I have been going to Istanbul for 10 years now and each time I notice more and more things. Some would say strange things, Im gonna call them interesting crazy quirky things that make me love Istanbul. People ask me why I love Istanbul so much and why I want to live there, heres a few of the quirky things that make Istanbul so wonderful to me.
#1. The late night markets. Now, I'm not sure if these markets are legal are not. They seem pretty dodgy. Who sets a market up at midnight ? There run by Africans. Everything is laid out on tarpaulin sheets and as soon as they see sight of the police they sweep the sheets up with all their goods and run. Seems legit right ? You can get all sorts, snazzy sports shoes, watches, although Im not sure if I would buy a watch there, im sure it would fall apart within 24 hours. Phone chargers, clothes, all sorts. You see all the locals going crazy for it, getting bags and bags full of goodies. So there you have it, I love the ilegal night time markets.
#2. Children playing in the parks at night time. To us in England it sounds insane doesn't it ? Arent kids usually tucked up in bed asleep by 8pm ? Nah, not in turkey. There playing in the parks at midnight in the hundreds. Its so hot in the day time its just impossible to play in the parks, the metal will burn your hands, so come night time, after 10pm families take their children to the park and you can hear kids playing for hours. Arent they tired ? No, cos they probably don't get up till lunch time the next day. Lazy turks ;)
#3. The dessert shops. I love the dessert shops. This trip we went to a syrian shop in yusuf pasa and I had one of the best desserts ever. Dont ask me what it was, and if I even tried to describe it to you I would make it sound foul. But it was great. The amazing thing about these shops is the fact you can go get dessert at 3am and no one bats an eye lid.
#4 The kids weighing you on the street. Cos we all just walk along the street and think damn I need to be weighed right now I must know how much I weigh RIGHT NOW. And I must do it in public so every nosy bugger around me can see how much I weigh then shout it all for everyone to hear. In cemberlitas there is a blind man who weighs you, I always wonder if he tells you how much you weigh or if he just guesses.
#5 The dolmus buses. I have loved these all over turkey but in bodrum they stop about 1am. As far as I can tell they run 24 hours in Istanbul. There great and so cheap. There just these little mini bus type things that squeeze as many people in as possible then whiz off onto there route and they stop when you shout for them to stop. I wish we had them in England.
#6 Turks love children. I dont have kids but my friend Verity has a young boy Tomas and we know we can go almost anywhere and be welcomed with open arms with Tomas.
#7. The call to prayer. I never get sick of it, I love it, even when it wakes me up in the middle of the night. The city just seems to come alive and it sounds like all the mosques are singing to eachother.
