Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul
Istanbul, Turkey
On of the most lively avenues in Istanbul, beginning at Taksim Square. Must visit.
Photos and Videos property and credits to CM by Carlos Melia / www.carlosmeliablog.com / www.carlosmelia.com. Full usage of this media is allowed only and exclusively when including full credits as mentioned above. Carlos Melia
via Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul – YouTube.
CATHERINE BELL
Sleet is falling and it’s well below zero, but the guide for our culinary walking tour is waiting as arranged outside the Spice Market at Eminonou.
People come to Istanbul for many reasons, such as the history and the art, but for me, this time anyway, it’s all about the food. And what better way to make some new discoveries and tread some new back streets than under the guidance of an expert?
Istanbul Eats’ culinary walking tours are designed so you can experience an Istanbul that tourists rarely can, and we have been warned to come with empty stomachs. Its website also provides the most up-to-date information about dining in Istanbul, from street snacks to fine meals at top restaurants.
Our lovely American guide, Megan, made the city her home many years ago and speaks the language well. Our small group of six sets off, not to the Spice Market as expected, but to the surrounding streets.
Megan explains that, sadly, it is more a general bazaar now, rather than the glorious food market I remember from past visits.
However, all around it we find a fascinating array of food stores, all specialising in something different.
We wander from store to store, tasting, at the friendly insistence of the vendors, olives, nuts and cheeses from the many different regions of Turkey. Then, huddled out of the cold near a tiny tea shop, we are plied with tiny glasses of tea and cups of Turkish coffee, which the owner carries to us on a traditional “hanging” tray.
Turks, Megan explains, drink as many as 30 or 40 tiny glasses of tea a day. She also shows us how to let the coffee rest so the grounds sink to the bottom before taking a sip. It is strong and needs lots of sugar lumps, but is perfect with our breakfast of freshly baked simit (sesame crusted rings of chewy bread), olives and fresh white cheese that Megan has gathered along the way.
Back out on the street in front of the fishmonger’s shimmering wares, we discuss which fish come from where and how each can be cooked. Next door, at the butcher’s, we squeamishly admire the beautifully displayed offal, still very much a staple of Turkish cuisine. The proud vendors pose as we take photos of them behind their counters.
Further on, we stop for a warming and utterly delicious lentil soup – squeezing in lemon juice and sprinkling on red pepper flakes – at what was once a soup kitchen adjoining a mosque. It is so hard not to finish it all up, but we are all very conscious there are many more tastes still to come.
On the street of wood turners, we buy lovely hand-crafted wooden spoons before pausing at a tiny pide shop where the owner cheerfully shows us how to make wood-fired, pointy-ended pide with the traditional fillings of minced lamb and red capsicum or goats’ cheese and tomato. On we walk, enjoying halva and Turkish delight from a family-run store 150 years old and, further on still, delicious lamb kebab from a corner vendor who spends two hours each morning layering lamb for his spit with onion, tomato and capsicums – so colourful and tasty compared with the commercial, meat-only versions.
At the lovely old-fashioned cafe Vefa Bozacisi, we try boza, an ancient fermented millet drink that has been made there since 1867, served with cinnamon and roasted chickpeas. It’s definitely an acquired taste.
For our final stop for lunch (yes, lunch!) we follow Megan as she weaves through the Kurdish area of the city until we come to Seref-Buyan Kebap Salone, which specialises in both pit-roasted lamb (buryan) and perdi pilaf, a scrumptious little “pie” of borek pastry filled with pilaf rice and chicken that is traditionally served at weddings. Our table groans with these dishes and more.
Somehow, we manage to eat a freshly made walnut baklava and a delicious cheese-filled pastry called a kunefe.
Istanbul offers so many dining options and it’s quite easy to find really good food if you stay away from the tourist haunts and don’t depend only on your guide book or the hotel concierge. My rule of thumb is to explore the back streets. That is where the best food always is.
I had read about the new Datli Maya, where chef Dilari Erbay cooks traditional Turkish fare in the wood-fired oven of an old simit bakery. It turns out to be very close to our hotel. Entering off the street right into the kitchen, you choose your dishes – yoghurt soup, wood-fired pide or lamuchan (very thin Anatolian pizza) or the stew of the day – before ascending the narrow stairs to the top-floor dining room.
On the way up, you pass through another kitchen where a chef is preparing kebab skewers.
For a simple and very inexpensive lunch after visiting the Grand Bazaar or Blue Mosque, experience a traditional working man’s eating house at Erol Restaurant. Choose from the selection of home-style dishes on display in the kitchen before finding a table. There are lots to choose from and always daily specials – stuffed cabbage rolls, eggplant kebab or Kiremit (casserole) – a stew of lamb, green capsicum, carrots, eggplants and tomato with large moghrabieh couscous or the ubiquitous lentil soup.
In summer, I imagine the dishes would be quite different, as the food is based on what is available.
On this trip, I was also keen to try some modern Turkish cuisine, something which is quickly gaining worldwide attention.
At Lokanta Maya, a female chef, Didem Senol, prepares her acclaimed cuisine. In her stylish, contemporary restaurant, we enjoy a series of small plates to share: her famous zucchini fritters, tender-grilled octopus and red onion on olive-oil grilled bread and warmed white cheese with caramelised onions, followed by a couple of lovely desserts, including a mastic pudding with cherry compote – a first for me.
Back at our hotel, the beautiful Tomtom suites in Beyoglu, two talented young chefs are cooking some of the best food in the city at La Mouette. Both Uryan Dogmus and Cihan Kipcak were classically trained abroad and have returned to Istanbul to cook modern interpretations of the dishes they grew up with.
An afternoon spent with them in the kitchen introduces me to some fascinating ingredients and cooking methods – thankfully, not molecular gastronomy, but clever, lighter, and more beautifully presented dishes adapted from those learned from their mothers and grandmothers.
Quinces are poached in hibiscus sherbet (sherbet is a syrup) and served with buffalo clotted cream (kaymak), something the Turks love to have on toasted bread and drizzled with honey for breakfast.
A simple casserole of prawns, tomatoes, bright-green capsicums, tarragon and garlic is quickly assembled and baked – a dish I could imagine eating at a small eatery anywhere along the coast of Turkey – then a traditional borek, a long, coiled “pie” filled with different local cheeses, such as dil peyniri and ezine, onion and herbs.
Later, we dine in the restaurant itself, an enclosed rooftop terrace which affords an expansive view across to the Galata Bridge and beyond to the Sultanahmet. At night the mosques and the Topkapi Palace are magically lit, as are the ferries that glide across the Bosphorus.
The small menu of just seven entrees and seven main dishes is as enchanting as the view. My favourite dish is one of delicate veal liver with a light-as-air potato and cumin mash, cherry wine confit and parsley coulis.
It is clear that Istanbul’s culinary offerings should not be underestimated. There is so much more to this city than trays of mezze, apple tea and baklava.
WHAT TO DO BESIDES EATING
Antique hunting or browsing: I particularly enjoy wandering the labyrinth of tiny back streets around Ukurcuma Square (Beyoglu area) where antique stores sell everything from furniture and carpets to interesting Ottoman era curios.
Take a ferry down the Bosphorus towards the Black Sea: It’s the perfect way to see the beautiful Ottoman houses that still line the shore and the ancient fortresses that once protected the straits. Be aware the ferry stops for three hours when it gets to the last village but you can enjoy a simple lunch at one of the lokantas nestled over the water.
The Grand Bazaar: Even though this is probably the most tourist-infested place in the city, it is a must-see. Sixty covered streets, some like boulevards, others barely wide enough for two people to pass, have more than 5000 shops selling just about anything you could imagine. Don’t forget to look upwards – to see some of the most beautiful vaulted ceilings.
Arasta Bazaar: If you want a slightly more exclusive shopping experience, this small bazaar, just below the Blue Mosque, has lovely stores selling traditional Turkish wares. Jennifer’s Hammam specialises in beautiful fringed cotton towels and colourful Uzbekistani pottery.
The Harem at Topkapi – this palace deserves a full day’s exploration but at the very least you must see the Harem apartments. Each room seems more exquisitely tiled than the last and of course it is fascinating to see where all the Sultan’s wives and their eunuchs were housed.
Aya Sophia: Once a Byzantine church and an Ottoman mosque, it has been deconsecrated and is now a museum. The austere exterior in no way prepares you for the beauty within, especially the sea of Ottoman era chandeliers, viewed from above.
Kadakoy market: I love the fresh market just a 20-minute ferry ride across the Bosphorus on the Asian side and not far from the dock. The simple stalls line narrow streets and more permanent stores sell everything from honey to roasted sheep heads. This is also where you’ll find the eponymous Ciya restaurants.
Buy a carpet: If you have both the time and money, the experience of being entertained with endless cups of tea while carpet after carpet is laid out for you to see is really not to be missed. The only prerequisite is that you must make a purchase at the end.
FACT FILE
Where to stay: Tomtom Suites – The Old Franciscan House, Tomtom Mh, Tomtom Kaptan Sokak 18, 34413 Beyoglu, Turkey, ph +902122924949, tomtomsuites.com.
What to do: Istanbul Eats walking tours cost US$125 (NZ$152) and you won’t need dinner. istanbuleats.com.
Where to eat: La Mouette at the TomTom Suites tomtomsuites.com/tomtom–taste.php. Lokanta Maya, lokantamaya.com. Datli Maya, datlimaya.com. Erol Restaurant: Catalcesme Sokak. No 3, Cagaloglu. (From a previous visit) Ciya, located in Kadakoy on the Asian side and considered one of the finest restaurants for regional cuisine, ciya.com.tr.
How to get there: Singapore Airlines flies one stop via Singapore to Istanbul from Auckland, singaporeair.com.
Catherine Bell is a food educator and writer and is chairwoman of the Garden to Table Trust. She flew to Turkey with Singapore Airlines.
– © Fairfax NZ News
The number of Armenian tourists who visited Turkey this April increased by 26.9%, as compared to last year.
Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism said 4,889 Armenians visited Turkey in April 2012 as compared to 3,854 last year.
The number of citizens visiting Turkey as compared to March grew by 25.
In 2011, over 72,000 Armenian citizens visited Turkey.
via Number of Armenian tourists in Turkey increases | Armenia News – NEWS.am.
Sheldon Kirshner, Staff Reporter, Monday, June 18, 2012
The entrance to Topkapi [Sheldon Kirshner photo]
ISTANBUL — In Jules Dassin’s 1964 feature film, Topkapi, the Greek actor Melina Mercouri plays a thief plotting to steal a priceless emerald-studded dagger from a glass case in the imperial treasury.
One can understand why this gold and green dagger, commissioned by Sultan Mahmud I in 1747 as a gift for the shah of Persia, was the object of her desire.
Glittering under artificial lighting, this exquisite piece never actually reached the shah. After the shah’s assassination, Mahmud I kept the dagger, depositing it in the imperial treasury, one of the buildings in the royal residence, known then and now as the Topkapi Palace.
Probably the premier tourist attraction in Istanbul today, Topkapi leaves memorable impressions.
Apart from having been the residence of Ottoman sultans from 1465 to 1856, Topkapi was the seat of government of the Ottoman Empire, which stretched into the Balkans and the Middle East, including Palestine, and officially lasted until 1922, when the sultanate was abolished.
Converted into a museum in 1924, a year after Turkey became the successor state of the far-flung empire, Topkapi, the jewel in Istanbul’s crown, is now administered by the ministry of culture and tourism, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.
Built on a promontory with a splendid view of Istanbul, the Sea of Marmara and the Golden Horn, Topkapi was constructed in phases and rebuilt after an earthquake in 1509 and a fire in 1655.
Surrounded by a high wall, some of which dates back to the Byzantine era, Topkapi was really a city within a city, consisting of four courtyards and containing such buildings as mosques, bakeries, a mint, a harem and a hospital.
By the 17th century, Topkapi had lost some of its importance due to the decision by sultans to build palaces along the Bosphorus, the strategic strait that separates Europe from Asia. In 1856, when Sultan Abdul Mecid I moved the royal court to the Dolmabahce Palace, Topkapi became something of a white elephant.
At the suggestion of Ilber Ortayli, Topkapi’s president, I began my truncated tour at the imperial treasury, whose resplendent objects consist of spoils of war, gifts and special pieces produced by highly skilled craftsmen.
Of particular interest were 16th-century jewel-encrusted Persian flasks, a 19th-century jade piece presented to Sultan Abdulhamid II by the Russian czar in the 19th century, a 16th-century Ottoman helmet made of gold, turquoise and rubies, a 16th-century bowl of cut emeralds weighing 15 to 29 grams and an undated jewelry box sparkling with emeralds and rubies. Ottoman imperial thrones are also striking in appearance.
The 18th-century throne of Sultan Mustafa II was wheeled out a final time in 1918 when the last Ottoman sultan, Mehmed VI, was crowned.
The mid-16th-century ebony throne of the empire’s greatest sultan, Suleyman the Magnificent, stands as a testament to the power and influence of a Muslim empire.
The throne of Ahmed I (1603-1617) is unique, having been designed by Mimar Sinan, the architect of Istanbul’s glittering Blue Mosque.
Across a path from the imperial treasury is the Enderun Library, or Library of Ahmed III, a fine example of 18th-century Ottoman architecture.
Decorated with 16th- and 17th-century Iznik tiles, the building contained books on Islamic law and theology in Turkish, Arabic and Persian. Nowadays, these volumes are stored in a mosque.
Nearby is the Privy Chamber, which houses sacred Muslim relics, namely the cloak of the Prophet Muhammed, a hair of his beard and two of his swords, as well as oil paintings of Ottoman sultans from Osman II (1618-1622) to Abdulhamid II (1876-1909).
The Pavilion for Breaking the Fast, commissioned by Sultan Ibrahim (1640-1648 and used during the Ramadan holiday, is really a fancy terrace that offers views of Istanbul and the Sea of Marmara.
The adjacent Baghdad Pavilion, built to commemorate a successful military campaign by Sultan Murad IV in the 1600s, is regarded as an example of classical palace architecture.
Adorned with mother-of-pearl tiles, with tortoise shells decorating window panels, this structure served as a library from the 18th century onward.
As I arrived at Topkapi shortly before closing, I was unable to visit either the Portrait Gallery, whose collection of hand-painted Islamic miniatures may be unrivalled, or the harem, the private apartments of sultans, their wives, children, concubines and servants.
No one who has the time should miss these splendid sights.
via Topkapi Palace is the jewel in Istanbul’s crown | The Canadian Jewish News.
By Misbahuddin Mirza
“Could you slow down? Please?” I asked the cab driver as he started racing down the freeway, leading away from the Istanbul airport, as if someone had just waved the Indy 500’s start of race flag at him. The driver acknowledged my request, but, made no attempt to slow down. As the distance between my cab and the car in front of it started disappearing at an alarming rate, I resumed fidgeting nervously with my seat belt, hoping desperately for it to click in place, so that I may at least survive what looked like an unavoidable crash. I started visualizing the next day’s newspaper headlines, ‘Why on earth would a senior engineer trained in the US sit unbuckled in the front seat of a cab?’
I started praying. If my dreams of visiting the city of the mighty Sultans, and the invincible jannisaris could not be realized, I may as well go out praying. Bingo! A miracle! Just when my cab was a few inches from rear-ending the car in the front, my cab driver calmly slid into the next lane. For a person terrified at the sight of a roller coaster, this cab ride was going down in history right next to the time when I accidentally got on Epcot center’s Space Mountain roller coaster thinking that it was a benign train ride.
interior of the Dome of Hagia Sofia.
The cab had left the smooth pavement of the freeway, and was now bobbling over the cobble stone roads laid out by the Byzantines. I paid the cab driver, thanked him, and followed the porter to the front desk. Within minutes I was in the shower scrubbing away the airline germs. I emerged from the hotel refreshed. The sun was bright. The air was humid. My first stop was the Shahzade Sulaymaniye Masjid. I walked into the Masjid’s courtyard and was immediately struck by the serenity. A few people were sitting leisurely on the cool marble with their legs dangling into the courtyard. No cars whizzing by, no ringing of mobile phones, no rush for anything. Time appears to have stood still from the time this Masjid was built several hundred years ago, in memory of the Sultan’s crown prince who had died unexpectedly. I performed ablution at the fountains in the middle of the courtyard and walked into the Masjid.
Soon, I was back in another cab, this time sitting safely in the rear seat, driving towards Hagia Sofia. During the Byzantine era this was considered to be a magnificent structure, and the centerpiece of their empire. However, according to today’s standards, it can hardly be considered spacious. I stood between the columns where the empress used to stand while observing the proceedings below. From this vantage point, I observed the intricately crafted Mimbar, Mihrab, and Islamic calligraphy. As an engineer, I felt sad at the poor way in which the Byzantines had reconstructed the earthquake damage to Hagia Sofia, by erecting massive exterior buttresses to shore up the central dome.
Inside Sultan Ahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque), showing the famous Iznik tile work, and chandeliers.
I spent some time purchasing souvenirs before taking a cab back to my hotel. It was almost 10 PM. I made my way through the narrow streets to the Sultan Fateh Mosque. I entered the courtyard through one of the side entrances, and headed towards the entrance with the ornate gold roof. I tugged at the door and found that it was locked. I looked around and noticed two young teenage girls walking by, and asked them why the door to the Mosque was locked. ‘Oh, this is not the entrance to the Mosque,’ explained one of the girls speaking in perfect English. ‘This is the entrance to the mausoleum of Sultan Fateh. Please come with us, and we will take you to the Mosque’s entrance.’ They walked me around the spacious court yard that connected the adjoining Mosque’s courtyard. The Masjid courtyard looked like a carnival scene. It was full of people. Children running around playing, bicycling, skating. Grownups sitting idly on the platforms built around trees. A teenage girl pulled deeply at a cigarette as if she was participating in some sort of intense sports competition. ‘What time do these kids go to bed?’ I wondered. I walked past several stray cats that were periodically petted and fed by passerby. I went into the mosque and blended in with the locals many of whom appeared to have just returned from work. After the prayers, I walked up to the Imam, complimented him on his turban, and asked where I could buy one similar to it. On the way back to the hotel, I lost my way; a young man walked me back, striking a friendly conversation. A couple of minutes later, while parting near the hotel, he offered me a small gift.
I had an early, hearty breakfast. This was going to be another long day ahead of me, and I wanted to stretch it by starting early. I hailed a cab and headed straight for the world famous Topkapi Palace. The Topkapi palace lived up to its name and more. In the inner chambers of the palace is a row of rooms that house holy relics. I was able to see the swords of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), and the first four Caliphs’. This was quite an experience.
outside the Askari Muse (Museum of Military history), showing one of the specially designed cannons that was used in capturing Constantinople
The Muezzin’s call to Morning Prayer woke me up. I visited the Dohambace Palace, the Islamic Art Galleries, the Roman Hippodrome, and the Roman aqueducts. It had been an extremely hectic but pleasant whirlwind of a tour. It was time to say goodbye to Istanbul, and to the beautiful people who had been unbelievably hospitable to me – strangers had cared more for my well being, then I cared for myself; every store owner, where I had shopped, had thrown in a small unsolicited gift; everyone I spoke to, had gone out of the way to help me.
At New York’s JFK airport, enroute to Istanbul, I knew that I had already maxed out on my baggage allowance. Now, in Istanbul, I had bought so much stuff, that I was mentally prepared to pay a hefty fee for exceeding the baggage limits. But, the only words I heard were a wish for my safe journey, with a bright smile. Just as the jet took off the ground from Istanbul, I realized that I had forgotten something very dear in Istanbul – my heart.
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Misbahuddin Mirza, M.S., P.E., a Senior Engineer with the Structures Division of the New York State Department of Transportation. All photos by the author.
http://twocircles.net/2012jun17/istanbul_%E2%80%93_model_hospitality.html