For all their entrepreneurial spirit, there is a lack of visual advertising here in Istanbul that is most refreshing. Even though some folks had told me they found Turkish sales tactics aggressive, I have found it to be easy enough to smile and say no.
One of the most creative sales pitches I heard was from a friendly gentleman at a shop near our hotel. As we walked past with laughing eyes he said to us,
“Please come in ladies and buy something you don’t need.”
I found it very interesting that in this vibrant city there was a wide range of styles of dress for women and a much narrower one for men. That first morning as Sally and I sat drinking turkish coffee watching people getting off the trains and trams, what was striking was the lack of bright tee shirts and baggy pants on men. Regardless of age, most wore dark pants with a polo or button down style shirt, perhaps a suit, as they headed off to work in the morning bustle. This held true in the markets, museums, and out in the countryside of Cappodocia. If you were to do a Boston and Istanbul comparison, the guys in Istanbul would make Bostonians look flashy.
Turkish women on the other hand have a wide spectrum of clothing styles from tight shorts and tank tops to full burkas. What is striking however is the quiet style - Gucci purses to go with elaborate black beaded Burkas, beautiful head scarves coordinated with pants, shoes, belts and sweaters. The evening of our farewell dinner we went to a swanky island restaurant floating on the Bosporus. A wedding party was in progress and the female guests wore dresses and shoes that were stunning, sexy, and stylish- yet not over the top. It reminded me of how women dressed when I was a child and my mother had a closet full of beautiful clothes for every event. It is lifestyle that skipped me completely, my daughter embraces and is alive and well in Istanbul.
While tourists flock to the historic district of Istanbul to see the palaces, mosques and other historic sites, they often miss the chance to see modern day Istanbul. In a country where half the people are under 35 there is a remarkable energy and endless development. The connection of past and present was very evident as we wondered through narrow cobbled streets around Galata Tower filled with hand made clothing stores.
The aesthetic of this crossroads of east and west could be seen in the beautifully designed dresses and traditional Turkish pants. Made from fabrics with subtle vegetable dye colors in draping forms – this apparel was both modest and revealing, and unlike anything we see in our world of mass marketing clothing made in China.
Look at the dress on this beautiful dress -
the silver buttons at the shoulder
crochet work in the torso, subtle colors....mmmmmm
My recollection of western civilization was dim at best before this trip and I certainly have had a refresher course here at the end of the silk route in Nova Roma. The Hagia Sophia, the home of the Eastern Roman Empire from 400 AD until the Byzantium fell to the Ottomans a thousand years later, was our first stop of the day. As we stood on the road outside, I understood for the first time the expression, “All roads lead to Rome.”
Until the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, this was the largest church in the world. For 900 years from 537 to 1453 it was the center of Orthodox Christianity.
Marble walls of the Hagia
This magnificent building then became the Grand Mosque of the Sultans. The frescoes and mosaics of the saints were covered in plaster to comply with Islamic tradition forbidding the visual representation of gods. This saved many of these works of art. In 1935 when the building was converted into a museum, the plaster was pulled away to show images that had not seen the light for 400 years.
The Blue Mosque is massive and was built in 1609. Inside is decorated with the famous blue Iznik tiles. All of the great mosques that grace the seven hills of Istanbul are alike in their gray stone construction and simple exteriors. In contrast, the interiors are covered with beautiful tiles and gold calligraphy and carpets. Our guide explained that the design difference in decoration is a reflection of the belief that it is what is inside that is important, the beauty and spirit of one’s soul is where the emphasis belongs. 
There was much discussion of the looting of antiquities from Turkey by the Crusaders, Venetians, English and the Germans. An interesting tidbit for those of you who have visited Venice and been awed by the bronze horses atop St Mark’s Basilica. They were boosted from the Hippodrome in Constantinople in 1204 by maurading crusaders who has sacked Jerusalem clean.
While I am doing my best to keep straight all that I am learning about Byzantine and Ottoman history one story I will not forget is the Turkish tulip story. Kazakistan, the ancestral birthplace of many of todays current Turks is also where tulips came from originally. In the 1600’s when the Dutch East India Company was looking for new products to bring to Europe they were struck by these beautiful flowers that grew in the gardens of Topkapi Palace. The Dutch asked the Suleman’s permission to try bring some to the the Netherlands to see if they would grown in their climate. He granted permission and you know how the rest of the story goes….
Reproduction of tulip design similar to that found in Topkapi Palace tiles -
Tulip logo on our bus in Cappadocia.
Turkish coffee is quite addicting, and a powerful fuel for a busy day of sightseeing, history lessons and lots of eating…. On our way to the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace, we walked through the Hippodrome where chariot races were held 1500 hundred years ago for 40,000 spectators. Today it is a sprawling plaza punctuated with several monoliths, including at 3500 year old Egyptian obelisk. It was moved to Istanbul on three barges and then sat at the shore for five years until they engineers of the day figured out how to get the massive piece of granite up the hill. What they devised was the world’s first conveyor belt to raise it.
The defeat of Persian soldiers who were defeated by the Spartan soldiers near Troy in 480 BC is memorialized in Serpentine that was constructed in the Temple in Delphi, Greece. It’s blue green patina comes from the metal of the weapons of the loosing side, which were melted down and used to construct this ancient monument.
The Grand Bazaar – is massive with serpentine corridors going in all directions. It is clean, well lit, and feels like a mall that was not designed by a cookie cutter real estate developers.
We visited the shop of an Armenian calligrapher, Nick Mendenyan who has developed a magnificent body of work, all on diffenbachia and caladium leaves that he imports from a greenhouse in Florida. He dries the leaves in and then spends two months creating intricate designs in gold leaf and ink applied with brushes made of cat’s hair. Striking, unique and wonderful…
The Bosporus Strait, a natural body of water 35 kilometers long connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Mamara. One of the busiest shipping channels in the world it is flanked on both sides by thousands of years of history, castles, mosques, several universities, and homes both small and grand. Two long suspension bridge cross the straits joining Asia and Europe.
We took a ferry boat ride on the Bosporus this morning – a day surprisingly cool and dance of rain and clouds to making the water an ever changing shade of blue. What the tourist literature doesn’t mention is the beautiful wooden sail boats still plying these waters. My sailing friends would have loved them.
Breakfasting in a corner café, we have a view of the ferries plying their way across the water to Beyogulu. Ocean freshening breezes and a city slowing waking…
Everyone says that the Turkish people are warm and friendly. Venturing out early on this Sunday morning, most of the shops are still shuttered and there is the feeling of city not yet awake. An elderly gentleman, leaning on his cane, sits outside on the sidewalk, watching Sally and I walking up the street. I look him in the eye and say, “meharba” His dark eyes light up and with surprising spryness he get up, extends his arms and with a wide grin, embraces me in greeting.