September 14 Magic and Mayhem

From Mayhem to Magic, Bombs to Break Fast - an incredible Islamic Yom Kippur 

We awoke this morning bright and early with the iPad alarm at 7:00, or so we thought until we realized, oops, it was not set to automate the time change to Turkey and now we were one hour late for breakfast and then services for Yom Kippur. We hurried through the breakfast on the rooftop terrace and hopped on the T1 tram to Karakoy. 

   Turkish Tram Tokens---PLASTIC!!

One stop, two stops, three stops....and then an announcement in Turkish we don't understand but then we realize everyone has gotten off the tram. What could be going on? The transit police simply said....problem with the tram, no money back, bye bye. We walked down a block or two and lo and behold, the entire street is roped off with police tape.

 I, being the more cautious type, am concerned there is something odd going on. Steve, ex-auxiliary cop, is fearless and ready to taxi through the blockade. 

No, I say, I am creeped out, let's just forget it. As we stand there, we are told there is a potential bomb, a suitcase left in the street. Steve walks up and sees the bomb squad cum 'Hurt locker' guy in the street and next we hear....POW, a pop as they blow up the errant duffel or case.

Then as quick as it was shut down, everything is back to normal and we are on a tram to Neve Shalom synagoge. It is weird but at the same time you realize how people get so used to this.

We arrive at the security gate for the entrance to the street of the Temple and we must say the magic words...yes, we are Jewish and are here to pray today, and we are sent down the cobblestones to the next security checkpoint.

This time we give up our passports, our camera and more or less prove we are Jewish by responding correctly to Shabbat Shalom with L'Shana Tova and we are let in. 

Steve heads to the Main Sanctuary for the men (real Jews) while I must head upstairs relegated to the women's balcony. There are a total of three Turkish women in shul and I enter through the visitors door, not bothering to locate a prayer book since I am not a great Hebrew reader and certainly cannot follow the Turkish, if there is any. I watch as Steve finds his seat among about seventy men with yarmulkes and Tallit, who look EXACTLY the same as any seventy men in any Synagogue anywhere.  And since it is also Shabbat, they are preparing to read Torah. They open the doors to the ark and take out three Torahs to march around the Temple. Then they begin to read. It seems that every single person in the congregation gets an aliah. One, two, five, ten, and I think I count up to seventeen men called to the Torah before I signal to Steve, time to go, I can't wait any longer for Yisker, Istanbul is beckoning.  I say my own Yisker and as I look down on the congregation, I marvel that it looks no different. There are old men and young men, there is the one good looking usher guy, there is the one or two guys sleeping, there is the mahaf who is first to shake everyone's hand as they come off the bimah. Then I wonder, is it that Jews all over the world are the same....or all people? And I pray for many things, including that it is the latter. 

It isn't until we get outside and can talk again that Steve asks me ' Did you notice anything odd under the seats, could you see anything from up on the balcony?'. I could not. He then tells me that while sitting there he noticed something yellow under the seat in front of him. Then the same thing under every seat. Odd, he thought, what could it be? A hat box? A sack of some sort? Then he leaned over and touched it, hmmm, there's a net and something hard in it, shit, it's a helmet in case of a bomb! And so it was. Every seat, at least for the men, that is. Of course we already had read that Neve Shalom had three prior terrorist attacks and we knew how tight the security was just to get in, but the helmets really hit home, just glad we didn't need them.

We meander back down the hill and walk across the bridge, a hubbub of activity, and headlong into the floating fish restaurants. It is a sea of people all waiting or eating fish sandwiches.

There are three glitzy gold painted boats furiously bobbing and rocking, each with three cooks at flattop grills, cooking hundreds of fish filets at a time.

Although there is about two feet of air and water between the boats where the sandwiches are made, and the order takers on land, they hand off the fish with ease. It is slapped into a big roll with lettuce and onion and for your six Turkish Lira (about $3USD) you have lunch in hand and try to find a seat on one of the tiny wooden stools at the tiny barrel tables. Once seated, you dig in and wait for a costumed man with a tray of drinks to come by to buy your 1TL lemonade. 

We eat and people watch. We did not know what Turkey, a secular but Muslim country would be like. We agree that probably 50% of the women wear headscarves, higher than we expected. The headscarves are a bit like hairstyles-there are all different kinds. Scarves are cotton or silk or linen. They are muted or bright or solid or patterned. They are worn turban like or loosely wrapped or even kerchief like with the point hanging down the back. They are loose or tight, some with the white or black headband underneath to hide any iota of hairline. And the faces peering from under the scarves may be thick-browed and homely or made up and model like. And you can have a headscarf on top and tight sexy clothes with high heels and a Louis Vuitton pocketbook below!

I tear myself away from the lunch scene, but not before indulging in some hot sweet mini fried donuts dipped in honey for dessert....

.....and we head to the Spice Market just around the corner. The building, a low sling warren of indoor shops and stalls that has expanded with tent covered outdoor spaces as well, started as a spice market back in the mid 1500's. Now it is a loud, crowded, bustling market with spices and sweets and ceramics and rugs and everything else you can imagine, where tourists and local alike vie to shop and haggle and wiggle through. Whew....we finally escape the human traffic jam and hop the tram back to the hotel to change out of our synagogue clothes, which, believe me, were makeshift and could never pass muster at home. 

We get our game on and head to Haghia Sophia, built as a church in 404 AD and no I did not forget the 1 in front of the 4. By the middle of the sixth century, it was converted to a mosque and today it stands simply as a museum.

Despite the scaffolding in about 25% of the interior, the scale, the architecture, the materials are overwhelmingly impressive for today and almost unbelievable that this could have been done in the fifth century, designed by two mathematicians and built by surely, at least, five thousand people (my guess) in only seven years. We wander up the ramps and through the gallery's and finally to the weeping column, for a quick forehead to the stone, said to have healing powers. 

We walk around, slowly heading to the Seven Hills Hotel with its promise of the best roof deck in the city for cocktails. From the top, I cannot count  the seven hills, though I am sure they exist as we do walk up and down a bit here, but I can see the sea, the boats, the houses and an amazing view of Istanbul, worth the overrated, overpriced drinks but not worth staying for dinner.  

For dinner, I want meze, good meze, so Steve peruses our Top 10 guidebook and picks out a place nearby touted for their meze. He doesn't mention, until we are well on our way, that it is a five $$$$$$ place and may be hard to find but on we go. Through a long tourist street chock full of restaurants, around a curve with a few smaller shops, turning onto a residential street that looks well out of the tourist zone and finally to what seems like a dead end, a down trodden alley. But Steve, ever the adventurer, spots a few colored lights, then the street sign we need and then the restaurant name and we are in!

As we sit at the blue checkered tablecloth, in the island like garden decked out with colored lights strung to and fro, we are told the meal is pre fixe, 50 Euro per person ( about $65USD) and we hesitate....and then jump in with both feet. 

In short, here is as much of the meal as we can remember.

First Course

Seafood pilaf with octopus and shrimp

Second Course - 17 Incredibly Tasty Delicious Meze Dishes!!!

Salmon pastrami *

Fish caviar mousse *

Marinated anchovies

White beans and fennel *

Charred eggplant

Cerviche

Eggplant with tomato and fresh cheese *

White cabbage

Black cabbage with cubes of sharp cheese and mint *

Roasted peppers

Hummus

Potato salad

Tzadeki (sp)

Fava beans

Asian pickles

Beets

And all served with great fresh bread * we could see being made and shaped and wood fire cooked in the open grill.

Third Course

Amazing smokedvmackerel with hot peppers and red onion.

Fourth Course

A small plate with one perfectly charred piece of octopus* and one expertly battered piece of calamari with a garlicky pesto.

Fifth Course

Choice of fish. I had the tuna *, Steve the sea bass. Served simply on the plate.

Sixth Course

Coffee, tea, a small dish of dessert and a homemade shot of cherry brandy*

And, oh by the way, this also included anything and everything you wanted to drink from water to wine to Vodka.....unlimited.

*my personal favorites

Stomachs exploding, we thanked the chef for an amazing meal and started out for our 35 minute walk home, past the Haghia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, all floodlit, elegantly erect behind colored fountain lights.

 Istanbul is magical, day or night. It just takes a day to adjust to the intensity of the crowds, ignore the thousands of hawkers, and just dive in to the colorful, ancient tumult of the city.

Just watch your step.... 

   Typical Istanbul Sidewalk