A dash of History, a stew of Culture...and a sprinkling of non-logisms

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Non-logism (n): A nonsensical neologism. 

My travels and travails remain undocumented so far - owing (for once) not completely to laziness, but also to being the busy man I am :D So here's a bit of flashback interspersed with the pick of the pics. 

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The first weekend was upon me before I had time to blink. Pushed myself out of bed eventually, making it to breakfast just in the nick of time. Then willing myself to not be myself (couch potato), undettered by the unexpectedly Engnostic (English agnostic - Non-logism#2) world outside the hotel, and armed with a pocket dictionary (bought the same day I landed here) and my jotted notes of common Turkish phrases, I set out for photo ops. 

Reached some ferry pier somehow with a combination of bus and cab, took a ferry to Beşiktaş, and walked around directionless for a couple of hours... visiting a mosque, noticing for the first time the abundance of stray cats, generally pottering about the streets, coming across some castle which was shut by the time I got there...

Continuing my solo saunter, finally landed up at another cobbled street which opened up into a huge street bazaar, with a big mosque adorning the background, and further behind loomed the great Bosphorous bridge in all its Euro-Asian glory. Ahoy, Ortaköy! (Literally meaning "middle village" in Turkish.) The mosque is Büyük Mecidiye Camii, more commonly known as Ortaköy Camii, built in the 1850s. 

 

With the setting sun, the bazaar came abuzz, and the soft lighting just enhanced the magic of the place. 

Cafes line the length and breadth of the market, along with sellers displaying their wares out on open tables and kioks in the street, much like Delhi's very own Janpath or SN. Souvenir-ish trinkets, Turkish lamps, candlesticks, clothes and accessories, jewellery ranging from the junk glittery variety to intricate silver handiwork - make the Sunday bazaar a must-stop (and needless to say - must-shop) for the fairer sex. This bazaar also houses one of Istanbul's better known used book stores, stocking an assorted variety of English, French and German titles - enough to mine and sift through for hours together, and emerge gleefully with a find such as a Roald Dahl for 7 liras (which I eventually didn't buy though)!

Last weekend I went back to Ortaköy... but the myriad of sellers apparently set up shop only on Sunday. The find of the day was a cafe tucked away in one corner of the bazaar, they had gözleme!! Gözleme - a traditional Turkish homemade dish - comes closest to stuffed paranthas - which I have felt bereft of more than anything else away from home! With eyes lit (probably) as fireflies in the pitch dark, I savoured the peynirli (paneer) version with fresh orange juice (with pulp!). Yumminess corporealised and served on a platter! Other gözleme stuffings include mushroom (mantarlı), egg (yumurtalı), potatoes (patatesli), spinach (ispanaklı) and minced meat (etli - beef, so out of bounds for me). For an English take on gözleme - check out http://bit.ly/6Yr6zB. 

Continued walking in the cold drizzle along the Bosphorus up to the slick restaurant-cum-nightclub Reina. Turned back as the drizzle turned into a steady shower with the breeze threatening to become a gale, or so it seemed. Which reminds me of an interesting article on the Istanbul winds: http://bit.ly/902X3Z - specifically, the Poyraz from the North-East, and the Lodos from the South-West (and that reminds me of the summer Loo from the Aravalis to Delhi!).

Returned by ferry + cab the first time round, and bus-ferry-bus when I went last weekend. Note to self: Bus from Ataşehir to Kadıköy, ferry to Beşiktaş, and another bus to Ortaköy.

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By the time the second weekend approached, I was thoroughly soaked in the wanderer, vagrant, vagabond spirit (verbose too, to force more alliteration ;)). Apropos the laudatory notes I had read about Turkish hospitality, my Turkish colleagues and clients had swept me off my feet with their all-inclusive warm curiosity about me, myself and my finickinesses (to coin another non-logism) - dietary, for instance. Along with suggestions for things to do / places to see, when a pretty lady offers to show you around, you don't even blink, let alone think - even once - before graciously accepting ;) 

But that's for the next Episode :)