Istanbul_ The Collected Traveler_ An Inspired Companion Guide - Barrie Kerper [96]
Q: You have written more than forty books, including A History of Robert College in two volumes; you teach physics; you write articles; you lead walking tours and boat trips; you research ancient civilizations; you’re a father and a husband; you allow people like me to come and interview you. How do you do it all?
A: I don’t sleep! You get an extra life that way.
Monuments
In what is a hallmark of the greatest cities, Istanbul offers a vibrant present set within a captivating past and visitors are advised to neglect neither.
—HG2 ISTANBUL
“My flight from Istanbul shall resemble Ibn Shakir’s flight from Baghdad under Mongol occupation.”
“In that case, you must head West instead of East,” said jealous Stork.
“To God belongs the East and the West,” I said in Arabic like the late Enishte. “But East is east and West is west,” said Black.
“An artist should never succumb to hubris of any kind,” said Butterfly, “he should simply paint the way he sees fit rather than troubling over East or West.”
—ORHAN PAMUK,
My Name Is Red
With bygone eras piled in archaeological layers one on top of the other, history oozes from the city’s every pore. On the surface, designer shops and trendy cafés appear and vanish at the speed of light, but underneath another world of architectural splendour remains beautiful and timeless. But in the face of such contrasts, and despite recent decades of ambitious and unsympathetic city planning, Istanbul has somehow managed to hang on to its undeniable charm.
—STYLECITY ISTANBUL
The Grand Seraglio
MARY CABLE
OF ALL the many pieces written on Topkapı, to my mind this is the very best one, for everything is here: descriptions of those who inhabited the palace, the sheer beauty of the buildings and the grounds, the cruelty, observations by visiting Europeans, the harem, the chief executioner, the intrigue, how dinner was served.… My favorite stories of Topkapı are those about the fancy dinners during the Lâle Devri (Tulip Period), during the reign of Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730). As the author relates here, dinner guests were treated to a spectacle worthy of a daydream. In his book Middle Eastern Food, Harry Nickles describes these dinners in greater detail: “When the April moon was full and floods of tulips burst into bloom in the palace garden, Sultan Ahmed’s table was set on a balcony overlooking an opulent scene. Lamps were hung about, along with caged canaries and glass globes filled with colored water. Sometimes whirling dervishes entertained the sultan with their madly spinning dance, or girls played catch with a golden ball. And lumbering among the tulip beds were turtles by the hundreds, each with a lighted candle mounted on its shell.” I, for one, cannot remove the image of those turtles from my head! If one has any doubts about how sumptuous life inside the palace was, training turtles to carry lit candles on their backs is all the proof one need produce!
It is stories like this that bring Topkapı to life, which is the key to making your visit meaningful and memorable. As with most other historic palaces in the world, there are few furnishings at Topkapı, so you really have to use your imagination or you’ll leave wondering what was so significant about it. I urge readers to visit the palace with a knowledgeable guide or with John Freely in hand.
I really like this piece not only for all of the fascinating details but also because it was written fifty