Posted on 07/23/2005 12:38:44 PM PDT by CitizenM
Unfortunate...I visited Istanbul and environs some years ago. Remarkable city...friendly to Americans at that time at least...although back then, I think what they really liked was the tourism dollars. I guess they don't see many tourists now because of the war -- too dangerous. Istanbul itself is very rich in history. In fact, some time after my visit, there was an earthquake...newer buildings collapsed, the centuries-old mosques and churches were still standing. Even made it to Ephesus...that was cool...walking the streets where the Apostle Paul walked centuries ago.
..no, Baptists would have called a business meeting first ;-)
"It's about time we kicked the Mohammedans out of Istanbul, changed the mosque back into St. Sophia Church, and changed the name of the city back to Constantinople. This is what Churchill always wanted to do. The Turks should be driven completely off the mainland of Europe, not admitted into the EU."
Let me see if I get this correctly. You are suggesting that the Turks should be driven from their homes because they got bombed?
I've been to Istanbul several times.... the last a year ago.
This bridge is the main bridge connecting Sultanamet (the old Capital district - Aya Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topcopi Palace, etc) across the Golden Horn to the district to the north (can't remember the name)(Taxim?).
The area at the south end of the bridge is near the Spice Market and the Ferry Docks... lots of people there at any given time. The north end of the bridge is at the eastern end of a market area that has lots of hardware type things (along the north shore of the Golden Horn), and at the bottom of the hill leading up to Taxim Square (a big nightclub area)(near the round tower in the background of the picture).
I can't remember for sure.... do the trams run over this bridge? (Nope) I think they do... when we went out to Taxim we usually took a taxi as it was too late to take the tram.
I do know I've walked over this bridge many a time... always fisherman lining the rails... vendors with boxes of fishing tackle.... bustling life. Sad to hear of a bombing there.
Istanbul is an amazing, vibrant city. Sitting on the roof of Doy-doy's eating dinner with friends with the Blue Mosque on one side and the Princess Islands twinkling on the MarMarus sea on the other...... sigh.
It's been a long struggle for the Turks.... I may not like how they got the city in the past, but they are there now. There are aspects of Islam that I don't like (their treatment of women for one) but they have almost always been friendly to me. (The exceptions are rare indeed). The Turks lost so much of their empire after WWI that they are really stubborn about losing any more... can you blame them? How would you feel about being forced to get up a State?
I was (and am) quite upset with the Turks when they didn't allow us to cross their country leading up to the Iraq war... but it is their country and they had the right to refuse us. Having been in Turkey when the current government was elected, I think they were feeling their way into power having unexpectedly won. The Military were quietly doing their own thing as usual and offered us assurances that we could cross, not realizing that the new government would fumble the relationship with the US so badly. Caught them (the Military) by suprise too.
I get the impression that the first suspects in ANY bombing in Turkey is the Kurds.... and it may well end up being so. It somewhat helps to unite the population to have a well defined external "boogieman"... in this case the Kurds. And yet there are Kurds all through Turkey.
Just my 2 cents worth....
Thanks for kind words. All is well here in Istanbul. It was just a very small device. The restaurant was open the following day. I walked by and really didn't see anything that bad. Thank God...
Sounds like you really loved Istanbul from that long post of yours. I like it too but the crowds and noise are becoming too much for me. I live in the center of the bar district in Taksim so I never get any sleep. I am transfering to Adana next month. I am looking forward to the move...
Just stay safe :)
I do love so many things about Istanbul.... but if you live in the middle of a party district, what else do you expect but noise all the time?!?!
I usually stay at the Sultan Hostel in the backpacker street in Sultanamet district... quiet little side street with backpackers from all over the world along with plenty of locals. Play frisbee with the local kids in the street - have to stop when cars come by. You can sit on the roof for breakfast, lunch or dinner and look out over the mouth of the Bosphorus to watch the ships go by.
I also love to shop and haggle. Istanbul is great for that!! I found a hardware market just down the hill from the University and just west of the Grand Bazaar... it's the interior of an entire city block!!! Tools, bearings, cutters, drill bits, you name it.... heaven for a hardware kind of guy!!! On one trip the last day before I left I went there to get some ball bearings (I have LOTS of toys) with my list in hand.... found a booth that I had checked out the day before... we haggled for an hour - the shop keeper not speaking english, me not speaking Turkish - I would write down a bearing number, he would ask "dollar, lira?", I would answer, then I would hold up fingers to indicate how many I wanted.... he would punch a number into a calculator... I would look at it, shrug, shake my head, nod, or maybe punch a different number in... when we reached agreement he'd pull them out of his stock or send his runner off to get it somewhere else in the market.... then we would start again on the next bearing. When we got all done - bearings packed up and paid for (60-70 bearings for around $55) he asked "Coke, Pepsi, Sprite?".... I said "Coke"... he sent his runner off... he returned in a couple of minutes with some ice cold drinks that we sat down and drank together. What a great time... and where would you ever do such a thing here?
I've been to Turkey 5 times now... for a total of 3 months. All on vacations in the last 4 years. I've spent most of the time in Istanbul down around the SW Med coast... but I have also been to Mt. Nemrut, Van, Trapzon, and Samsun. Getting away from the tourists is the best time...
Or maybe time to round them up, and put them in camps.
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