Not-stray cats and the seven cheeses.
Istanbul, Turkiye, 12 September 2024
I’m not nearly a good enough writer to begin to describe Istanbul. It’s too big, too old, too new, too complex. What I can tell you is that Heather, Simon, and I ate 7 kinds of cheese for breakfast here this morning.
We first scouted a SwimVacation trip in Turkey back in 2015, and got a grand, private tour of this City by our partners at Peten Travel. Istanbul has buzzed around in my head since then. It’s a place that makes you question yourself, to take a look from a different angle. Here, ancient meets modern, eastern and western cultures collide, blend, push, and pull each other. You can walk to the highest point of Istanbul and see only Istanbul in every direction. It’s mind-boggling. It wakes up your senses. It’s full of stray cats that turn out not to really be stray, but taken care of by the collective population.
After 9 years of keeping in touch and never having met, at long last Iffet and I got to hug. She has been incredible to work with and has managed the most complex travel plans for our SV Türkiye guests. Iffet, we cannot thank you enough. XX - HP
Our friend and partner Iffet greeted us at the airport, and gave us a quick tour of the hippodrome area after we stashed our bags in our hotel and made a sighting of a few SwimVacation guests, also staying at this hotel and taking a 2-day tour of this City. Iffet operates Peten Travel, and runs trips all over Turkey. She and her staff know as much as anyone can about this place. She left us on our own after a walk around the Blue Mosque. Heather, Simon, and I took a tour of the Hagia Sophia, a church built in the 6th century. The struggle between east and west is on full display here, with Christian murals and islamic text all sharing the same space. I love the graffiti here made by 2 Vikings in the 9th century, Haldvan and Are. They were bodyguards for the emperor, and probably got bored during a long church service, took out their knives, and carved their names. I can picture the emperor’s wife asking him if he was going to stop this behavior, and the emperor looking at the massive blonde Vikings and saying, nah, let’s leave them be.
Iffet had made a reservation for us at a restaurant on the other side of the Golden Horn, the estuary that splits the ancient part of the city. We had to hustle. The sun began to set as we reached the Galata Bridge, and everything got wild. The bridge has a very wide pedestrian walkway, and tonight it was lined with people fishing, couples stealing a kiss, taxi drivers who had pulled over for a smoke, freshly minted brides (we saw 2), radiant in the setting sun, trailing girlfriends, old aunts in hijabs, and somewhere, a husband.
On the other side of the bridge was a neighborhood of mostly 5-story buildings lining the water. Many were vacant shells, the wind blowing right through where there were once windows. Some had tantalizing lights on the top floor only. Lots of graffiti. We walked down an alley paved only in dirt. A guy carrying a tray of hot coals walked past. Seagulls flocked in on a pile of discarded fish. We walked deeper into the alleys, Google maps telling us that we’d reached our destination. There could not possibly be a trendy restaurant here, we thought. Some of the lower floors had small industrial operations like engine repair shops. It was dark. We asked a mechanic for directions, and he pointed us to an even darker, creepier alley. There was a tiny, dirty sign on the wall that read Ali Ocakbaşı Karaköy, the restaurant we were looking for. At this point we were dripping in sweat, jet-lagged, with sore feet and backs. We saw no other way up but to climb a rickety set of stairs (there was a small elevator in a dark corner that we missed). Every floor was abandoned, the last of the day’s light casting shadows on strewn furniture and broken glass. We climbed.
By the fourth flight of stairs we began to hear music, laughter, the clanking of dishes and silverware. The Maitre d’ greeted us and whisked us up one more flight to a rooftop dining area with views over the river and the city. We feasted on mezzes of vegetables in olive oil, cheeses, dips, puffy breads, and rather than choose from the menu asked the water to bring us his favorite dishes. Stuffed eggplant, and grilled lamb, chicken, and beef arrived, and we washed it all down with big glasses of blush wine. Dessert was ice cream wrapped in some type of savory dough, assembled by our waiter, tableside, and finished off with pistachio dust. Uncle.
You don’t often see triple bed hotel rooms in the U.S., but they have them here in Turkey, so it keeps our overhead costs down by having all 3 guides in one room. We didn’t sleep a lot, and I was already awake at the 5am call to prayer. I imagine the call going out over thousands of miles, to Mecca and beyond. It’s humbling and exotic at the same time. There are 4 more calls throughout the day.
We’d made reservations at the Turkish Baths, or Hamam, the previous day, and Simon and I entered the men’s side while Heather entered the opposite side of the Hammam, operating since about 1550. Its interior chambers are all white marble, heated from beneath. You get changed into a loose fitting pair of shorts, and you get a guy (or woman, on the other side) who proceeds to scrub you with mud, then suds, then massages you into submission. There’s lots of hot water being splashed over you, and by the end, you’ve never been cleaner. Heather told us she cried with overwhelming joy several times during her bath. That tracks.
I got a peek at the ladies of our week 1 guests enjoying the Turkish bath experience I was to enjoy the next day. Such a delight to bump into them here, and it prepared me for the joy to come. - HP
Our guests have been doing an amazing job at sending me photos of their Istanbul experience with Peten. They have had an incredible time and were even guided by Koray, the same guide Hopper and I learned so much from in 2015. - HP
After a stroll through the Grand Bazaar (lots of jewelry, clothing, cigarette shops), we had just enough time for breakfast at the cafe across the street from our hotel, which at this point we’d barely seen. We ordered the traditional Turkish Breakfast for 3, and about 20 dishes appeared, 7 of which were cheese or cheese-based. Tomatoes, eggplant, yogurt dips, breads, eggs, sausage, sweet things. We rolled into our car and were driven back to the airport for our flight south to Dalaman and the Mediterranean Coast. An easy, 1-hour flight, followed by a rather twisty, turny car ride to Kas, our home port for this SwimVacation Adventure. Seafood mezzes at a seaside restaurant. Wind. Lots of wind. Tomorrow we greet our guests and climb aboard a traditional Turkish Gulet. Simon, Heather and I can’t wait to get on the water with our guests.
Our second day continued to be full, with walk about and Grand Bazar, flight to Dalaman, 3 hour drive to Kas (complete with road food pitstop, acres of tomato hot houses and finally a landing at our hotel. Soon our guests will join is for our first and long awaited week of swimming along the Lycean Coast of phenomenal Türkiye. - HP
Hopper