My first trip to Istanbul was in 2003. I visited many places during my one week vacation. I realized that one week was not enough to visit every place in such a big city mainly because of traffic congestion and crowds. As a first thing, I went one of the hills of Istanbul called “pier loti” to watch sunrise. The view was wonderful. I bought a glass of tea and a bagel, and I enjoyed the view.
Another thing that I enjoyed to do was eating fresh fish in Eminonu district which is located on sea shore. There were small boats where fish sellers were grilling fish and selling them. The sellers were fishing in the early hours of the day in the Marmara sea which is a sea that connects the black sea and the Mediterranean sea. There were many sellers there. Eating fish and seeing the Bosporus with flying seagulls on the seashore was quite different than just eating fish in the other cities for me.
When I went sightseeing I saw many different districts: wealthy, poor, religious secular, developed, and developing districts. The interesting thing was these districts were so close to each other. Why these districts were so different? The vital answer is Istanbul is the most immigrant taker city in Turkey. It means a person could see different aspects of Turkey in Istanbul. Those immigrants immigrated to Istanbul, and wanted to carry out their custom in the city. But, apparently, there is no problem between these districts as far as I observed and heard and saw in media. For example, it was fairly common to see a religious dressed woman and a secular dressed woman together while they were shopping or chatting.
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I can picture how beautiful Istanbul is. I hope I visit there someday. But, I'm curious Why some people settle in Istanbul. Just because there are great scenery and fresh fish?
ReplyDeleteI think Reiko makes a good point. It may be very interesting to try to find an overall concept to describe why Istanbul is so diverse and interesting. The danger here is to try to explain everything. Could the idea of eating fresh fish in Istanbul be a symbol or metaphor for a bigger idea about Istanbul?
ReplyDeleteFor example, if I were writing about Boise, I could use the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings as an example of one part of life here in Boise. But, I think its popularity is a symbol of Idahoans' desires to have a strong local economy that is not dependent on outside influences. In fact, I think a lot of Idahoans really value their own state and want to preserve some of the great things about it.
Is there something about Istanbul that you could use as an image to represent a big idea that could describe something about the whole city?
David
ReplyDeleteHey Yorgun is there any possibility to show how
the diverse populations in Istanbul do relate, I mean developed districts and no developed districts?
On the first paragraph you mentioned that there is an on-going project about a new underground railroad that will decrease traffic jam between "THE CONTINENTS", will America and Africa gona be part of this project? or it is just between Asia and Europe.
Hi Yurgan,
ReplyDeleteMe and my BF will be visiting this Thursday until Saturday. What do you recommend us to do in our short visit?
Please write to me suereyesjohnson@hotmail.com
hi! David
ReplyDeleteThe new underground railroad will be connected Asia and Europe.
In Istanbul there are 37 districts. The relationship between them is good because I think people are more tolerant to each other especially in big cities. For instance in the street you can see different dressed woman side by side.
Hi! Reiko
ReplyDeleteIt is worth it settling to Istanbul just the scenary of Istanbul and the fish. I am just joking. Most people settle there because there are many jobs in the city in where there are lots of factories. Other than this many people settle the city to open their shops. also the tourism is important for the city.The other reason is the city is exporting and importing city of Turkey.
By the way, my last name is yogun not yorgun( in my language tired) nor yurgan. Thank you for your all comments.
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