Our last European train ride was on the Orient Express route with parts of the train originating in Belgrade and Sofia and others in Bucharest. We were playing cards in our compartment when all of a sudden we gaped at the sea; we hadn't seen open water since we left Portugal. As we entered Istanbul, the train tracks were following the Mediterranean coast on one side and the Byzantine city walls on the other. And just as we had passed under Topkapi Palace of the Ottoman sultans, the train came to a stop. We had arrived at the very end of the European continent; in front of the station was the Bosphorus and further beyond, Asia. We spent the afternoon of that day going back and forth on the many ferryboats that join the two continents. Sitting out on the deck we took in the aroma of sea and fish and watched the seagulls circle around the minarets of all the mosques that make up Istanbul's skyline.
After going to the bank we literally felt like millionaires since one US dollar is about 1.300.000 Turkish lira. We had to handle large wads of bills, anxiously counting the zeros in order not to make a mistake.
Wandering around Sultanahmet with our backpacks looking for a place to stay, beautiful Aziza caught our attention at a street corner outside her restaurant: "Can I help you? Yes? Hotel? I know very nice hotel, you know; it's a little expensive, but he give me special price, maybe." Confronting the honking traffic Aziza grabbed our hands and darted through the streets making sure her potential customers did not get run over by several taxis along the way. Grateful we returned to Aziza's restaurant many times and let her hypnotize us with homebaked bread, stuffed aubergines (eggplant) and vine leaves, yogurt with cucumber and garlic garnished with ground nuts and dill. And for desert: the sweetest watermelon we've ever had.
Not just Aziza, but all of Turkey welcomed us: "Hello my friend! How are you? Where you come from? How can I help you? Oh you come with me, yes I offer you apple tea or Turkisk coffee, yes, no business, no money, I just..." Everyone was a new friend, the best of the bestest friends always helping us to find the right shop or cafe, always giving us a very special price, just for us. We felt so special. All irony aside, we loved the charm of the hypnotic Turks. They're so cool they make you right at ease and before you know it you've been enveloped in a world of bazaars and a Thousand and One Nights. With the playful but sleepy arabesque music a constant in the background, we curled up on rugs and pillows in the cafes and sipped sweet tea while Jonas smoked the hookah / narguile.
In one such cozy cafe we were lucky to witness the dance of the Whirling Dervishes. In this prayer, danced to sacred Mevlevi music, the dervishes lift one arm towards heaven and the other towards the floor to show that the grace they receive from God is distributed to humanity without them retaining any of that grace. We hope our short movie is able to capture some of the magical moment we experienced.
Islam created a peaceful rhythm to our stay in Istanbul. The overlapping voices of the muezzins calling for prayer created a citywide chorus in minor that interrupted our wanderings about five times per day. Both of us were moved by the beauty of the mosques, especially the Blue Mosque right behind our hotel. We think that the simple ornamentation of the interiors is more stimulating for prayer than the oppressive imagery and icons of the Christian church.
Amongst the capitals of Europe that we have visited on this trip, Istanbul gets the highest ranking. |
