1. For: Kerri Westenberg, Star Tribune Travel Section
By: Catherine Shannon Ballman
Words: 1606
Head
Lost and Found in Istanbul
Copy
Awhirl with haggling merchants, shoppers, both tourists and locals, young boys shoving
and tugging hand carts set to topple from an overflow of carpets, cabbies slamming on
their brakes and slapping their horns, we were utterly lost. The directions for meeting
our guide for a trip into Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar – the Kapali Çarsi, or Covered Bazaar –
were explicit. We were to meet in front of the Spice Bazaar – the Mısır Çarşısı, or
Egyptian Bazaar - across the street from Galata Bridge on the Old City side of the
Golden Horn, landmarks familiar to travelers from the days of the Ottoman Empire. But
not to us.
We turned the map around and realized our destination was on the other side of the
Bazaar, at the Örücüler Kapısı, one of the five main gates. Smart idea: let’s cut through
the Bazaar itself to get to the other side. Inside, the charming shop keepers, the
shimmer of rich textiles, the glimmer of golden objects and 4000+ shops and 61 covered
streets led us deep into the labyrinth of the nearly 700-year old original indoor shopping
mall. We were teased away from our objective by the wonders to be seen. The solution
was the distraction so again we headed toward the outside, resplendent with its sun-
drenched Mediterranean climate
After five days in Istanbul, we still had trouble getting our bearings in the captivating
hullabaloo that is the city. Done in by the din and uproar, we searched the piazza for an
English speaker who would be kind enough to give us a turn in the right direction. Tall,
blonde, blue-shirted woman scanning the environment, standing near the Itimat grocery?
Looks like an Anglophone at the ready. And she was; in fact, she was our waiting guide
and, even greater coincidence, from Grand Marais, MN. The 260 miles between our
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2. For: Kerri Westenberg, Star Tribune Travel Section
By: Catherine Shannon Ballman
Words: 1606
home and Ann Marie Mershon’s telescoped to close neighbors in this ancient location.
Ann Marie’s job was not to show us the sights. She was part of a network of scholars
and specialists employed by Context Travel to offer small groups – no more than 6 –
walking seminars built around a theme or topic. Context doesn’t even use the term
“guide,” preferring “docent.” Our walk was titled “Crossroads of Commerce.”
Ann Marie traced Istanbul’s two millennia of international trade to its geographic good
fortune of straddling Europe and Asia, forming a crossroad with the Bosphorus strait
and the Silk Road. Like all good teachers and passionate travelers, Ann Marie taught her
lesson by encouraging us see and feel and touch and taste. She wove for us the back
story to what is essentially a business story and told us of another story, a chronicle of
traders and sailors, religious Crusaders and European adventurers, of harems and evil
eunuchs, wise sultans and wily chamberlains.
We plunged back into the Bazaar. We discussed architecture – sadly, much of the
original building has been lost, as merchants have stretched for more space by
eliminating columns and pushing out walls. We learned that 250,000 – 400,000 people
visit the Bazaar daily. We wondered if we were skilled enough to bargain with the
masterful shop owners. And we gaped at the cornucopia of leather goods, gold jewelry,
silver and copper ware, antiques (more on that later), carpets and aisles and aisles of
belly-dancing costumes.
Then Ann Marie did something unexpected. She led us out of the Grand Bazaar into a
vast warren of tiny manufacturers and craft shops. First stop was her preferred spice
shop of choice, just outside the Spice Bazaar itself. The courtly and elegantly dressed
merchants sold us sumac, commonly served at table so diners can sprinkle it on their
food to taste, cumin, regular and black, turmeric and pil biber, a fiery red pepper and
favored as both an ingredient and a garnish. Each spice was scooped out of wooded
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3. For: Kerri Westenberg, Star Tribune Travel Section
By: Catherine Shannon Ballman
Words: 1606
bins, weighed, wrapped individually and presented with gratitude to the happy shopper
who couldn’t wait to get back to America to cook up Turkish koftes and domates, a
tomato soup. A jar of Balli Cerez, flower honey packed with pistachios, walnuts,
hazelnuts, almonds, apricot seed, fig, coconut, radish seed, black cumin, and pollen
completed the purchases, the visual appeal of the artfully arranged nuts and fruits
trumping the dread of lugging it around until back at the hotel.
Behind the Bazaar, we walked down Tarakcilar Cadde to Büyük Valide Han. The two-
storied stone and brick building was commissioned by Valide (“queen mother” and the
very best job in the Ottoman Empire, if one survived the treachery of the court because
of the freedom, power and resources made available to her) Kösem Sultan in 1651 as a
profit-maker for her charitable ventures. Hans served as an end-of-the-road stop for
caravans bringing goods to trade from across Asia, offering rooms for rest, shops for
work and water for ablutions. The camels and other livestock slept in basement stables.
At night, the han was locked from within to provide safety for man, beast and, most
importantly, the wealth these goods that had trekked from China and Afghanistan
represented.
This han, the largest in the city, remains an active place of work. Follow the dim
hallways and traipse up the hand-cut stone staircases to tiny workshops with one or
two workers up to perhaps six or seven. In one, a man showed off stunning votive
candleholders covered with bits of mirror and, more intriguingly, antiques he creates for
the Grand Bazaar. A half dozen votives are added to our backpack but the antiques
were left to age.
Next, we are off to Sair Han, with its long, dark corridor and stunning surprise. A climb
up the crumbling stairs leads right to the rooftop of the building and, perhaps, the most
beautiful view in Istanbul. We looked down onto the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and
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4. For: Kerri Westenberg, Star Tribune Travel Section
By: Catherine Shannon Ballman
Words: 1606
Topkapi Palace and over the Golden Horn, across the Bosphorus into Asia. Equally as
breathtaking is the lack of any kind of rail or barrier so the view is appreciated with a
healthy dose of caution.
There’s one more bit of serendipity, a hat factory. In a shed built atop the roof are a
bevy of women, smoking, chatting and sewing navy blue wool fabric into hats, hats
intended for the Russian army. After the basic sewing is completed, the hats are hauled
to the next room by the owner to be steam-pressed into shape. He told us the factory
produces some 500 a day.
This interruption of the workday is greeted with warm delight. Turkish people, even in
this city of 13.9 million people, are never too busy to smile, to welcome, to insist upon
sharing their pot of tea. So, there we sat, on top of the world in Istanbul, sipping tea and
gazing at two continents. A bit of shopping ensues as we try to buy a hat. Nothing doing.
The owner insists upon bestowing a hat upon his interlopers.
After lunch at a simple neighborhood café filled with workers from the Bazaar – Ann
Marie’s advice for eating in the ancient quarter is simply inquire where the workers eat
and go there for price and authenticity – we walked to the atelier of Musa Basaran, our
first Turkish celebrity. Kilim weaver and artist, Mr. Basaran has reimagined the
Anatolian, or Turkish, kilim with modern, loose, nontraditional designs, often of
fantastical and romantic native landscapes, as well as abstract interpretations of Turkish
patterns. His color palate departs from the classic deep reds and blues, to make kilims
rich with the colors of Turkey, yellows, tangerines, ceruleans and soft roses. He uses
only natural dyes of his own formula and dyes the silks and wools in his own back yard.
His work has won him a spot in the Turkish Cultural Foundation’s “Who’s Who in
Turkish Culture and Art.”
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5. For: Kerri Westenberg, Star Tribune Travel Section
By: Catherine Shannon Ballman
Words: 1606
This man, who has received honor and recognition from around the world, most
glamorously to us from the Sultan of Oman at the 2011 Muscat International Art
Festival, paused to welcome his friend, Ann Marie, and her friends into his studio. Tea
and time were available in abundance, as he described his creative process. Ann Marie
later informs us that kilims and rugs are two distinct genre, rugs being knotted and
kilims being woven.
We leaned back on his copious couch and took it all in. And as we walked back to the
hotel, we realized we had started out the day lost but, thanks to a docent who led us
astray, we found a bit of the real Istanbul.
Sidebar 1
Head
In search of Istanbul
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Ann Marie Mershon (www.mershonwriting.com) speaks and writes about Istanbul and
her experience teaching in a Turkish school. Her book, “Istanbul's Bazaar Quarter:
Backstreet Walking Tours” (Çitlembik Publishing) is available on Amazon.com and some
bookstores.
To learn about Context Travel: Walking Tours for the Intellectually Curious’ Istanbul
programs, as well as their other walking seminars in other European and Asian cities,
check out their website (www.contexttravel.com).
Musa Basaran’s teaches classes on dye-making and the dying process, as well as the
design and creation of kilims. One student’s enthusiastic blog shows many of his kilims
(creativecaravan.blogspot.com/2010/04/missing-musa.html).
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6. For: Kerri Westenberg, Star Tribune Travel Section
By: Catherine Shannon Ballman
Words: 1606
The James Ford Bell Library has one of the great collections of original writings about
Istanbul – or, Constantinople – from Europeans who were in contact with the Ottoman
sultans. These books and materials include images and descriptions of Ottoman clothing,
culture and foodways, of mosques and harems, and hans and caravanserai. The holdings
are available to the public. The library is located at: University of Minnesota, 472 Wilson
Library, 309-19th
Ave. S., Mpls. (www.lib.umn.edu/bell).
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7. For: Kerri Westenberg, Star Tribune Travel Section
By: Catherine Shannon Ballman
Words: 1606
The James Ford Bell Library has one of the great collections of original writings about
Istanbul – or, Constantinople – from Europeans who were in contact with the Ottoman
sultans. These books and materials include images and descriptions of Ottoman clothing,
culture and foodways, of mosques and harems, and hans and caravanserai. The holdings
are available to the public. The library is located at: University of Minnesota, 472 Wilson
Library, 309-19th
Ave. S., Mpls. (www.lib.umn.edu/bell).
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