We started with a early lunch at Babi-Hayat (39/47 Misir Çarşısı), a beautiful restaurant tucked on the east end of the Spice Bazaar.
The decor was stunning and included elaborate tile work and ornamentation on the walls and domes.
To my delight, we were brought this loaf of fresh flat bread covered in roasted cumin seeds. It was served with butter and crumbly white cheese. I was in heaven.
And then our meals arrived. This was probably the fanciest kebab plate during our vacation, and surprisingly inexpensive! Definitely worth stopping by if you are in the bazaar district.
Some of the facts:
- it was built by Ahmet II in 1478, at a strategic point overlooking the Bosphorus and Marmara Sea.
- it was the private residence to Ottoman sultans for over 400 years.
- it would have accommodated several thousand people (a city within a city).
- it covers over 80,000 square metres.
The highlight of this visit was the Harem. Admission: $15 TL. This private area was exclusive to the Sultan, and housed his mother, his wives (and concubines), his children, and all of their respective servants and eunuchs.
The harem was haunting and beautiful - walls covered in tiles and mosaics, gates gilded in gold, corners furnished with faded area rugs and low sofas. Every detail revealed a little part of the story that would have been life in the Harem.
As mentioned, the palace was built at key viewing point of the waterways. The view from the northeast corner was spectacular.
After 4+ hours of exploring the grounds, we got some watermelon from a street vendor, and headed home for a much-needed catnap.
Just before we were ready to head out for dinner, we heard cheering and shouting and drumming from Istiklal Avenue. To our surprise, it was the Istanbul Pride parade! Admission: free!
This was truly incredible to experience a pride event in a country where homosexuality is - for all intents and purposes - illegal. I couldn't have put it better than the organizers did on their website:
Unfortunately, most of the people who participates (sic) in the celebration in 'Western' countries, do not know what they celebrate. Despite the participation of some political organizations, pride activities of the big cities of 'Western' countries have mostly turned out to a big party where the big local and multinational cooperation use LGBT consumer group for their marketing advertisements. Furthermore, it has turned out to a commercial activity where some insincere politicians show up for being sympathetic to LGBT voters. On the other hand, in Turkey, maybe timidly or excitedly, it is an important possibility for most of us to mention that 'I am here'. In most of the old Soviet or Eastern Block countries, it is an activity where LGBT people are exposed to attacks, sometimes cannot be carried out but eventually just the attempt itself becomes the part of the struggle.After seeing the Toronto Pride parade 2 years in a row, and experiencing Istanbul Pride, there is a distinct difference in intentions and motivations. I think the West has forgotten what pride is all about - perhaps it is time that Western cities rethink the meaning of their pride parades. But I digress...
Another exciting day in Istanbul!
