Middle East - Anthony Ham [455]
Bazaars Turkey’s bazaars are wonderful – you can find anything from fish to headscarves and knockoff designer clothes. If you go to a local bazaar, you can practice your bargaining as the locals watch the funny foreigner.
Rakı Rakı, the aniseed-flavoured, clear spirit that turns white when mixed, is not for the faint of heart: it’s strong stuff! But knock back a glass and you’ll be an honorary Turk in no time.
Atatürk He’s everywhere – wherever you are in Turkey, there’s bound to be a building that Atatürk visited. Like any good Turk, you should check out the museum or monument commemorating the occasion.
What’s your recommendation?
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For dessert, try fırın sütlaç (rice pudding), aşure (‘Noah’s Ark’ pudding, featuring up to 40 different ingredients), baklava (honey-soaked flaky pastry stuffed with walnuts or pistachios), kadayıf (syrup-soaked dough, often topped with cream) and dondurma (ice cream).
The famously chewy lokum (Turkish delight), widely available throughout Turkey, has been made here since the 18th century. For more information on Turkish cuisine, look out for Lonely Planet’s World Food Turkey guide. Also see the Food & Drink chapter, Click here.
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DRINK
The national hot drink, çay, is served in tulip-shaped glasses with copious amounts of sugar. Tiny cups of traditional Turkish kahve (coffee) are served şekersiz (with no sugar), az şekerli (medium sweet) or çok şekerli (very sweet). Unfortunately, Nescafé is fast replacing kahve and, in tourist areas, it usually comes sütlü (with milk).
The Turkish liquor of choice is rakı, a fiery aniseed drink like the Greek ouzo or Arab arak; do as the Turks do and cut it by half with water. Turkish şarap (wine), both red (kırmızı) and white (beyaz), is improving in quality and is worth a splurge. You can buy Tuborg or Efes Pilsen beers everywhere, although outside the resorts you may need to find a Tekel store (the state-owned alcoholic-beverage and tobacco company) to buy wine.
Ayran is a yogurt drink, made by whipping up yogurt with water and salt. Bottled water, packaged fruit juices and canned soft drinks are sold everywhere.
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İSTANBUL
Asian side 0216 / European side 0212 / pop 16 million
İstanbul’s populous neighbourhoods, dating from the Byzantine era, from the golden age of the Ottoman sultans and from recent, less-affluent times, form a dilapidated but ultimately cohesive mosaic. Here, you can retrace the steps of the Byzantine emperors when visiting Sultanahmet’s monuments and museums; marvel at the magnificent Ottoman mosques on the city’s seven hills; and wander the cobbled streets of the ancient Jewish, Greek and Armenian neighbourhoods in the city’s western districts. Centuries of urban sprawl unfurl before your eyes on ferry trips up the Bosphorus or Golden Horn.
The city’s feeling of hüzün (melancholy) is being relegated to the past, replaced with a sense of energy, innovation and optimism not seen since the days of Süleyman the Magnificent. Stunning contemporary art galleries are opening around the city, and the possibility of a European-flavoured future is being embraced in the rooftop bars of Beyoğlu and the boardrooms of Levent. There has never been a better time to visit.
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HISTORY
Late in the 2nd century, the Roman Empire conquered the small city-state of Byzantium – renamed Constantinople after Emperor Constantine moved his capital there in AD 330.
The city walls kept out barbarians for centuries while the western part of the Roman Empire collapsed. When Constantinople fell for the first time, it was to the misguided Fourth Crusade (1202–04).
In 1453, after a long, bitter siege, Mehmet the Conqueror marched to Aya Sofya (also known as Haghia Sofia or Sancta Sophia) and converted the church into a mosque.
As capital of the Ottoman Empire, the city experienced a new golden age. During the reign of Süleyman