L ong after I returned from Istanbul, resounding in my head were the words“my friend”. Friends surround- ed me as soon as I landed at the air- port, and friendly greetings followed me wherever I went. Although the greetings came from traders, the most skilful and ex- perienced I’ve ever come across, I’m not be- ing sarcastic about their friendly greetings. That’s because trading is for them more than merely exchanging for money, rather it is a centuries-old ritual in which I, unfortunate- ly, have never been a worthy competitor. My clumsiness in bartering frustrated the Turkish traders to such an extent that they would, as a rule, give me some bonus when I purchased goods, angry that I wasn’t more persistent in bartering. However, in my de- fence, if you only have three days to visit as many sights as possible, you can forget about traditional bartering and trade, be- cause you have to hurry. Believe it or not, this city that could hold seven Belgrades is easiest to tour on foot. That is, of course, if you’re only aiming to tour the main tourist attractions, which are so conveniently close to each other that a leisurely stroll through Istanbul is the most e ective option for a sightseeing tour. And if you are in Istanbul for the rst time, you simply must visit Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the unavoid- able Grand Bazaar. The Blue Mosque, or Sultan Ahmed Mosque, is the only mosque in the whole of Turkey to have six minarets. The decision to build them was unbelievable at the time, because until then only the Great Mosque of Mecca, the largest of all shrines, had six minarets. In order to correct this error, Sul- tan Ahmed nanced the construction of a seventh minaret for the Great Mosque. In- terestingly, one of the architects of the Blue Mosque was Mimar Hajrudin Aga, who also built the famous Old Bridge in Mostar. The Blue Mosque is today among Istanbul’s most visited sites. It owes its name to its ceramic tiles from Nicaea in blue and white shades – over 20,000 of them, which still mesmer- ise visitors with their beauty. When you step into the mosque, regardless of the fact that you enter directly from the hustle and bus- tle of the city and the huge crowds that are inevitable at the entrance, you will be over- whelmed by the absolute tranquillity that reigns here. If you continue straight ahead uponleavingthemosque,yourpathwilllead you directly to Hagia Sophia. Legend has it that Sultan Ahmed ordered the construction of the Blue Mosque in order to leave some- thing bigger than Hagia in his name. Unlike the Blue Mosque, where you’ll have to re- move your shoes and don a headscarf, you can enter Hagia Sohpia casually dressed, as
Grad koji u sebe može da smesti sedam Beograda najlakše je obilaziti peške The city that could hold seven Belgrades is easiest to tour on foot
BAZAR / BAZAAR
ma, bazari su uvek bili sigurna mesta na koja se ne ulazi pod oružjem. Na prostoru gde se Istok sudara sa Zapa- dom, jedna stvar oduvek ima primat, a to je trgovina. U trgovini nije bitno odakle dolazite i koje ste vere. Bitno je da znate da trgujete. Iako vam Ka- pali čaršija možda deluje kao nemilo- srdno mesto, to je samo privid. Jedno od osnovnih pravila bazara je moral, a poštovanje je iznad profita. Još omamljena od cenkanja, šet- nje i gomile ratluka i baklava koje sam probala, dokopala sam se male, zaklo- njene, tradicionalne kafanice sa pra- vom turskom kafom. Unutra je sedeo vlasnik, gospodin u godinama po ime- nu Rafael, a ja sam bila jedina mušte- rija, što mi je dalo šansu da degusti- ram pomalo od svega što ima u svojoj kafanici. Tako sam otkrila ajran, tra-
dicionalno tursko piće, koje bih vam opisala kao slani jogurt. Pila sam ga naiskap, uz jaku i gorku kafu, dok je Rafael posmatrao u čudu i iščekivao katastrofu. Vratila sam se i sutradan po istu kombinaciju, a i dan nakon toga. Možda nisam impresionirala istanbul- ske trgovce, ali Rafaela sam, priznao mi je, ostavila bez teksta. Ostaviti bez teksta čoveka iz grada čuda kroz koji dnevno prođe milion turista i koji de- cenijama to sve posmatra nije zane- marljiv poduhvat, zar ne? Iz Istanbu- la sam se vratila sa torbama punim ratluka i parfema, ali i sa zavisnošću od ajrana i sa gomilom novih ukusa i mirisa. Bila su to tri dana ispunjena čudima, posle kojih sam uverena da je Napoleon odlično znao šta govo- ri kad je Istanbul proglasio prestoni- com sveta.
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