The Book Club discussion

Use this thread for links and comments through Chapter 2: Laleli (67 - 88), ~21 pp. May include comments on Chapter 1.

http://www.lalelili.com/ -- not much on this site, but one picture of a bazaar. Apparently an area known for its textiles. Don't bother tracing links here -- at least presently a waste of time.



Laleli Resimleri

For two longer descriptions of the area, open (view spoiler)[

Comments on the area here:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-...

The one below is typical:
"I am a Turk, living in Istanbul. My father's office is in Laleli and I myself do not like it there at all. Laleli and the area around it has historical significance, yet today it is a commercial area 99% aimed at wholesaling to Russians. Most of the people working in this are low educated and mainly Turish Kurds, they are pleasent in a way just to do business especially if you are Russian because that is only thing they know outside of their rural education. but for tourists from Western countries, other places of Istanbul are much more desirable. I, myself, do not take my friends from Europe and US of A to this area when they come to visit me. we, Turks, are famous with our hospitality, we love and honour our guests and tourists are considered as guests. I am sure you will have a blast in Istanbul."

A more upbeat view is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/19/tra...

"IF you order tea in one of the Ramada Istanbul's several spacious restaurants, you will notice pink tulips on the cups and saucers - for the handsome new cream hotel, combining modern atriums with beautiful Turkish design, is at the center of the Laleli district, and lale is Turkish for tulip. As with tulips (said to have arrived in the Netherlands from Turkey), life in Laleli is always a treat for the eye. Situated on a slope, cut horizontally by the wide commercial Ordu Caddesi, narrow, shady uphill streets alternate small hotels, middle-class apartment buildings and clothing shops geared to an Eastern European clientele. And Laleli offers an ever-changing kaleidoscope of national costumes seen only in a few great cities.

"Last year in Istanbul, instead of staying on the Pera side of the Golden Horn, far from most tourist attractions, as many Americans do, I found a pleasant, modest hotel in Laleli (pronounced LAH-lay-LEE). This neighborhood borders the vast complex of Istanbul University, many of whose buildings are jewels of Islamic architecture. When foot traffic on Ordu Caddesi (pronounced JAH-duh-see, the word means street) is not too snarled by shoeshine and water boys, and wandering street vendors aggressively hawking anything portable and cheap, Laleli is a half-hour walk to either the Grand Bazaar or to the Blue Mosque, the basilica of St. Sophia and Topkapi Palace, Istanbul's splendid architectural testaments to centuries of Ottoman power."

(hide spoiler)]

Two videos, not long, but not great either. Still, give a sense of the streets in Laleli.

The first is a 3 min fashion show on an outdoor runway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlhNwd...

The second is ~2 min along the streets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4FBQh...