Nested Fall 2020

Istanbul is one of those cities where nesting changes everything. Most people who have visited Istanbul go with a guide or tour group and never really get a feel for the real culture. Istanbul is so much more than kabobs and the Grand Bazaar. It’s a rich, complex place with a fascinating history that one can only get to the very beginning stages of understanding in three short months.

Currency

Istanbul uses the Lira. At the time of this writing, inflation in Turkey is very high, so the exchange rate has changed even since we’ve been here, but has been about 18 lira to the dollar. The current exchange rate is here. Prices were very low when we were here, especially if you were purchasing something from Turkey that didn’t have to be imported.

When to Go

We came in the fall, and the weather was mostly dry and mild. The only major holiday in the fall is Republic Day, October 29, celebrated with parades and torchlight marches. A consideration for planning your nest might be the timing of Ramadan. A Ramadan schedule is here.

How to Get There

Istanbul has a new international airport which is very nice, but unfortunately is not connected to the city by any public transportation. It will be necessary to take a taxi or airport service from the airport to the city, about an hour’s drive away, depending on traffic. Make sure that you negotiate a fare before you get in the cab for your destination – while most taxi drivers are fair, there are enough bad ones that you should be cautious.

Food

Oh my, the food! If there was no other reason to go, this would be enough. Of course, there is no pork on the menu anywhere, but we didn’t miss it. The lamb is the best you’ll ever have, and the fish is superb. Turks are big meat eaters, but even if you want to avoid meat, there will be plenty on the menu because of the mezes, or appetizers. That’s where the meal starts – with lots of little dishes to dip your bread in. You might get a few mezes for free at restaurants even if you didn’t order them. You’ll find meze stores where you can buy a variety of mezes to try. We particularly loved the zucchini fritters, the chopped chicken with walnuts and the deep fried koftes, or meatballs. They also have wonderful cheeses that are usually served with fresh veggies.

One of the classic mezes is casaba melon served with Raki, which is a strong, anise flavored liquor. It’s often drunk cut with water and ice, which turns it from clear to a cloudy white. Raki is also very often served with fish. In fact, there’s a Turkish saying that if you don’t have raki with your fish, the fish will cry.

Speaking of fish, it’s quite inexpensive in the fish markets and grocery stores, but paradoxically, can be expensive in restaurants, so if you like fish and can cook it, it’s a great way to treat yourself. When you buy the fish, they will clean and filet it for you. The fall is bonita season, which is called palamut in Turkish, and palamut is really inexpensive. It’s also sea bass season, and while that costs a bit more, it’s still way cheaper than in the States. (Sea bass is called levrek)

Fruits and vegetables are really high quality with intense flavor, especially the grapes, melon and tomatoes. And then there’s the baked goods…

Grocery Shopping

I enjoyed getting my groceries in Cihangir, my little area of Istanbul. While there are grocery chains in Istanbul like Carrefour and Orka, I found the quality and prices to be better at the little butcher, fish and produce stores. I would go to Carrefour for dry goods, but for anything perishable, the neighborhood shops were much better.

Other Shopping

Istanbul is truly the shopping capital of the world. No wonder one of the most common purchases tourists make here is another suitcase to bring home their prizes. We bought one.

In Istanbul, there are so many places to shop that it doesn’t really make sense to list them. Just browse for a while to learn the going rate on things before you buy and check out prices on Amazon. Shops in the tourist areas can have much higher prices for the same goods.

Of course you’ll go to the Grand Bazaar. Tips for shopping there:

1. Unlike nearly any other place in Istanbul, you’re expected to bargain. Therefore, it’s a good idea to really know prices in other areas before you actually shop in the Grand Bazaar, so you know what is fair. If they’re not working with you, just walk away. There are literally thousands of shops in the area. You’ll almost certainly find another shop selling what you want.
2. Because of the exchange rate, the float for credit cards and the raging inflation, you’ll do better if you offer cash. But factor in the rates you have to pay at the ATMs if you offer cash – it’ll be 7-8% more costly for you than paying with a credit card. A common trick is for a vendor to negotiate at a credit card rate and then when you go to pay, suddenly your card doesn’t work. (Even if it’s worked everywhere else.) So then offer less for cash or walk away.
3. If you’re interested in buying gold, know the current price of the gold market. They will weigh what you are interested in buying and factor the price from there. Also make sure you know the purity of the gold. They sell everything from 22 karat down to 10 karat, and obviously, that’s a huge difference in quality.
4. The more interesting jewelry is in the center section of the bazaar; the section that is labeled as antique. Many things there aren’t actually antique as Turkey has a law against allowing anything over 100 years old to leave the country. Most are reproductions. Ask to be sure. But the more interesting designs are there.
5. The Spice market and the huge sprawl of shops outside of the bazaar generally offer some pretty good deals. The food in the area around the spice bazaar is often cheaper than the supermarkets. The Bazaar itself – the enclosed part – is largely tourist driven. It sells items tourists are more interested in, like carpets, pottery, Turkish towels, trinkets, and artwork. Outside of the bazaar, there will be areas focused on just one product. You’ll find scarf-land, sunglasses-land, cheap toy-land, fancy little girl dress-land, handtools-land, electronic gear-land and even boxer shorts-land, among many others.

If you want to purchase pottery, make sure you get the food safe pottery that’s hand painted. Much in the bazaar and tourist shops is not real Iznik pottery and are decals. Real work will be signed on the bottom. If you can’t go to Iznik (where the prices are significantly cheaper) then a good alternative is a great little shop by the Tophane T-1 tram shop called By Tarkan. All her goods are authentic, hand-painted Iznik ceramics and the prices are very fair.

If you’re interested in antiques, the area of Cukucama, also off the Tophane T-1 tram station, is the antique area of Istanbul. It is a fun place to wander around. The shops go from very curated to very eclectic, with literal buckets of antique jewelry to dig through.

Connecting with the Local Community

Istanbul has an active Internations club, but it tends to be younger and focused on nightclubs and meetups in bars. We connected with the Rotary clubs here and that was a very, very rich and rewarding relationship. They were eager to meet us, very generous with their time and entertainment and we had some fascinating conversations. If you are a Rotarian, don’t miss this tip.

Public Transportation

Istanbul has fantastic public transportation system that’s very inexpensive. The Metrocard is good for trams, subways, funiculars, ferries and even public restrooms. The public transportation system is clean, reliable, safe and fast – the waits are very short between trams and metros. Ferry systems travel up and down the water, criss-crossing from bank to bank. Privately run ferries go longer distances, such as to the Prince Islands, Bursa and Yalova, and are also quite affordable.

Discount Cards

The one thing that’s sort of expensive here is entry to the tourist sites for foreigners. It makes sense, and I don’t begrudge them. But it might be worth it to purchase a Turkey pass that allows entry into nearly every museum and palace (including the Topkapi harem) for 1000 LR for 15 days. If you don’t mind bunching the high-cost sightseeing into two weeks, you can save some money that way.

Favorite Restaurants

We lived in Cihangir so most of our favorite places are near there – but in fairness, many of the best restaurants in Istanbul are also there. The Golden Horn caters to tourists, so the restaurants there tend to be pricier and lower quality. Locals will also tell you that there’s great eating on the Asian side, but we didn’t get there very often.

You might want to eat on the Galata Bridge, which is lined with seafood restaurants. If you do, go for the view and the experience, and order something light, because it can be very expensive, even in US prices. They will bring fish around for you to choose, but a few mezes and a glass of wine will keep it affordable and just as fun. It’s memorable to watch the ships and the occasional fish brought up from a lucky fisherman above you. If you want to see the sunset while you eat, pick a place on the side facing the Sea of Marmara. But even better is to go to the Galata end of the bridge, and on either side, there are loads of great fish places for less than half the price of the bridge. The view is just as good, too.

Turks love breakfast. I mean, they LOVE it. There are restaurants that only serve breakfast, and they serve it all day. A full Turkish breakfast, or kahvalti, is a huge spread of lots of little tastes of things; sort of like a breakfast meze. It comes with breads, fruit spreads, honey, creams and cheeses, olives, and lots of other little spreads and tastes, dependent on the restaurant. There is also usually an egg dish, most often menamen, which is spiced scrambled eggs and tomatoes, and often gozleme, which is sometimes called “Turkish quesadilla.” It can be a huge amount of food, and pretty darn wonderful. The very best kahvalti that we found was at Bazlama, but you have to get there early. They don’t take reservations and can have a line around the block.

For a simple, quick meal, we loved TomTom Kebabs. Very affordable and tasty.

A really interesting and incredibly inexpensive option for meals is Varuna Gezgin, which is as much a travel group as a restaurant. It’s located off the end of Istiklal street by the Tunel. The restaurant encourages their staff to travel all over the world, and they pick up recipes on the way. The food is great and really affordable with a laid back, expat vibe.

We saved the best for last. Jash is a beautiful, upscale restaurant in the Cihangir neighborhood that is popular with the locals. It’s mostly meze with an Armenian flair. The food is fantastic, the setting is wonderful and you’ll get a very authentic experience here. We were introduced to it by a Turkish friend, and we ate here multiple times, including hosting a Rotary dinner here, and everything was perfect. Don’t miss it.

Weather

Weather in the fall in Istanbul wasn’t much different than the weather back home in Charlottesville, Va, except it didn’t get quite as cold in the evenings. All in all, very pleasant, with little rain. Average weather for Istanbul is here.

Health Care

While Turkey has a good public health care system, there is also a large private health care system here. There is a large American hospital near Taksim square. We had a Canadian friend who broke her arm while she was here and she went there, and she said the care was comprehensive, quick and inexpensive – it cost her about $500 for seeing the doctor, x-rays, casting, and all the other care involved with a broken arm.

Festivals and Events

There were no huge festivals while we were in Istanbul, but there were cultural events that were worth following on this site. We were able to go to a sema, or whirling dervish ceremony, by checking this site, and there were puppet shows, concerts and plays, too, although in Turkish. August 30 is Victory Day in Turkey, which celebrates a decisive battle victory by Araturk. Taksim square hosted an outdoor concert for it while we were there. October 29 is Turkey’s Republic Day, the birth of the Turkish Republic, which is celebrated with parades.

If you go in the spring, make sure you check the dates for Ramadan.

Dress in Istanbul

When I was packing to come to Istanbul, I made sure that I packed more conservative clothing. I didn’t really have to worry. Anything you feel comfortable wearing in public stateside will also work here – with the exception of when you want to go into a mosque. Then, you need clothing that covers your shoulders and knees, and also for women, wear a headscarf. The range of the way women dress here runs the entire gamut, from bare midriffs and booty shorts to full hijab.

When Packing for Istanbul, Make Sure you Bring…

A scarf (for women) to cover your head in mosques and other religious areas.

Extra room in your suitcase for shopping.

A bathing suit and flip flops if you want to visit a Turkish bath, or haman.