Istanbul_ The Collected Traveler_ An Inspired Companion Guide - Barrie Kerper [177]
The Beauties of the Bosphorus: Illustrated in a Series of Views of Constantinople and its Environs, by Julia Pardoe with illustrations by W. H. Bartlett (George Virtue, London, 1838). I have never seen a copy of this book, so I suppose this can’t truly be a recommendation. But when you read about a book that is mentioned by everybody as the absolute best, you begin to think so, too, and that’s the case with this one. When I last checked, copies of this very rare volume were priced between $862 and $2,263. Some reprinted editions were published in 1840 and 1855. Some volumes feature seventy-eight steel engravings by Bartlett; one has the addition of an appendix on the Crimean War; others feature marbled endpapers and gilt-edged pages. Though Pardoe has been referred to as “dull,” this chronicle of her travels to Turkey with her father in 1835 has been described as “one of the most popular and attractive of all books on the Bosphorus.” Author Chris Hellier says that Pardoe “sought to record the traditional customs and the settings of the city before they changed beyond recognition.” It seems a paperback edition was published not long ago, also by George Virtue, but I can’t bring myself to buy it as it can in no way live up to the hardcover editions. So I mention this undoubtedly valuable book for those who may be able to purchase a copy without making too great a dent in their savings. (If you are lucky enough to secure a copy, I hope you’ll write to me, describing it in full. I thank you in advance!)
My parents stopped in Istanbul for a few days in 1991 with eleven friends before boarding their chartered gület for a once-in-a-lifetime sail along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. My mother, Phyllis, told me, “We were much younger then and wanted to experience ‘real’ Istanbul so we booked rooms at a modest hotel in Sultanahmet, a perfect decision … charming, quaint in so many ways. And one of my best memories was the dinner prepared for us in the hotel’s garden: the food was wonderful, the wine never stopped flowing, service was outstanding, and it was altogether a magical night. Another great memory—and I have so many—is sighting a very large Russian ship on our ride up the Bosphorus. The first Gulf War had just ended, and the Cold War was over, so seeing that Russian flag and knowing how close we actually were to the Black Sea … well, the geography of Istanbul really hits you.” After their trip, the group continued to get together periodically for fun evenings of reminiscing. They even wrote their own lyrics to songs, like this one, sung to the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”:
Mine eyes have seen the seven hundred jewelry stores of gold,
Leather shops where jackets, pocketbooks, and shoes and belts are sold,
Among the brass you’re apt to find Aladdin’s Lamp, I’m told,
It’s Istanbul’s Bazaar!
Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!
Merchants grab you like they knew ya …
And so on. (Perhaps you had to be there.)
Edirne
Edirne is rarely considered by tourists as anything other than a stopover on the road to Istanbul. Luckily, the town seems entirely unperturbed by this “neglect,” and remains a bustling centre of modern Turkish life in all its forms, with the added colour of constant through traffic from Greece and Bulgaria. Visitors who do pause to take an interest will find a surprising amount of impressive architecture—Edirne was briefly the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and many of the key buildings are still in excellent shape.
—LONELY PLANET TURKEY
Edirne’s Architectural Feast
GODFREY GOODWIN
EDIRNE MAY BE long past its zenith, but its hoard of great Islamic buildings is still unparalleled, as the author details in this piece that originally appeared in The New York Times.
GODFREY