Sunday
Dear Elsie
The other day I saw something on Instagram about how to better understand difficult people. It was with the word ‘perhaps’. “Perhaps they are having a bad day.” “Perhaps they have lost someone recently and are not coping emotionally.” “Perhaps they have no money and life is very hard.” And it’s this last ‘Perhaps’ that most likely applies to the people of Istanbul. The residents, shopkeepers, stall managers, informal sellers all seem unhappy. Collectively, they seem to need to fleece tourists for a little more.
Today as we walked the streets of Istanbul, something happened that caught our attention. Julian had mentioned he had watched a You Tube video of a couple who had visited Istanbul and while they were walking the streets, a shoe shine man was walking down the road and accidentally dropped his shoe shine brush. The couple picked it up and called after him to return it. He was effuse with gratitude and insisted he give them a free shoe shine. They said, ‘no, not necessary’ but in fine Istanbul style, he insisted and got his way. Once done, he said, ‘that will be….’ and charged them for what was supposed to a thank you! So imagine my surprise today when we were walking down the street when a young guy on the side of the street got up and walked off and as he did so, he dropped his shoe-shine brush! I immediately turned to pick up what he had dropped, saw it was a brush and immediately gasped and walked on!
For everyone in Istanbul prices have sky rocketed and needs are greater than ever. When we got home today, this story came up on my news feed.
Cost of Living in Istanbul Quadruples
As we spend our last 24 hours in this city, we find ourselves more compassionate & we will have greater understanding.
We walked for MILES today. We first caught the tram, hopped off by the bridge to walk to the Galata tower seen in this pic. The blue railing is the start of the bridge.
There is a lot happening on the bridge. Fishermen.
Lots and lots of fishermen, both sides of the road. They seem to be very successful in catching small to medium size fish.
Lots of water traffic from the bridge.
We got to the Galata tower, but decided not to queue for 2 hours to go up it.
We came back via a staircase built decades ago by a Jewish family.
Opposite it was a massive building which used to be a bank and is now a museum and library.
Inside was this view…we had coffee at the restaurant, used their WIFI and looked at a very unusual technical display downstairs.
Back on the street, these were other scenes that caught our attention. Cat cubbies
We returned the way we came, but decided to forgo the tram and walked back to the hotel. On the way we found a park. It was beautiful. It is spring in Istanbul and all the trees are getting their leaves.
After 15000 steps, we got back to the hotel. Tonight is our last night in this bed. Then it’s one night on the plane and God willing, we will be home midday on Tuesday. Another good day.
Psalm 118:8
It is better to take refuge in the Lord that to trust in humans.
It’s not about now – we are only passing through.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Gran xx 🙂