Facets of Istanbul

The neo-culture site expat+HAREM is celebrating Istanbul as a 2010 Culture Capital with a year-long blog carnival.

This month Behind the Bazaar curates the fifth issue with a collection of links that have caught our attention.

We invite you to browse through our hand-picked favorites which include a gallery of Ottoman caftans, Turkish baths favored by locals, and other facets of Istanbul in Issue #5, city+TREASURES.


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Image Credit: expat+HAREM

Make A Wish

Today is the Turkish festival of Hıdrellez commemorating when prophets Hızır and Ilyas met on earth. According to this account, having drunk from the water of life, Hızır symbolizes spring, and the new life emerging with it. He benevolently "wanders around among people from time to time, especially in the spring, and helps people in difficulty and distributes plenty and health."

 Hıdrellez Festival Announcement

When my mother-in-law lived in Isparta she would place coins in the roses for Hızır to bless them. Once the Hıdrellez festival was over, she would give us the coins to carry in our wallets throughout the year.


In another tradition, people attach their wishes to the nahıl tree like the one that the Armada Hotel organizes in Ahırkapı.

Ahırkapı Nahıl Tree

One of my favorite nahıl trees is on display at Nahıl boutique in Taksim.

Nahıl Boutique

However you celebrate today, be sure you make a wish.


It will surely come true.


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Image Credits:
Hıdrellez Festival Announcement: hidrellez.org
Ahırkapı Nahıl Tree: hidrellez.org
Nahıl Boutique: wikimedia.org

Tips from Two Locals for the 11th Annual International Istanbul Biennial

On Tuesday we tweeted this post about the 11th Annual International Biennial in Istanbul. I'm sharing it again here because I thought it would be worth repeating.

In this post from their blog Istanbul locals Petek Atakurt and Cenk Gürsoy share four tips for enjoying the biennial including advice about the route, shuttle, guide and the artists.

Emre Huner

In a Lifetime

 

_{Photograph by Giovanni Simeone/SIME-4Corners}

If you made a list of all the places you should visit in your lifetime, what would be on that list?

If you ask us, we would say Istanbul, but then we're biased.  So don't take our word for it.

Instead, consult National Geographic Traveler magazine which has put Istanbul on its "Places of a Lifetime" list.

To get the most out of your visit to Istanbul, they have some great recommendations for walking tours, places you must see, festivals, hotels, restaurants, and cultural performances.

And we invite you to take the opportunity to meet some of Istanbul's artists who won't be found on any of these lists. Meeting them will give you the chance to see the effect this city has on its people - how it moves and motivates them. How it intoxicates them with inspiration.

We think you'll be inspired too.