Istanbul. Our room with a view. |
Recently, Husby and I made a once-in-a-lifetime trip to
Istanbul.
A fantastic, astonishing, amazing, astounding, surprising,
wonderful, beyond-our-wildest-imaginings trip.
I guess telling you we enjoyed it would be moot by this
point.
We stayed in an old mansion (built in 1835) turned hotel in
the old city, overlooking the Golden Horn and just down from the Galata bridge
which marks the boundary between the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus Straight.
Husby studied the life of Suleiman, the Magnificent when completing
his doctorate, so the area and the people and the architecture are very, very
close to his heart.
We explored the old city. The mosques. The museums. The
markets.
And it is this last that I wanted to talk about . . .
The markets in Istanbul are amazing. Crowds of people
sandwiched and moving slowly between piles of goods. The scent of spices,
roasted meat and corn, coffee, incense and perfume in the air.
I guess you can guess I loved it!
At the end of the day, the markets were closed. The people
somehow stuffed the contents that had been spilling out into the narrow street
back into their shops.
And the ‘blanket’ shops appeared in front of the stores.
Anywhere there was a sidewalk, these intrepid salesmen
spread blankets and arranged piles of goods. It wasn’t unusual to see some man
stripping off his shirt to try on one from the neatly-arranged stack before
him. There were hardware supplies, kitchen utensils, food stuffs, knickknacks,
leather goods, glassware. Everything you could imagine that could be easily
carried and that someone could find useful.
But one man stood out from the rest.
Or rather, sat out from the rest.
An elderly man, we found him daily on his frayed, but spotless,
blanket with pairs of used shoes spread neatly about him. Shoes meticulously
cleaned and just as meticulously arranged.
Now to the rest of the story. My fellow traveller and good friend,
Carol, and I had scoured the shops for a bargain on shoes. We had found one.
And each purchased a pair.
Then Carol had the brilliant idea of taking our used shoes
to our elderly salesman.
We did so.
Yeah. I’m, a follower.
He took them and looked them over. Testing the soles. Studying
the uppers closely. Finally, he looked up at us and, through the kindly
interpretations of the shopkeeper next to him, asked us our price.
“Oh, nothing,” Carol said, quickly. “We’re giving them to
you.”
Then we saw the biggest smile we’d ever seen break over that
seamed, elderly face. A smile with few teeth but lots of heart.
He got up and shook Carol’s hand. Then mine. Nodding and
continuing to smile. Then he looked at Husby, who was wearing cream-coloured walking
shoes, and pointed to his shoes. He then indicated his own well-worn, but still
stout boots. His gesture was obvious. Trade?
Husby laughed and shook his head.
The salesman laughed, too and spread his hands in a ‘can’t
hurt to ask’ gesture.
After that, whenever we walked past, he would greet us, his ‘Canadian
friends’.
Now I don’t know what he could have gotten for our old
shoes. A few lira perhaps.
But the funny thing? When I think of that amazing,
stupendous trip, that is the experience that stands out the most.
I wonder why that is . . .
Smiles and feelings of friendship always stand out the most.
ReplyDeleteThat is so true!
DeleteSo very heartwarming ... sniffling here ...
ReplyDeleteSorry about the sniffles. But my job here is done! :)
DeleteLovely! Sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Cyn!
DeleteYou can so totally see it! And smell it...!
ReplyDeleteYay! It was such a special experience!
DeleteIstanbul is in the top 5 places I've always wanted to visit. Sounds like a fascinating trip. Beautiful descriptions.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Laurie! I can't encourage you enough to visit. It was truly the trip of a lifetime! I LOVED it!
DeleteA completely unselfish thing to do always lives on in the mind when accompanied by such a smile as you received.
ReplyDeleteThat smile was definitely all the payment we needed!
DeleteWhat a wonderful experience to take home from your trip - and what an amazing place to visit! My husband hates markets and people packed together - I love them and all the colours and smells.
ReplyDeleteI normally hate shopping, but I loved these markets! I could just spend my whole day wandering up and down the street!
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