Istanbul 2014
Istanbul. Istanbul. I have to write it at least twice, for there are few better words that conjure up in readers’ minds thoughts and feelings than Istanbul. Just the way the word rolls off the tongue is enough to bring up images of East meets West, of romance, of passion, of bygone days. It belongs with Marrakech, Berlin, Buenos Aries and Venice in triggering primeval reactions in the mind of anybody with a soul.
On a personal level I recall my parents coming back from there 30 odd years ago and my dad declaring it the best city break he’d ever been on. Bearing in mind he was extremely well travelled and loved Europe (and in particular Italy) that was praise indeed. Coupled with the knowledge that the Bosphorus Bridge connects Asia and Europe and races are held that start on one side and end on the other that meant Istanbul had to be ‘done’.
Looking up race details that presented a problem, as for some reason the race distances were a marathon, 15k, 10k and a fun run. No Half marathon. Still, the problem was easily solved. A marathon is simply too far, 10k is not worth jetting to Asia for, so 15k it was.
Once again Ryanair was booked and we flew out there on a Friday afternoon. A hotel was booked just off Taksim Square, as that was where a cavalcade of buses were to take us to Asia (!) on Sunday morning to start the race.
We wandered off to the largest souk in Europe. Again, words fail me when trying to describe the sights and sounds of the bazaar. It was comparable to Marrakech’s, but there was a European feel in that the sellers were more humorous in trying to get us to buy. “Please don’t break my plastic heart!” was one particular phrase that stuck with me.
We wandered off to see the Blue Mosque. Stunning.
Then we wandered off for dinner, in a small street by Taksim Square, which has to rank as one of the best meals of my life. What is impossible to convey in a blog post is the atmosphere of a place. For example, three couples came in to have dinner together, but the three women sat at one table, the guys at another. The sense was NOT men and women shouldn’t eat together, more of the women saying ‘let the men eat over there so they can talk football while we’ll sit here and chat about important things’.
A diner wanted fish, so the waiter went across the road to a fishmonger and returned with a selection of fish the diner could choose from.
The waiter wanted more business so persuaded a very attractive customer who was part of a small group to stand on the street with him to entice more people in.
A passing 3 person band stopped by and sang songs which the various tables joined in with, and then left without asking for money, implying they were a bunch of mates who wanted to amuse themselves by playing music and not for getting cash.
The food itself was my idea of perfection. Grilled meats and fish, salads, and rice.
And possibly wine. I seem to remember wine.
Sunday morning arrived all too soon and 15,000 people descended on Taksim Square to be ferried to the start in Asia (!). All well organised. As I stood there on the start line I pondered on the smallness of the world when budget airlines had taken me to three continents to run races during 2014 – Africa, Asia and Europe. That was still tickling me as the gun went and we were off.
I say off – any reader who runs these races knows that for the first 100/200 metres over the start line it is basically a walk/jog because of other runners. Here it lasted well over a km, as we were herded from the full width of the dual carriageway to just two lanes over the bridge, plus the sheer number of runners that stopped to take selfies on the bridge was astonishing (and effectively caused roadblocks).
The course was not a great one, it has to be said. After we’d left Asia (!) and crossed into Europe (dear reader, you have no idea how much I love writing that) and ran a few more km the finish line was in sight. Unfortunately we then had to turn away from it, run close to 5k and then turn round.
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| A lot of runners |
Still, that created a first. A guy ahead of me ducked under the rope, and headed back early. Runners on that side started fighting with him, telling him to get back and to run the proper distance!
The only other thing to mention on the run was that my third 5k was the quickest of the three. That was not down to a superb training regime but the difficulties of starting the running. The whole thing was done in 1h24, which is not a great time but acceptable under the conditions.
Now that the excuse for visiting Istanbul was out of the way it was time for another lunch and another wander. I judge cities on their wanderability. Taking Venice out of the equation as it is unbeatable Istanbul is right up there. The sights, sounds, monuments. Some had cautioned us about going to a Muslim country but to be frank you can’t tell. In no way would I call Istanbul a Muslim city if the number of headscarves worn is an indicator. Probably half a dozen? No issues in drinking in restaurants, so I’d say there are Muslims in Istanbul but not in the way Morocco is. Zero habibs/haqiqs.
I should mention the rain. It kind of rained most of the weekend, but it was a strange sort of rain. It was as though the clouds were saying “I want to rain down, but, I’m not sure. Here’s a drop. Or two. No, can’t be bothered. Oh, OK, you’ve got an umbrella up, I’ll send another drop. But not too many, or too often, otherwise more umbrellas will go up and I’ll have to properly rain. Which I can’t be arsed to do.” It was weird, as it went on like that for most of the weekend.
No write-up of Istanbul would be complete without mentioning Turkish Delights. Forget the ones one gets at Christmas in the UK, just enter any one of the dedicated sweet shops that sell so many variations on theme. All supremely delicious.
One of the sights I was desperate to see were the ancient basilica cisterns that were built in the 6th century BC and have appeared in classic movies ever since film was invented. Sadly the timing of the wandering was such that when we arrived they were closed, and early flights the next day precluded another visit.
Still, never mind. Just means I have to go back.
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