As mentioned last term, I planned a trip around a pun and spent Thanksgiving in Turkey. But that joke was only one of the many joys one of my favorite cities, Istanbul, gave me.
Now, while I recommend all of you go to Istanbul, there are a few things you should know beforehand. For starters, if you see a shoe shiner drop his brush, don't pick it up. It's a scam. Thankfully, I needed my shoes shined anyway and could bear to part with a few lira. Or I like to tell myself that.
Now, to matters that involve less tourist embarrassment. Istanbul is divided by two rivers, the Golden Horn and the Bosporus, into three sections. The easternmost section is quite literally in Asia. You can cross continents for $1.50. That being said, there's nothing to do there except watch the sun set over Europe, and you should go for that and only that. Don't even eat there. The restaurants have no food.
You read that right.
Yet the sheer awesomeness of the other two sections makes up for Asia's shortcomings. The southern area contains everything you think of upon hearing the word Istanbul. The Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar - it's all there.
The shopping centers are more, um, western than the souks and kasbahs of the previously discussed Marrakech. The areas are cleaner and there are no donkeys. A simple "no thanks" will deter most shop owners - except, for some reason, the guys selling cologne and socks. All merchants are very good at picking up on a private conversation with a friend if it involves their wares - even if you're a few meters away in a highly crowded area.
As for the rest of this part, all the mosques look like Star Wars buildings and the food is phenomenal and safe - load up on apple tea, Turkish coffee, Turkish delight, feta and of course, doner kebab. Oh, and do a Turkish bath. And no, I'm not going to spoil the surprise for you.
Finally, there is the northwestern section of Istanbul. This is the part that blew me away. Just a 15-minute walk from the 400-year-old New Mosque lies Istiklal, a street as wide as 5th Avenue but all sidewalk and filled to the brim with shops, bars, restaurants and fast food joints. It was a little before midnight and completely packed with people. Imagine what a welcome and alien sight that must be to someone who has lived in London for the past few months, where most pubs close at 11 p.m.
The highlight of my time in this section was the doner kebab place where my friend and I got a 1 a.m. snack. It was a small place with a decent amount of locals. One guy was singlehandedly doing everything from getting people to come in off the street, to taking their orders, delivering their orders, bringing them their food and collecting the cash. He had already diverted his attention from us halfway through giving us our change.
There was something amazing about how all these very different factors of a city, from the exotic-looking mosques filled with Muslims in prayer to a nightlife that I have not seen the likes of since New York, fit together almost perfectly. They contrasted and surprised us as we discovered each part. Although Istanbul may seem to be one of my more foreign travels, it also happened to be one of the truest cities I've seen.
Devin Toohey is a junior majoring in classics. He can be reached at Devin.Toohey@tufts.edu.
