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Later, we learned that the bomb went off as our plane was taking off for Istanbul. When we landed, I opened my phone to find it full of texts from concerned friends who knew about our travel plans – making sure we were safe.
We are, but we recognize that Istanbul is shaken.
The next morning, as we walked around town, there were security guards all over the place, but somehow it didn’t bother us. Our tour guide explained that tours were canceled left and right. Entire cruise ships leave port early or change itineraries entirely to avoid Istanbul.
In this complex world, the last thing anyone in Istanbul or elsewhere needs is another terrorist attack – yet the day after the attack (our first day in the city), wherever we go Where, people are bending over backwards to welcome us, share their cities and help us find our way to enjoy the sights, sounds, incredible aromas and flavors of this magical place where East meets West.
In any city of 15.6 million people, there’s a lot to see and do, but learning more about the place’s remarkable history expanded my horizons and helped me do the essential job of bringing my former self to life. Connect the dots without knowing they can be connected (about the Greeks, the Romans, Christianity, Islam, the Crusades, the Silk Road, baklava, etc.).
For example, when we visited Topkapi Palace, where every sultan of the Ottoman Empire lived from 1470 to 1923 (for reference, that’s about twice as long as the United States has been a nation), our guide pointed out that Hagia Erin is on the left as we enter the courtyard of the palace. I asked if we could go in. He said we could but there was nothing to see.
“The crusaders took everything,” he said.
He’s not kidding.
I’m not sure if it’s just fact or a generational bitterness. Either way, when we actually got inside this Greek Orthodox church that was built in AD 315 (for those of you playing at home, that’s 2,000 years ago), he explained that there was nothing more to do It was restored due to the actions of the Crusaders about a thousand years ago. To be fair, Hagia Irene burned down in AD 532 and was rebuilt with stronger materials and it remained a church until the Turks conquered the city in 1453 (again, meaning it was a Christian church for over a thousand years years of history).
The wonders of St. Elena’s Cathedral, Topkapi Palace, whirling dervishes and hammams are all magnificent, but even these only scratch the surface of what we experience here. Bringing it all in would make a girl dizzy – which is why the next day’s food tour added to the sensory overload as I tried to argue the incredible twists and turns of the Istanbul timeline.
Dishes were even tastier than expected. For Turks, freshness is a priority – our food guides, for example, painstakingly timed our travels through the city (both on both sides of Europe and Asia) to ensure we arrived at the very best the moment they arrived The baklava spot is the snack of the day right out of the oven.
Video taken on Nov. 16 at the edge of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey.
Despite all these wonders, by far my favorite moment is after all the travelling. My husband and I just got off the ferry back to Europe from Asia. We stopped along the waterfront to enjoy the scenery. A fisherman is fishing. The mosque behind us is calling for believers to pray, and local families join us in admiring the beauty of the ordinary. I decided to take a picture of the scenery.
To my delight, while nothing major was happening, it was as if all good things were right in front of us, and I happened to be filming this scene, which played out like a series of scripted moments of joy. The children are laughing. Mothers are loving. Fisherman is fishing. It’s the opposite of all the grandeur or fear we’ve seen or felt by many. Its purity brought tears to my eyes.
Nick Cave is quoted as saying: “The bright and shocking beauty of everyday life is something I try to keep vigilant about, if only as an antidote to the chronic cynicism and disillusionment that seems to surround everything these days. It tells me that although we To be told how depraved or corrupt human beings are, how depraved the world has become, and yet it is still beautiful.”
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