In 2005 I had the opportunity to conduct a workshop for a media agency in Istanbul, Turkey. I had never been to Turkey before, so I jumped at the chance to investigate at least a small part of the historical city before and after the workshop.
The November day we were to leave, Germany experienced an unexpected snow storm. So, instead of hopping straight onto the plane, after slipping and sliding to the airport in a taxi that didn’t have snow tires (!!) we ended up waiting for information from Turkish Airlines on whether or not our flight was going to leave. Most airlines give information in their native language and English. Fortunately, there was a Turkish woman living in Germany standing next to us who was kind enough to translate, because all information from the airline came in Turkish – and only in Turkish.
Finally we were informed that we would indeed be flying out that day, but not from Dusseldorf International Airport. On touring buses we were driven through a virtual “winter wonderland” to the smaller Cologne-Bonn Airport about 45 minutes away. En route to that airport we were suddenly being passed by cars wildly honking their horns. Because of the many Turkish nationals living in Germany going back home to visit and heavily laden with presents, the luggage hold of the bus was filled to capacity. And – apparently – a bit more, because several suitcases dotted the snowy highway behind us. What followed was a slapstick – and not undangerous – retrieval maneuver on the slippery roadway. (Thank goodness no one was hurt – and both our suitcases were spared!)
When we were about 15 minutes from the airport, the snow suddenly disappeared. Without further delay we were able to board our flight and head for the city on the Bosporus – with only about 5 hours delay…
Because my workshop was the following morning, our evening consisted only of checking into our hotel room and having dinner in the restaurant there. After my workshop I was understandably knackered, so – once again – dinner was in the hotel.
The following day we spent seeing at least some of the stunning sights in the city: including both the Hagia Sophia and the so-called “Blue Mosque”. BREATHTAKING!
This was my first visit to a country with this kind of non-European flair (although – technically – we were still in Europe!). My reaction was mixed. On one hand, I found much of the historical architecture stunning and the people (including the participants in my workshop) friendly and helpful. I didn’t get into the pushy sales and bartering culture, though. I made the “mistake” of hiring a nice older gentleman to explain the sights and history of the famous Blue Mosque, for example.
We couldn’t get rid of him!
Of course, he had a friend he wanted to introduce us to – who just happened to own a carpet store. He, of course, had another friend – who just happened to own a jewelry store. And there was another friend who owned a stall in the bazaar…
Ok, ChessMan did buy a small carpet, which is quite beautiful, and probably only a bit overpriced. He also bought a full-length leather coat which looked great on him (we won’t go into the story of what eventually happened with the coat ), some colorful small ceramic bowls and – for moi – a suede handbag.
I bought a scarf.
Istanbul is, however, certainly a wonderfully exotic city. One you can’t do justice to in 3/4 of a day. One I definitely hope to visit again.
P.S.: Anyone interested in seeing more picture of our time in Istanbul can simply click on the photo bar at the top right.
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