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February 23, 1997
What's Doing in Istanbul
By STEPHEN KINZER
Events
Sightseeing
Where to Stay
Where to Eat
More What's Doing Destinations
fter John F. Kennedy Jr. married Carolyn Bessette in one of the major social events of 1996, the couple stole away for the requisite romantic honeymoon. But unlike socialites past, they did not choose Paris, a Caribbean island or a Mexican resort. Instead they flew to Istanbul, the great metropolis on the Bosporus, one of the world's most fascinating and romantic cities.
This is, after all, the city of sultans and harems, long the seat of an immense empire, described over the centuries as the pole to which the world turns, the envy of kings, city of the world's desire. In one tribute, the Ottoman poet Nedim wrote: "O city of Istanbul, priceless and peerless! I would sacrifice all Persia for one of your stones!"
The warm weather arrives early in Istanbul, and from April through October much of public life is outdoors. This is the ideal time to discover marvelous old neighborhoods, take a boat ride along the Bosporus and dine under the warm sun or evanescent starlight.
Istanbul's status as the only city in the world that lies on two continents is more than simply a geographical curiosity.
When the climate turns irresistible, as it does early each spring, visitors can pick almost any part of the city, step out of a taxi and sense the extent to which this city combines the cosmopolitan flair of Western capitals with the exotic flavor of the East. It is overcrowded, noisy, unclean and chaotic, but highly dramatic and exciting.
With the number of Americans coming to Istanbul steadily rising, Delta Airlines has announced that beginning May 6 it will offer nonstop flights from New York, ending Turkish Airlines' monopoly on the route.
ultural life in Istanbul is at its peak in spring and summer. At the Ataturk Cultural Center, the city's largest concert hall, the spring schedule of the Istanbul State Opera includes performances of "Carmen," "Salome," "Lucia di Lamermoor," "Turandot" and "Aida."
Turkish and German jazz musicians take a turn on March 7. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra appears on June 19 to 20, and Ravi Shankar plays on July 4. Ticket prices range from $10 to $60; for information call 249-1135 (the country code for Turkey is 90, the city code for Istanbul 212 on the European side, 216 on the Asian side).
The Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, which also performs at the Ataturk Center, offers a series of concerts with such soloists as the pianist Gulsin Onay, May 16 and 17, and the saxophonist Atilla Sentin, May 23 and 24. Tickets are great bargains at $1.50 and $2; 251-0507.
At the modern Cemal Resit Rey hall behind the Hilton hotel, outstanding Fasil ensembles, who perform traditional Ottoman music on original instruments, will appear on March 3 and April 9.
The flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal plays on April 21 and 22, the Moscow-based Obraztsov Puppet Theater performs on April 23 and 24, and a concert blending the music of Turkish synagogues with that of the mystic Sufi order is scheduled for April 30. Tickets are $2.50 to $14; call 2332-9830.
Contemporary Turkish painting, not yet fully appreciated in other countries, will be on display at many of the city's leading galleries. Aksanat Art Center, 16 Zambakin in Beyoglu, will show the works of Tomur Atagok, who creates luminous paintings on metal surfaces, from March 13 to April 12, and follow with a show by the abstract painter Mustafa Ata May 1 to 30.
stanbul's legendary attractions live up to their reputations.
Two excellent books are "Istanbul," part of the colorful Knopf Guide series, and "Strolling Through Istanbul" by Hilary Sumner-Boyd and John Freely (Istanbul: Redhouse Press), which lays out a series of suggested walks.
In front of imposing edifices like the Topkapi Palace or Hagia Sophia are guides displaying Government-issued licenses. Many of these guides are erudite historians who have quit low-paying jobs as university professors and now offer private tours.
Be sure to take at least one stroll along Istiklal Caddesi, the pedestrian boulevard that was once the main street of Pera, Istanbul's European quarter. Here you can eat cheaply at cafeteria-style Turkish restaurants, sip strong coffee in tradition-shrouded cafes, buy porcelain and other handicrafts, and drop in at bookstores and art galleries. When you arrive at the far end of the boulevard, near Tunel Square, walk another couple of blocks to the 650-year-old Galata Tower and climb to the top for one of the city's most spectacular views.
Adjacent to Tunel Square, at 15 Galip Dede, is a 500-year-old monastery of the Mevlani Brotherhood, known to Westerners as whirling dervishes. The dancers perform their entrancing ritual for the public on the last Sunday of each month at 3 P.M. Admission is $4.75; 245-4141.
The neighborhood of Zeyrek, which lies in the shadow of an imposing Roman aqueduct about a mile northwest of the Topkapi Palace, offers a glimpse of what Istanbul life was like a century or more ago. Many wooden houses are still intact, and several have been lovingly restored by groups of architecture students.
Be sure to visit the Church of the Pantocrator, known locally as the Zeyrek Mosque, which was once part of a sprawling monastery complex famed throughout Byzantium.
Several companies offer boat rides along the Bosporus. Find a ferry at the Eminonu dock, near the entrance to the spice market (which you must visit for a sensual riot of colors and aromas) or call Turkish Maritime Lines for information, 522-0045. Prices range from $2.25 to $4.50.
Take advantage of the warm weather to visit Buyuk Ada, the largest of the Princes' Islands, which lie south of the city in the Marmara Sea. Its streets are lined with old wooden houses, and no cars are allowed; the principal form of transport is horse-drawn carriage. Ferries depart regularly from Eminonu. The round-trip fare is $2.25.
or a hotel that offers a true flavor of Istanbul, try one of the old wooden mansions that have been lovingly transformed into guesthouses. Two of the best, both in the center of the old city, are the 69-room Ayasofya Pension, 513-3660, fax 513-3669, on a pedestrian-only street (doubles: $100), and the 19-room Yesil Ev, 517-6785, 517-6785, fax 517-6780, where guests can relax in a handsome garden., recovering from the tumult outside. Doubles: $150. The décor at both is antique -- brass beds, hand-carved chairs and old carpets.
Budget: Good choices close to Istiklal Caddesi include the 85-room Bristol, 251-3855, fax 252-6117, near the American consulate, doubles: $60; and the 89-room Grand Hotel Halic, 252-6980, fax 249-7066, with its own Turkish bath, doubles: $54.
The 30-room Bebek Hotel, 263-3000, fax 263-2636, charges $80 for rooms with a Bosporus view. It is in an outlying neighborhood full of shops and restaurants.
Luxury: Two hotels offer the highest standards of comfort in unique surroundings.
The Ciragan Palace, 258-3377, fax 259-6686, with 295 rooms, lies on the shore of the Bosporus, and rooms facing the water offer balconies where you can enjoy breakfast while gazing across at Asia. Doubles: $225 to $650.
In the heart of the city, only a few steps from the main tourist attractions, the former municipal jail has become the Four Seasons Hotel, 638-8200 or, in the United States, (800) 332-3442, fax 638-8210, with just 65 tastefully decorated and sought-after rooms. Doubles: $225 to $800.
Turkish cuisine is not well known in the United States, but some consider it one of the world's great culinary delights. Don't just think lamb kebabs; Turkey's temperate climate and rich soil combine to make it a vegetarian's paradise, and because it is surrounded on three sides by water it offers enough seafood to impress even a New Englander.
With the arrival of warm weather, most restaurants move at least some of their tables outdoors.
For a panoramic Bosporus view from the Asian side, try Korfez, at 78 Korfez in Kanlica, 216-413-4314, where the newlywed Kennedys dined after asking a taxi driver to take them to the most romantic restaurant in Istanbul. What the taxi driver evidently did not tell the Kennedys is that the best way to get to Korfez is by taking its private yacht, which ferries diners from Europe throughout the day and evening throughout the day and evening from a cafe called Kale Cay Bahcesi in Rumelihisari. The owner says ideas come to him in dreams; how else could one come up with sole soufflé marinated in cognac and served with a sauce of béchamel and white asparagus purée? Dinner for two with wine costs about $150.
The view from Europe is no less memorable. Scores of seafood restaurants line the shore road that snakes northward along the European side of the Bosporus.
Among local favorites are Iskele, 1 Yahya Kemal in Rumelihisari, 263-2997, which lies in the shadow of the fortress from which Sultan Mehmet II launched his conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Its unusual appetizers include grilled hamsi, a very small Black Sea fish, and baked eggplant with garlic and lemon.
Or try La Mer, 114 Kefelikoy in Tarabya, 223-9671, where the young chef's creativity shines through in a variety of unusual dishes such as stuffed mussels with dill and spiced lobster flambé. Dinner for two is about $110 at Iskele and $75 at La Mer.
No one can claim to have dined like a Turk without spending at least one evening in a meyhane, at traditional drinking house.
The menu often includes a variety of seafood, and everything is washed down with raki, the potent anise-flavored national drink. At meyhanes one normally does not order a main course but works through an intimidating variety of mezes -- appetizers that range from cheeses and salads to bubbling stews cooked in small earthenware pots. One favorite is Yakup 2, 35 Asmalimescit in Tunel, 249-2925, which serves some of the best boreks -- rolled pancakes stuffed with cheese, spinach and other delicacies. Two other classics of the genre, both in Beyoglu, are Imroz, 24 Nevizade, 249-9073, and Kallavi 20 (address same as the name), 251-1010, where Ottoman music is played most nights. Two people can stuff and intoxicate themselves at such places for less than $50.
Still want kebabs? Try Haci'li Ocakbasi, 5 Guvercin in Levent, 278-4472, where the walls are covered with caricatures of local celebrities, or Kosebasi, 15 Camlik in 3. Levent, 270-2433, built around a traditional open grill. Both specialize in the cuisine of Adana, a city on Turkey's Mediterranean coast where appetizers and desserts are often encased in shredded wheat and many dishes are accompanied by strained yogurt. Or sample another of Turkey's best-loved cuisines, that of the eastern city of Gaziantep, at Develi, Balik Pazari Meydani in Samatya, 529-0833. Specialties include pistachio kebab and alenazik, a combination of ground lamb, eggplant purée and yogurt. Dinner at these houses costs about $60 for two with wine.
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