Istanbul
One morning on my first visit to Istanbul I visitted the rooftop of the Büyük Valide Han, an ancient warehouse located in the grand bazaar. I had heard of the view from the rooftop of the building and arrived at the warehouse around 5:45 a.m. thanks to the help of some friendly merchants and Google maps.
The warehouse is old, dilapidated and technically not open to the public. The interior of the warehouse, especially pre-dawn, feels quite spooky in it's decrepit condition. Many of the rooms and offices are now used as studios, kitchens and, I suspect, homes for artists. Berenice was not amused by the dank dark feel of the interior and asked why I had brought her to a dungeon for the morning. As we explored the corridors of the warehouse, we eventually found the door leading to the roof which was, of course, locked. Luckily, we found a local artist in the hall who had access to the key to the roof. We paid him approximately USD $3.00 in lira and he led us through the door to the rooftop. We took a series of photos and enjoyed one of the best sunrises of my life.
Upon leaving the warehouse rooftop, about two hours later, our friend who had opened the door to the roof now invited us to his kitchen in the warehouse where he prepared some lovely Turkish tea. We even had a conversation using his English to Turkish translating app. I offered him some additional money as a tip or perhaps for the tea but he refused, insisting he was simply welcoming us to his city as our friend. I thanked him using my extremely awkward token Turkish and we all had a good laugh at how dumb I sounded. Mornings like these are why I get out of bed.
Istanbul is a city filled with surprises. I quickly discovered that my imagination of what I might find here was all wrong. I had pictured a city of smooth talking yet aggressive salesmen packed into colorful bazaars such as Marrakech. Soldiers patrolling every street. Zero regard for personal space.
Although there are bazaars and salesmen, the rest was pure fantasy. The city has a great blend of European and Islamic/Turkish culture. There is a lack of aggression in the salesmen and the cutthroat bargaining (found in other nearby countries) was happily dialed down. Friendly people, beautiful architecture and a rich history made this city a favorite.
I could spend days here eating kebabs, drinking tea, and exploring the inside of centuries old mosques and churches. The skyline of this city is absolutely extraordinary and unlike any place I have yet been. Wandering on rooftops in the bazaar at dawn has to be one of my favorite experiences traveling that I have ever had.
The wondrous thing I find about our world is the incredible amount of informational distortion. As an American I've gotten used to hearing about all the dangers outside of the USA. "Watch out for pickpockets in Europe!" Or "be careful of Latin America, there are riots!" My personal favorite is the panicked look most Americans get when they hear you're going to an Islamic country. Since they haven't been to an Islamic country they don't really have any advice on how to "avoid terrorists" so they generally don't know quite what to say. They are convinced, however, that a place like Istanbul must be incredibly dangerous and immediately imagine a war zone. Unfortunately we get these ideas from the news and assumptions that come with it. I never once felt endangered anywhere in Turkey. I saw no sign of the wildly hyped government instability and saw not a single soldier or jihadist. I enjoyed the tulips, my pizza, sticky ice cream and hookah in the Blue Mosque district. I saw the trendy young locals in Uskudar. I drank tea and coffee with a friendly local artist I met in the grand bazaar. Ate tiramisu on a roof top cafe in Kadikoy. I didn't see anyone who looked scary or scared. Just another place victimized by fear mongering.