CELEBRATING CHILDRENS DAY AND TAYLOR'S 3. BIRTHDAY
APRIL 19, APRIL 23 1923 19 23 19 23 19 /23
APRIL 23
On the left: From the Book : A TAYLOR DURU FABLE by DEDE
On the right from HAMINNE's album: ATATÜRK with İNÖNÜ and adapted daughter ÜLKÜ and assistant Celal Bey in back ground. Florya Summer Kiosk, Istanbul circa 1936
CLICK TO ENLARGE PICTURES.RESMİ BÜYÜLTMEK İÇİN TIKLAYIN
APRIL 19
COMRADE JAN CLAIRE OF OAKHURST, CA COMMENTS ON UNDERWORLD CITIES- ISTANBUL VIDEO AND INTRODUCTION
What I loved about Istanbul was the remarkable mix of people, many of whom - one would think - would not be friendly with each other, but somehow make it work. In my friend Lutfiye's neighborhood there were Greeks, Armenians, White Russians, and even a few Americans and they all got along just fine. Gosh...that just brought back the memory of sitting on the expansive lawn of a large victorian mansion in Uskudar, having a lunch beneath trees provided by a door-to-door fresh crab vendor while visiting a White Russian family - friends of Lutfiye's late father, Faik Sabri Duran who mapped the Aegean coast and created the Büyük Atlas.
I wouldn't rest until I had explored both sides of the Bosporus up to the Black Sea and met as many people as I could (this was back when I had studied Turkish and spoke enough to at least combine with what English the people I met happened to know. Somehow I found my way around - and Lulu was a big help in a lot of those explorations.
Even at the ripe old age of 18 when I arrived in Turkey, I found it easy to overlook the newer, and was fascinated far more with the ancient. Skin-diving along the southern shore of the Marmara amid ancient columns from Turkey's early history was an eye-opening experience I will never forget. I'm as alive with Turkey in my head today as I was 50 years ago!
Cheers,
Jan
Cem's Introduction to the video:
Often people ask me why I called my site Istanbullite and what it means. The name has a double purpose. The site sheds light to Istanbul the city, for people who love her and for people who don' know her. Secondly, it is pointing to the person who once lived there and considers himself a citizen of this eternal city. (Like a New York'er or Chicagoan).
No other person can be as proud as an Istanbulian or Istanbulite of their association with their city. May be a Roman can come close in loving Rome. I feel like I have lived in this city since 12 centuries ago.
Enjoy the video : Under world cities : Istanbul, thanks to my good friend Bulent Bediz from Greensborough N.C., who sent it to me.
Three weeks after my first trip I took the Megabus from Chicago to Columbus again. It was Easter Sunday and Megabus put an additional bus to compensate for the demand. I was on the second bus and enjoyed the comfortable ride. My only criticism is that the drivers uniforms make them difficult to distinguish from an baggage handler. As I mentioned earlier there was no baggage handler at our destination. The driver suggested to me to help to carry down passengers luggage from the bus to speed up things. When I hesitated he made a comment like: “ Thanks for helping Buddy ! “ I told him that on my right arm I had bursitis and rotator cuff tendinitis problem. He was a heavy smoker, who smoked at least three cigarettes at every stop. The cigarette never left his lips as he was working with the luggage or when he was checking people to the bus. He reminded me o f the famous Belgian comic character Lucky Luke.
