Escape to Istanbul’s secret island

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Linsey McNeill loved the museums and bazaars of the Turkish capital, but it was the beaches of the Princes’ Islands that finally won over her kids

Linsey McNeill
The Observer

A ferry passes topkapi palace with the Princes Islands in the distance in Istanbul, Turkey. Photograph: Dominic Whiting/Alamy

My seven-year-old son slumped onto the heavily patterned carpet of Istanbul’s Blue Mosque and looked up at me with a crumpled face. ‘Mum, it’s just a big empty room,’ he moaned. I turned to his sister Emelye, nine, who, a little earlier, had seemed intrigued by the sound of the mullah calling Muslims to prayer. ‘Look at all the beautiful tiles on the walls,’ I whispered. Em shrugged before collapsing onto the carpet next to Luke.

Day two of our trip to Istanbul and things were not looking good. Over the road, inside the Hagia Sofia Museum, the children had played hide-and-seek around the giant columns for 10 minutes before pleading to leave.

They had been eager to go to the Grand Bazaar, though probably because I had told them it was ‘like the Arndale Centre, but older’. When they failed to find a Turkish branch of ToysRus in the ancient alleyways Luke wailed: ‘This place is full of rubbish.’ Only a refreshing glass of mint lemonade at the historic Fes Cafe and the sight of a man selling spinning tops for two lira (less than £1 of his pocket money) cheered him up.

A suggestion of a cruise along the Bosphorus had resulted in collapsed shoulders and cries of ‘Boring!’ though the children could have watched the men fishing from the Galata Bridge, next to where the boats depart, for hours.

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One response to “Escape to Istanbul’s secret island”

  1. polamca Avatar
    polamca

    Thirty years ago, while living in Turkey, I used to love to buy the fish sandwiches at the foot of the Galata bridge. I can understand the kids’ fascination. But are the fish sandwiches still there, still grilled on the fishermens’ boats?
    I always though Ayasofya is a Turkish joke on the Greeks. The Greeks run around the world talking up the beauty of Ayasofya. But for my money, Sultanahmet camii ( the blue mosque) is incomparably more beautiful. I have spent hundreds of hours in Sultanahmet and just one or two in Ayasofya. So the Turks let the Greeks drive the tourists over to Ayasofya and they charge an entrance fee, thus making money on the Greek’s cultural prejudices. Visiting Sultanahmet is free (I certainly hope it still is) and yet more worthwhile for a visit.
    I am told that in the last thirty years, the Covered Market (Kapali Carsi) has lost the stalls selling products from all over Turkey and now just sells new products imported from China and India (and Mexico?). Is this true? Does this make Kapali Carsi into a boring anachronism?

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