Accidentally Istanbul: Decoding Turkey for the enquiring Western traveller

by Nancy Knudsen, Diana Giese (Editor), Audrey Larsen (Designed by)

Overview

Nancy Knudsen never meant to go to Istanbul.

Maybe she might have included it as part of a holiday along with other dazzling European cities such as Venice, Paris or Salzburg.   But the idea of actually living in a Muslim country as an ordinary citizen rather than tourist or expat corporate executive, would never have occurred to her.

Knudsen’s story is vivid, lively and sometimes hilarious, full of insights into things she wished she’d known before she arrived in an all-black apartment above a sports field, with not a word of Turkish.   She found almost nothing in guidebooks or histories to help her understand what seemed at first an inexplicable culture.

In the course of her tale, she sets out to decipher many of the intricacies of Turkey and its lifestyle, and of Istanbul in particular. Both new and experienced visitors will find her observations invaluable and her personal love affair with this ancient yet totally modern city and its culture may well act as a springboard for others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780994509314
Publisher:	Tamejin Pty Ltd
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	234
File size:	206 KB

About the Author

Nancy Knudsen spent many years in the media and as a journalist before becoming an author. 'Accidentally Istanbul' is her second book.

Table of Contents

1 Into the unknown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 Arrival in Istanbul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3 On the doorstep. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 4 Osman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 5 Getting to know you. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 6 Istiklal Caddesi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 7 Work-and an accident. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 8 Life on crutches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 9 A Turkish friendship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 10 The fruit of the land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 11 Teaching in Istanbul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 12 Claudia's foodie walk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 13 The Bosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 14 Refugees of Turkey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 15 Headscarves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 16 The multipurpose repairman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 17 Turkish eyes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 18 Ramazan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 19 Getting a visa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 20 Falling under the spell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 21 Guests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 22 Rogues, thieves and drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 23 Dogs that own themselves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 24 Feasts and festivals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 25 Staying longer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 26 Winter white. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 27 Visitors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 28 Ebru. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 29 The test. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 30 Dilemmas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Epilogue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231