Ferry - 2 million; Coffee - 5 million; Dinner - 40 million; Dolmus - 12 million; Wedding Rings - 4 million; Riot Police...Priceless
On a good day in Turkey, millions of people in Istanbul move rhythmically like a gentle breath in and out through the streets. On a bad day Istanbul holds her breath leaving a bystander with a feeling of tension. On a really bad day thousands of riot police line the streets protecting themselves with shields, guns, and tear gas. Today just happens to be one of those days...
When we arrived to meet Dirim and her husband in Kadakoy everything seemed fine. The clouds were filled with rain but many people were out meeting with friends and enjoying the day. After crossing the street, Marc and I noticed that there was a large pack of police with shields on the far corner. We found a spot to stand by the theatre and waited for our 12 o'clock meeting. Didn't seem like the best place to be but Dirim was always very careful to tell me where not to go in the city and I was sure that she would be right along.
After waiting for over and hour and attempting the phone card twice with no success, several new packs of police similarly armed, marched past us. We were definiately in the middle of something big. When the flower selling gypsy women packed up their daisies, we took the cue and made our way down the road. Then we noticed that each side street was blocked off with police and armored cars. One last try with the calling card and we reached Dirim. She thought that she had said to meet at 2pm not 12pm but she would hurry and be there in 30 minutes. She told us how to get to a coffee shop near by and we would meet there.
As we approached the coffee shop, Marc heard chanting in the distance. We didn't wait to see who was coming. While we enjoyed our Nescafe, police and police photograpers came in to the coffee shop to get a clear shot at the gathered crowd. They locked themselves in one of the rooms in the cafe; no one was very forthcoming with any details.
Finally Dirim arrived and we left the coffee shop straight into a flag waving, chanting crowd of the Turkish Communist Party, surrounded by thousands of armed riot police. We all jumped in a taxi and went to lunch...Dirim apologized the whole way.
The prices have changed in Istanbul in 6 years but some things are still the same.
When we arrived to meet Dirim and her husband in Kadakoy everything seemed fine. The clouds were filled with rain but many people were out meeting with friends and enjoying the day. After crossing the street, Marc and I noticed that there was a large pack of police with shields on the far corner. We found a spot to stand by the theatre and waited for our 12 o'clock meeting. Didn't seem like the best place to be but Dirim was always very careful to tell me where not to go in the city and I was sure that she would be right along.
After waiting for over and hour and attempting the phone card twice with no success, several new packs of police similarly armed, marched past us. We were definiately in the middle of something big. When the flower selling gypsy women packed up their daisies, we took the cue and made our way down the road. Then we noticed that each side street was blocked off with police and armored cars. One last try with the calling card and we reached Dirim. She thought that she had said to meet at 2pm not 12pm but she would hurry and be there in 30 minutes. She told us how to get to a coffee shop near by and we would meet there.
As we approached the coffee shop, Marc heard chanting in the distance. We didn't wait to see who was coming. While we enjoyed our Nescafe, police and police photograpers came in to the coffee shop to get a clear shot at the gathered crowd. They locked themselves in one of the rooms in the cafe; no one was very forthcoming with any details.
Finally Dirim arrived and we left the coffee shop straight into a flag waving, chanting crowd of the Turkish Communist Party, surrounded by thousands of armed riot police. We all jumped in a taxi and went to lunch...Dirim apologized the whole way.
The prices have changed in Istanbul in 6 years but some things are still the same.
posted by Portfolio at 8:49 AM
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