396: Do the hustle (Turkish delights). Alternative title: round the horn.

I fell for it - the oldest trick in the book. There was I, earlier this week, walking over Galata bridge in Istanbul, minding my own business, when suddenly I heard something drop to the floor. I turned to look and it was a shoe brush, which had fallen (did it fall or was it pushed?) from the shoe clean boy's kit. Being the gullible soul that I (sometimes) am, I picked it up and called to him. He thanked me profusely and then, somehow, the very next second he was halfway through cleaning my shoes! I was left with no choice but to pay him for the unasked for service. The shoes did look nice I must say, but not for long as it was a wet, dreich, kind of day with lots of puddles everywhere. 

From there I went down to the lower level of the bridge and ordered some lunch from one of the fish restaurants there. You can't visit Istanbul without eating at a fish restaurant on Galata bridge. There are probably 10-20 restaurants on the bridge and they all have hustlers outside inviting you to come inside and try their wares because theirs is the tastiest and the best value. It is the same walking around the restaurants just off Taksim Square - they all seem to have a man standing outside whose only job is to help you part with your money by eating in their august establishment. They have my every sympathy - this time of the year it is rather cold standing outside trying to drum up business, especially in the evenings - they were wrapped up to the nines. 

The map shows Istanbul with the Sea of Marmara to the South (which then leads, past Galipoli and through the Dardanelles, to the Med), the Bosphorus snaking off to the North East to the Black Sea and the Golden Horn to the North West. I took the almost obligatory boat trip on the Bosphorus. Of course, once I got back, everywhere I looked had cheaper prices than I had just paid. That's life.

Istanbul then - rip-off city. But for all its faults I like it very much. The gateway between Europe and Asia. This was my third visit and I may well go back again. 

hot chestnut sellers (the chestnuts were hot, not the sellers)	This pulley was at the top of the funicular up to Taksim

Two video clips today - how could I not? Pan's People dancing to Van McCoy doing the hustle in 1975 and 'Round the Horne' from some time in the 60s!