Imagine Istanbul

After five days of dashing about the city of London, hardly sleeping – there wasn’t time - meeting relatives, a super model, a movie star; dining at fabulous restaurants and dancing at a very fine night club full of Arabs and very beautiful prostitutes with long, long hair, I was exhausted. There are plenty of flights to Istanbul to choose from. I flew on British Airways, arriving exhausted in the city of Istanbul.

The airplane flew over the Sea of Marmara giving me visions of God and perfect beauty. From the ordinary typical airport of Istanbul, driving into the city, there was nothing particularly outstanding except the sightings of minarets and mosques scattered across whichever horizon came into my view.

But when my eyes first glimpsed from the taxi window of the skyline of the Istanbul I would come to love, I couldn’t but demand of the taxi driver to stop in the middle of wild, hectic traffic. I had to I step outside and gaze upon the skyline of Galata. I was in love with this first vision of Istanbul: I could live here in a minute!

There are many hotels in Istanbul to stay with. I chose to stay for a week on my first visit at a lovely small hotel in the village of Bebek. Designed like the interior of a wooden sailboat, the Bebek Hotel lies at the edge of the Bosphorous – the river which runs from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. Every morning, from my balcony with black railings overhanging the café below, I could watch the sun rise, the wooden goulettes anchored, and the tankers and ships sailing down from the Black Sea. It was a most beautiful site; I could watch this forever in peace. There would be no need for television in a perfect world.

To quickly gather my bearings in Istanbul, I took a full day bus tour around the city. I always find this the quickest way to get an overview of a foreign city and see all the major sites in a short period of time. After that, you can go back to the sites you found the most interesting in the days that follow. Lunch was served in the same Turkish restaurant with the view of the Golden Horn where I would eventually go with the little boy of Istanbul.

During the week in Istanbul I went walking everywhere. I spent time in the market, photographing everything I saw. I went with friends to an amazing nightclub called either “Déjà vu” or “Avant Garde”. Whatever it was called, the music and dancing were superb. I went out for dinner many times with friends and ate the wonderful food. I discovered a lovely little bistro/bar in Bebek called “Cats and Dogs” one of my favorite little places in the world. I met so many people and I couldn’t speak a word of Turkish, a language so foreign and strange to my ears.

I also managed to take a trip on the ferry out to the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara which was such good fortune for me. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I hiked up the mountain there and photographed everything I saw. I remember the bits of rags tied to the branches of the bushes and trees. A belief that one could tie their troubles on a branch and the trouble would be gone. If only life would be so simple. And, what a feast for the eyes is this place! Hemingway had called Paris a “moveable feast” and I wondered if he had ever traveled to Istanbul. He perhaps would have written a different book then.

I took so many good photographs because – the city moved me, this is Istanbul, I was inspired… I didn’t sleep much because sometimes sleeping is a waste of time.

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