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| Selling Bottled Water |
So what made this day so memorable. It would not have been if I had not taken so many photos. On the 11 August 2014 I sold bottled water from an open air stall outside a large shopping mall in
Şişli, Istanbul. Business was brisk. Turkish people were a bit surprised that a foreigner, who could not speak their language, was selling water. Emy and I loved being in Istanbul and we actually considered staying on instead of returning to my job in Aqaba. How did it come to pass that I was selling water? Emy and I had met a Syrian fellow who had married a Turkish woman and it was while hanging out with them at their bottled water stand that I sold the water.
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| Tram on Istiklal Caddesi |
After socialising with them for much of the day, Emy and took the bus to Taksim. In Taksim Square Emy loved being photographed with the flocks of pidgeons. After which we started to walk down Istiklal Caddesi (Avenue). We walked past the tram and street sellers selling corn and chestnuts. We so enjoyed eating chestnuts while we were in Istanbul. Istiklal Caddesi is the busiest street in Istanbul. It is a pedestrian only street apart for the tram some motorbikes and official vehicles such as
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| Police in Istiklal Caddesi |
the police. The police had a huge presence and I mean huge (see the photograph) I presume because of protests that had been taking place around Taksim Square. The upper part of Istiklal Caddesi (nearer Taksim Square) is less crowded than the lower part of Istiklal Caddesi.
The upper part of the street and in Taksim Square itself has many hotels and prestigious shops. As you walk down the street, downhill that is, an interesting church is passed on your left, many food shops including take away shawarma, chips, sandwiches, chocolate shops, ice-cream shops, and shops selling Turkish delight. Interesting also is the number of institutions for learning English.
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| Street food stall, corn and chestnuts |
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| Shawarma take-away food |
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| Learn English |
The further down the street you progressed the more bohemian it became. Buskers and street performers made for interesting entertainment. These buskers some times had such a crowd around them that the street became almost blocked. What I noticed in the walked towards the Galata Tower the smaller the shops and the more graffiti and posters more evident. What caught my eye was the increasing number of music shops.
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| Fish Sandwich |
Finally we arrived in the
Karaköy area where found food vendors at a place with small table and stools. So we decided to finished the day with a fish sandwich and a drink of Turkish tea. We hung around the area till after dark then crossed over the Galata Bridge and caught a ferry back to
Kadaköy.
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| Galata Bridge |
On my google +1 profile page under photos you can view as a slide show an expanded album of photos related to this post.
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Thank you for reading my post. All posts are my own unless a guest writer's name is published with the post, in which case I do not necessarily agree with the writer's views. Please note all photos (other than those acknowledged by name) are taken by me, my wife, or a third party we have asked to take the photo. As such all photos are personal and subject to copyright, © David Pollock.