish in feel, but would hold up against some world class restaurants in cities like San Francisco, New York, Paris or London. She's an actress and singer. We sat on the roof terrace, and I got to mark off another "thing I want to see before I die" and that is the full moon rising, blood red in color, over the Bosphorus. Stunning.
When we were done, we walked to the Orient Hotel, where Agatha Christie stayed, and penned some of her novels. A taxi ride back to Sultanahmet, and we said our goodbyes and agreed to get together in San Francisco.
I went back to my hotel to finish packing. At 1:30 in the morning, I checked out and one of the reception guys from the hotel drove me to Sabhia Gokcen (pronounced sah-bee-a go-chen) where, at the 3rd of 3 security checkpoints, one of the security people dropped and broke my brand new digital camera. I bought it for the trip, sure - but I was hoping to have it afterward, too. Fuckers.
I love Easy Jet. It's great that they make you go through this elaborate "line up in the line with the correct letter, A, B, C, or D, written on your boarding ticket" process that takes half an hour, just to load you onto a bus to drive you MAYBE 50 meters.
What the hell?
***
I'm not sure I like leaving someplace on a flight that takes off in the middle of the night, well before dawn and still in the pitch black. It doesn't give you the chance to look down and recognize anything and say your final goodbye. It's a little jarring.
On the other hand, it feels less like leaving something behind.
posted by Serrephim | Saturday, June 17, 2006
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