Istanbul. Turkey.

The city is positioned as a huge shopping center, where the "shuttles" go mostly to buy goods for their outlets, and it seemed to me that Istanbul is akin to Cairo - a dreary dusty and impoverished city where the natives jump out of every gateway and pull tourists by the sleeve into their gloomy little shops.

Once in Istanbul, we found that this city is completely unlike any of the cities in Europe. On the traditional eastern cities, however, he also does not look like.

Here, noisy ethnic markets, where hundreds of merchants from the remote villages in the mountains bring their handmade products, side by side with dilapidated walls decorated with Byzantine mosaics, and people leave the tall buildings of glass and metal to leave for the evening prayer in the ancient a mosque nearby.

Colorful oriental bazaars are one of those postcard species, after which we arrived in Istanbul: here the chill boy looks like polishing shoes at the beginning of the century, and the merchant will decorate the delicious apple tea with patterned carpets.

In general, Istanbul is one big market, but there are two organized markets in the city - the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar. Neighborhoods of the wharfs of Istanbul are flooded with spontaneous fish markets where relatives of those fishermen who fish with fishing rods along the coast, on bridges and wharves sell the catch. Immediately on the market you can order "on tap" the preparation of a liked mullet (barbunya) or mackerel (lufer). If you dare to take such a step, keep in mind that the newly caught fish coloring and eyes are more vivid than those of its "stale" brethren. If you calmly treat the manner of Turkish trade, do not take any unplanned gifts and understand that the intrusiveness of street barkers is just part of their job, and equally applies to both Russian and other tourists, then from visiting the eastern bazaar you can even enjoy.

Nevertheless, it is important for a foreign tourist in Istanbul to remember that communication with aboriginals without a corresponding internal mood can turn into a deception and provocation: any of the Turks who meet on your way can try to untwist the tourist for money. For the local, this is a kind of game, and they will not even object if they point out a mistake. The hotel may find that you did not pay for one of the days, or spoiled something from the property (when checking in, in the presence of an employee, be sure to inspect the number, identify problems and point them out). Passer shoe cleaner, finding out that you are from Russia, can offer to clean your shoes for free due to respect for our great power, and then demand a completely indecent amount. It is likely that a merchant who kindly treated you with tea and handed a memorable present from his shop, a minute later he will start demanding money for a gift (our man has already got used to it, resting in Turkish resorts). Nevertheless, people meet differently: strangely enough, in Istanbul, we were brought to the station by a free local guy with glasses, when we climbed far from the center and in desperation we caught a ride.

However, the bitter truth is that Istanbul, still not a calm old woman-Europe: to single-minded girls walking in the streets on the heels the attitude is unequivocal. The local male population in any restaurant will immediately ask lonely girls if they are not Russian, and if so, you will be offered a walk in a car around the city or make a company at a disco. If your answer to the national question is "no", you will be asked: "And maybe you are Ukrainian?" What is interesting, if you talk among themselves in English and do not mention their citizenship, the maximum that you will be offered is free tea and a business card of the establishment. In this regard, the best option is to go to Istanbul with a male companion, the locals will not be tiresome-intrusive, but quite sociable and preventive, even if they just want to sell you something.

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