TURKS ARE INTO APHRODISIACS. A SELLING POINT IS TO SAY: “ THE
SULTAN USED THIS...” WITH A MEANINGFUL LOOK...
Saturday, May 25th,
2008
No Turkcell today. All is
well. We ventured out on highly used-friendly tram (reminded us Brazilians of
Curitiba) and found the Spice
Bazaar with no trouble at all. Lots of fun. I bought odd spices, hibiscus tea
(good for cholesterol, I was assured), the usual t-shirts and trinkets, and
finally ended at a Weleda type stall that mixed perfumes according to your
likes and personality. So much fun to sniff and choose - and the Turks, of
course, are amazing salesmen, charming, courteous, but firm. Difficult not to
buy, and difficult to resist “Turkish Cocktail”, “Samsara”, “Ma Ha”,
“Aphrodisiac for Women” (!), and “King of the Night” (!!). The eloquent Erden
(as in Adam) warned me that my husband would take his guns along if I wore the
second last in public, but, alas, in spite of a generous dose of the
stuff, I worked my way unmolested through
the throng of people, but maybe the effect was equalized by his aura of “King
of the Night”?
The Lehrers chose a quiet
boat ride on the (today) blue Bosporus, and Oswaldo and I walked across busy
Galata Bridge in search of the Tünel funicular. This took us to the final stop
of an ancient red tramway and that in turn to Taksim Square -a busy roundabout
in a modern cityscape - which we observed with a well-deserved goblet of
Turkish beer. The we walked on in search of a designer, which I had read about
in a guide. We got totally lost in a large dry and sunny park and finally, when
we were cranky and desperate, found a taxi, which deposited us in the very chic
Tesvikiye part of town, where we sank down at a café to silently enjoy an
excellent cappuccino. The foam was the smoothest I have ever tasted. Then on to
the designers: Gonül and Sema Paksoy - one does clothes, the other jewelry.
Well, Sema had closed down, and Gonül turned out to produce exquisite dark clothes made for women, who would
prefer to wear generous and loose garments with really heavy, also exquisite,
jewelry and with not a thought of cost. One thin jacket was about $1000 - and
we were out of there. Exhausted now we caught a cab home where I fell asleep
immediately.
Dinner with the Lehrers was at cheerful Hamdi’s down by the ferry
terminals with the most beautiful view of the sea, which we caught just before
and during sunset, when the gulls begin to twirl and screech around the
minarets. I got into a nice conversation with the mother of two little girls:
one smart and independent - 9
- and the other wild and 5. Her concerns was like
any other mother’s: how will they grow up? Do I discipline the wild girl or
leave her be? Can the older one study in Europe? Oddly enough she worked at the
Turkish production end for H&M, where my Swedish friend Madelein worked for
many years. There are always moments when the world is small. http://www.flickr.com/photos/siric/sets/72157631337380058/
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