Being a poser at Gulseren’s shop in the Grand Bazaar
I love Istanbul and I’d planned to have a couple of days of R&R and shopping to round out the holiday. It turned out that the bazaars (and costumiers!) were closed for most of the time we were there due to the Eid holidays. Happily there were still some shops open, and the rest all opened on Thursday so I had a window of opportunity.
C hadn’t been to Istanbul before, so we started out with some of the big sights: The Blue Mosque, Haggia Sophia and Topkapi Palace. Because of the holidays, these were incredibly busy, so we queued up a lot more than I remember doing last time, but they are still amazing!
We also took a boat trip around the Bosphorus to see the sights. Since we were down in Eminönü, we explored the market alleys behind the (closed) Spice Market and found that only half the shops were closed for the holidays. A lot of these were selling jewellery or various knockoffs so we had a great time wandering around picking up bits and pieces.
The hamams were still open, so we scheduled some serious relaxation at the Cagaloglu Hamam. It started with some sweating time in the sauna, then rinsing, scrubbing on the marble slab, soap massage and then lots more rinsing, then we were wrapped up snug as a bug in a rug and left to percolate with tea and lokum. While the Cagaloglu Hamam is quite touristy (read: spendy), they are good at letting you know what happens next, and the ladies are very focused on safety, such as holding your arm when you’re traversing the acres of wet marble and making sure the suds are washed away quickly before slips occur.
I’d wanted to see a few dance shows while I was there, so we booked to go to Sultana’s 1001 Nights show. We ended up going on the Wednesday night, which happened to be the night of the big soccer game between Liverpool and Chelsea. As it happened, the game was around the corner from the show. It was a very quiet night at Sultana’s, with only about 20 audience members, but we were loud and appreciative!
After C left for Dublin, I headed out for a day of costume shopping, accompanied by I. We first headed to Sisli to see Bella before hitting the Grand Bazaar to try Gulseren’s shop, one of the very few remaining belly dance costumers at the bazaar. I tried a few costumes before settling on a teal and silver dress.
With Gulseren and her daughter Ecem
We also took a detour down Istiklal Caddesi for lunch, and poked our heads into a huge vintage shop, By Retro, in the basement of one of the big buildings. There were rooms and rooms and rooms of vintage clothing, everything from 70s crimplene dresses to a Queen of Hearts costume. I looked at a few of the leather jackets, but the ones I otherwise liked had had damage from the damp which would be difficult to fix.
The second dance show I went to was Rhythm of the Dance at the Hodjapasha, an old hamam that has been converted to a theatre in the round. The show was a mix of traditional Turkish, Rom, bellydance and modern fusion. Very entertaining, but very much a stage show rather than an interactive experience like Sultana’s.
On my last morning in Istanbul I woke up early enough to do a last quick rush through the Grand Bazaar to pick up some ceramic bowls I’d had my eye on before heading to the airport. Unfortunately a couple of them (salad bowls) broke in my luggage, but the smaller ones survived.
The new Istanbul airport is huge! I visited the Turkish Airlines Business lounge before my flight, and didn’t realise the walk to my Singapore Airlines flight would be 20 mins of powerwalking! Not many travelators or any intra-terminal transit that I could see, which would make things difficult if power walking wasn’t up your alley. Nevertheless, I made my flight even though I was the last to board, and the rest of the trip home was uneventful.
This has been a long trip, but I had so many fun and enjoyable experiences. Next time I’ll try to pack more lightly so I can hopefully go carry-on until the last stop — the case was tricky on the trains etc, even though I only had one medium-sized one. And mental note for next time I’m in Turkey: ceramics larger than a small bowl need to go in carry on!
Two Weeks Away 