We leave early for Athens tomorrow, so I thought I’d post my impressions of Istanbul.
Some roads and pavements are in need of repair, but the place is very clean, which I didn’t expect with all the tourists. April is the time of the Tulip festival and they plant 15 million, they are everywhere and I think Song has a photo of nearly all of them. Apparently tulips originated in Turkey and not Holland. I didn’t know that.
The city is densely packed, over 2000 people per square km, and the traffic isn’t too bad but the driving is – cars double parked and no lane discipline. Mind you, the pedestrians are just as bad, crossing against the lights, jaywalking everywhere and looking at their phones.
There are street vendors everywhere selling water, guide books, tours, baked goods, tissues, (fake) perfume and sunglasses etc. Song remarked that there don’t seem to be many homeless or beggars, which you’d expect in a touristy city. We’ve only seen two in 5 days. The people are friendly and helpful, the restaurant staff seem genuine and you don’t get the impression that they are just trying to sell you things. They smoke a lot here, probably second only to Croatia. They also drink a lot of tea, groups of men sit and drink and chat.
The people seem relaxed and happy, but they are prepared to stand up for their country – with recent riots and demonstrations against corruption and internet censorship.
There are stray cats and dogs everywhere, although a lot of the dogs have registration tags in their ears (ouch) so the custom here must be to let them roam the streets. Song wanted to pet some of them but I don’t think it’s a good idea, I’m quite fond of my fingers.
A lot of the buildings are old looking but there is a fair bit of renovation going on and the economy doesn’t seem depressed. Most of the cars are decent and European, lots of Renaults, Citroens, Fiats and VWs. The city is spread across the rivers and is spectacular. Since we were based in the old city near the Blue Mosque, we walked past it several times, and every time I stopped to look at it – it’s amazing. We both like the place and may come back and travel to other parts of Turkey in the future.
