Istanbul, Turkey

Blue Mosque, Istanbul

A list of Turkey’s many incredible and breath-taking structures would not include its airport.  Boxy and moderately functional, one of the first problems you’re likely to run into is getting a visa (or more accurately, the $60 stamp these people force you to buy when you arrive). You must buy it before passing customs, and the only ATM on this side of customs is permanently broken. Arriving without the proper money in hand, you’re in for an irritating welcome. One of the staff laughed, calling this ‘one of the many adventures I’ll have in Turkey’.  I didn’t laugh, and didn’t express my thought that his idea of adventure made me feel very sad. To get around this problem, you’ll have to find somebody with a decent command of English and have this person find somebody else to escort you upstairs to the “arrivals” section, where there are ATMs that actually work.

My friend had booked a hotel in an excellent place in the city; we stayed in the district of Fatih of Istanbul, south of the ‘Golden Horn’, a short walk from the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, the Bosporus, and Hagia Sophia. This is where you want to stay.

Driving in from the airport, a sense of the city’s historical presence is unmistakable despite Istanbul being a modern city. Along the shores of the Bosporus, sections of the Wall of Constantinople still stand after roughly 2000 years. Pieces of castle and other tattered remnants, time-beaten and ancient, are embedded into the city here and there beside cafés situated along cobble-stone streets.  

The Turks are, compared to other countries I’ve been to, better at selling. They stand outside their cafes and offer small talk and their menus. They're a touch imposing by Western standards, but they do it in such a way that declining their invites feels rude. Once they've engaged you in conversation, they’ll tell you just about anything you want to hear. But what they lack in sincerity is made for, generally, in charisma and energy.

On our first night, a fast talking ego-maniac sold us tickets to a whirling dervish show.

As a promoted show with fairly expensive tickets, I have doubts regarding how authentic the dance was. Nevertheless, it was interesting to watch.

Afterward, the maniac who sold us the tickets put on his own show, showcasing unusual parlor tricks such as standing on wine glasses. 

How the wine glasses didn't break, I don't know. I suspect they were reinforced by the strength of the man's self-regard.

Next, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, the Basilica Cistern, Galata Tower, and the Bosporus. . .