I’m in Istanbul — floodlit minarets out my window in a hot and muggy room after a great first day of filming. I’m getting this blog entry up pronto because of the horrible bombing here 24 hours ago, which killed at least 17 people and injured more than 150.
Apparently, many Americans heading for Turkey saw the news and wonder if it’s still safe. The thought honestly didn’t even occur to me until I got back into the room tonight and read my email from our office saying some of the people signed up on our tours were concerned. My first thought was not to dignify the unfounded fear with a response. But that’s not fair. When you are half a world away and just watching the news, it is understandable that you might overreact. Let me just recount my day.
In this city of well over 10 million people, this is a tragedy. But (as I commented to Simon, my TV director, as we returned after 10 hours of shooting all over town today) I’m impressed by how I felt no tension on the streets because of this event. Of course, it’s on the Istanbul news big time tonight, but the city is as fun-loving and lofty as ever.
Our last shot of the day — looking from the Galata Bridge over a churning harbor at the Topkapi Palace sitting in a green bed of trees, with huge red Turkish flags flying and a skyline spiky with minarets — I commented to Simon that this city is uniquely graceful to the eye. Even though it’s rough…it still has the fragrance of a harem girl dancing for a sultan.
Istanbul is a far cry from Denmark, where I was just yesterday. Even at the Turkish Airlines gate at the Copenhagen airport, I knew we weren’t in Denmark anymore. The Turks talked louder and their kids were unruly. The flight was a bit of culture shock — horrible sound system, grainy 1980s-vintage video, families jabbering noisily as their children bounced all over. (Just between you and me, that’s why I enjoy traveling in Turkey more than Denmark.)
Riding the taxi in from Atatürk Airport, we drove along the Bosphorus — packed with ocean-going freighters, most Russia-bound. Passing along the harborfront, I remembered it a few years ago — littered with beggars, homeless people, shantytowns of immigrants camping out and in search of jobs. Today it’s a sleek European-style park. And, as it was Sunday evening, it was filled with families out wrapping up their weekend with a picnic.
This morning, as we set out to film, I met my friend and local guide Lale (who’s helping us with this shoot). She told me of the horrible bombing. We stopped by a government office to see if we had extra concerns with permissions and getting on public transit with a big camera and our gear. There was no change in our access for filming things in town.
I was hoping to be in the hotel all day, catching up on writing, while Simon and our cameraman got all the B-roll (beautiful exteriors). But a thunderhead sent the crew in, and we changed plans to shoot indoor things.
As usual, the script is too long. It could be two shows…but I think I’d rather do Istanbul dense in half an hour. Simon and I cut the home visit to Lale’s nice suburban condo in a gated community (where I hoped to show how modern Turks live, and introduce their little 14-month-old boy to our audience).
We also cut the fancy deli, and cut the attempt to film merchants in the Grand Bazaar pitching their goofy, sentimental, and clever sales lines. (“Don’t I know you? Love is blind but never mind. Can I sell you something you don’t need? Please, where are you from? Special price today…just for you, my friend.”) Most wouldn’t talk to the camera, as they seem to have been recently burned by TV cameras doing negative stories. One guy said, “You just want to make us look bad.” I said, “No, I want to make you look good. Are you bad?” He said, “We are bad, yes. But we don’t want to lookbad.”
In the far end of the bazaar, my favorite goldsmith did his thing — melting the off-cuts and sweepings into a little brick of solid gold — for our camera. In three minutes, it went from loose shavings to molten metal poured into a mold, cooled in a bucket of water, polished with newspaper, and into my hands. Being the first to hold that brand-new, four-pound brick of gold there in that funky, ramshackle, hot hole-in-the-wall was fun…and great TV.
We worked all day. The security was as tight as London’s (where I was a couple of weeks ago). Guards with metal-detecting wands did a cursory wave over us as we entered the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market.
I was tuned into the people around us. At first, it was the cruise-ship people — filling the Hippodrome square and the main street in the Grand Bazaar. Then, simply stepping into the thriving market streets beyond the touristy zone, there were absolutely no tourists and a festival of telegenic local faces.
There are a lot of tourists in town. At lunch, I met an enthusiastic group who took our Turkey tour last year and have returned to explore the country again. I think I met more American tourists in Istanbul today than I did all last week traveling through the Danish countryside (outside of Copenhagen, which has lots of Yanks).
I’ve always wanted to film Istanbul’s fish boats cooking up their fish right on their bobbing deck, and serving it up in hunks of bread wrapped in newspaper. (This Istanbul fast food is a sentimental memory from my teenage visit here.) With the boats rocking wildly, we bought our sandwiches. As I sat down to eat mine, a bird strafed me. It was as if yellow mustard (the expensive kind, with the grains in it) just squirted out of the sky. A streak landed on my sleeve, and another on the thigh of my pants. I heard a third squirt land in the vicinity of my sandwich. When I surveyed my fried mackerel, it was the same rustic yellow — camouflaging whatever may have landed there. Lale said, “That’s why we don’t like pigeons.” Simon tried to comfort me, saying, “It’s probably mostly mackerel, anyway.” I still couldn’t finish my snack.
The slick new city tram — notoriously crowded through the day — was not jammed after rush hour. So we hopped on and filmed it as we returned to our hotel. We met a beautiful woman in an amazing black scarf covered with bangles (imagine I Dream of Jeannie at an Irish wake). I asked her man where they were from…thinking Oman or Sudan or Kilimanjaro or something really exotic. They said Istanbul. I said, “Çok güzel”(very beautiful), and thought, “I guess if you need to cover your head…you can do it with panache.”
Oh, back to my reason for the blog entry: Should you travel to Istanbul? Who am I to say? Some people will, and some people won’t. Those who won’t…can see a great show about it on public TV this coming October.
You can lessen your chances of crashing in an airplane by not flying also.
Rick it was great meeting you today in the Grand Bazaar! I really enjoyed talking. I heard about the bombing in the morning and never thought twice about going out sightseeing for the day. There wasn´t a difference in the atmosphere of the city compared to previous days. I have felt just as safe here as any other Western European country. Istanbul is a great city. Big time sights and plenty to do. But it also offers great insight into the Muslim culture while still feeling like you are in Europe. It´s great to come here and witness the culture first hand. It definitely is that cherry on the top for a backpackers tour of Europe. Paul from Nebraska.
Hello, I agree with Rick. I was traveling through India many years ago and there was a bombing in the city I was at. It was tragic but I felt fine still siteseeing. The locals were still going about daily life. Tragedies can happen anywhere including back home. I just arrived in Paris this morning. Its a beautiful day here. I cant wait to see the new show.
We left the SS Odysseus at 8:00 AM to sight see on our own. Outside the port building, a long line of busses were waiting for those who paid for a tour. Before we crossed Galata Koprusu, the bridge over the Golden Horn, we walked past a line of sidewalk vendors selling bread and other kinds of pastry, fishing boats offering fish for sale, and there’s a ferryboat terminal, disgorging crowds of people. On the “other†side of Galata Koprusu, the Yeni Cami (Mosque) has a maybe a dozen curved stair steps. Our photo shows a thousand pigeons perfectly lined on the edge of each stair, and on the wires above, almost as if placed there by a drill sergeant! When we returned a few hours later, some of the pigeons had been fed, others were still hopeful. We re-crossed the bridge over the Golden Horn on the way back to SS Odysseus. It was nearing lunch time, the restaurants were becoming crowded, the fishermen were still selling fish, the street stands were still selling pastries, the ferryboat terminal was still disgorging passengers, a thousand pigeons were eating, others waited to be fed. Those same street scenes will continue until we return, some day soon. The bridge, Bogazici Koprusu, that crosses from European Istanbul to Asian Istanbul, is crowded with vehicle traffic. They said that before the bridge was opened it took 20 minutes to cross by ferryboat, and now it takes 45 minutes to cross by vehicle. I was unusually tired this day, unbelievably tired, when I consider my usual travel-energy, and amazingly tired when I remembered that we are in Istanbul, and for the first time! I had an awful ache in my back, in the muscle just above my wallet. I thought it must be from reaching for it so often. Sweetie thinks the soreness is because my wallet muscle just hasn’t been exercised enough, in the Grand Bazaar, Istanbul, Turkey.
No visit to Istanbul is complete without dining at one of the many fine Bosphorus view restaurants up high – i.e. Sunset Grill and Bar, Ulus 29, Vogue, etc.
I was in Cairo a few years back and there was a terrorist bombing a few blocks from where our tour was being conducted. It was a horrible feeling that we could have been a few blocks over and we could have been hurt or worse..It was the second of five days in Cairo, we were uneasy at first-then everything felt fine and had a wonderful time. However, this type of travel is not for everyone, could this happen anywhere? sure, but not as likely as certain places…
Happy travels in Turkey! It sounds full of adventure.
I like that you’re posting so frequently lately.
My wife and I spent 9 wonderful days in Istanbul last October. Istanbul has an extraordinary number of amazing things to see and do. Even with 9 days we didn’t get to everything on our list. Your Istanbul guidebook was very useful. Your detailed guide to the Church of Chora made it seem like you were there with us. I was surprised by the intense nationalism of the Turks. We attended the Republic Day parade & fireworks on October 27. It was a sea of red flags and the vast crowd went wild with the display of military hardware. The people are very friendly, however, and we experienced no hostility to Americans.
Bomb goes off in a village = big deal for the village. I would probably avoid the area. Bomb goes off in a city of 10 million = not so big a deal. I would hardly think about it. Concern should be equal to the odds. A lot of people do not have a good understanding of odds. Of course, war zones would be a different formula.
You also lessen your chances of getting in a car accident by not driving, getting AIDS by never having sex or needing a blood transfusion, stubbing your toe by never walking, or getting hit by a hurricane by not living on the gulf coast. You can also lessen your chances of getting hit by a meteor by … umm … dying so that you’re buried in the ground and request that you get buried about 7,000 feet in the ground.
In 2006 when we were in Istanbul,my brother in law called us before we left very worried, because he actually works security for an BIG International company and he gets really inside notices all over the world. Well we felt very safe in Istanbul even though they had recently had some bombing then too. So we just felt safer staying out of the grand Bazar and Spice market and just stayed around street venders instead. I know we probably missed a great experience but we felt that was the place where most of the trouble occurs.
My husband and I visited Turkey in October 2005. miee What a wonderful trip! We still talk about the sites we saw and the wonderful people we encountered. One day our bus broke down on the way back from a day’s outing. While we were waiting for another, the migrant workers from eastern Turkey who were there to harvest the sweet potato crop began to come up from their campsites over the hill to the highway to see what was happening. One man had his little child with him and we invited them on our bus. The child was delightful and even though we couldn’t understand each other, I think we all got something out of it. Travel on, Rick.
Rick, It’s too bad that your updating your show and bringing more attention to Istanbul. That means the word may get out on this beautiful, modern city and more US tourists will start to come. My wife and I were there in April and absolutely loved Istanbul. It was an amazing time. Everyone I’ve spoken with thats travelled there, has not said one bad thing about the city. The mix of the Muslim culture with modern European type amenities, made for a perfect combination. I liked it so much I convinced by brother, who you met in the Grand Bazaar, to check it out on his month long backpacking trip. Btw, your Istanbul book is excellent. Eric in Nebraska
I live half the year in Oman and my wife sent me your blog on Istanbul. I receive the same comments when I leave for Oman. Is it safe? What about the people? I lived in Istanbul some 4/5 years ago and while I am sorry for the tragedy and sympathetic to the Turkish people, never would I miss an opportunity to visit this magical place. We are reading you for our planned trip to France next year.
Hi Rick! As a fan of your DVDs I wonder if you’ve ever considered using some of that footage that doesn’t make it into the regular shows in a DVD package. With a DVD there’s no reason to limit a show to 30 or 60 minutes. By the way, I do want to say thank you for these programs, and especially for making them available on DVD. Whenever I pop one in my kids come running! They think they’re getting away with some extra TV time. I’m grateful that they’re soaking up some world culture. They’re sure not getting any in school!
We have sailed into and out of a dozen major ports in various parts of the world, and we believe Istanbul must have the most breath-taking setting of any harbor. Sweetie was shocked to see how hard the laborers had to work to move huge carts loaded to overflowing with carpets, clothes, pots and pans, and the other thousands of products that are sold at the 4,000 shops in the Grand Bazaar. Many times the huge pile of “goods†were just loaded on the back of some hardworking man. No way motor vehicles could be used, and thousands of stores must be stocked with things to sell. The Bazaar burned in 1546, 1618, 1652, 1660, 1695, 1701, 1750, 1791, 1826, 1954: there were earthquakes in 1766, 1894. The famous Süleyman Mosque (Sultan Ahmed), is best known as the Blue Mosque, for the blue tile in the interior. Before we entered the Mosque, we had to take off our shoes and leave them on a shelf at the entrance, with hundreds of others. Wonder if everyone always takes the same shoes when they leave? Inside, the Süleyman Mosque (Blue Mosque) is huge, and huge, and huge! We don’t know how else to describe it. The floors are covered with hundreds and hundreds of rugs, (would you believe Turkish rugs?) and there is blue tile everywhere. That just is not a sufficient description! But what can we say? The St. Sophia Mosque, originally a Byzantine Christian church, became a mosque in 1453, and the mosaic murals of saints and angels were covered with colored plaster. In 1935 (500 years later), the plaster was carefully removed when the Turkish government declared it a museum. The dome of St. Sophia Mosque is huge, and high, and old, and so large that building engineers say it can’t be built, and will not stay in one piece if it were. Another one of the “bumblebee†buildings that has existed ‘lo these many centuries. The green marble columns inside are said to have been moved here from Ephesus.
Philosophically I’m in tune with Rick Steves’ attitudes, but as a practical person with a wife I have to protect, I empathize with customers who worry after a bomb has exploded in a city he advertises. And it is to a great extent about marketing, isn’t it? There are places in the world where travelers are simply more at risk than others. I have been to some. And when I was working, I actually required some employees to avoid certain places even though they worked with great personal latitude and had what is apparently today called street credentials. Nobody’s safety should be sacrificed for somebody else’s definition of “adventure”.
My husband and I were in Istanbul in May 2005. Our favorite thing to do was to sit in the park between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia in the evening and watch the lights come on the Mosque while listening to the tea (chai) sellers. We travelled around Turkey with a group of geologists and were always welcomed by the beautiful Turkish people. When family pointed out that we were going to a “dangerous” country, I just mentioned that we live just 15 min. away from the Murrah Bldg. in OKC. We hope to go back to savor more of that wonderful and ancient country.
Hi Rick, My wife ran into you on Istiklal Street today and told you that your show was one of our favorites when we lived in the US. (She was the one who you told had a cute baby.) She was very sincere about offering our/my assistance should you ever need it. I’ve lived here a total of 6 years now, but before setting foot in Turkey my first introduction to the country was your video on Istanbul that I checked out from the library back in 1999. Turkey has since become the site of my PhD research and, more importantly, the place where I met my wife. Over the years I have been here during numerous terrorist attacks and always get email from worried family and friends, sometimes even before I am aware of the incident. Just a couple weeks before the bombing you mention above was the attack on the US Consulate, which happened the same day our daughter was born. As soon as the sun was up in the States I called my family to let them know about the birth and to assure them that we had been nowhere near the attack. As for the other attack – the one by the bird – I hope Lale let you know that it’s considered good luck in Turkey to get pooped on by a bird. Almost any Turk will tell you that the proper response, after chucking the sandwich, is to buy a lottery ticket. :-) Keep up the good work, and safe travels!
I would totally go to Istanbul today if I had the time, the recent bombing wouldn’t bother me. Honestly, the DHS saying that border guards can take your laptop away at the border and never give it back and never give you a reason has me more scared than any rogue religious nut with more dynamite than brains. Terrorists don’t scare me, losing the Bill of Rights scares me.
Robert, You got that right! Amendment 4 – Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Thanks for the update. We have tickets to Istanbul for next April and look forward to our visit driving down the Aegean & Mediterranean coast. Rick, we started our independent traveling because of your shows & books about Italy, following along your path. We have since jumped off (although we always have your books to reference) and have visited Paris, London, Southern Spain, Australia, Egypt and now Turkey. I’m looking forward to India & China in the next few years. Thank you for being such a wonderful catalyst in opening our minds to foreign experiences.
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