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Belgrad Forest – Istanbul’s Big Green Space

Belgrad Forest – Istanbul’s Big Green Space

by | May 24, 2019 | Places

After six weeks of living in Istanbul, the reality of its sprawl and 17 million people, started to feel ever so slightly claustrophobic.  The autumn rain didn’t help and the children were arguing. When the sun came out briefly, I decided to put the children and the dog, into the car and drive out to the Belgrad Forest.  Friends had said that it was only 15 minutes away, so I took them at their word and set the Yandex.  The Yandex took us somewhere near the Black Sea and down a dirt track, which definitely was not the Belgrad Forest, or any forest.  The Map app on my iPhone got us there eventually and I realised that it would have been better to put “Belgrad Ormani” rather than “Forest” into the phone from the outset.  As it turns out that my Turkish friends were right and Belgrad Forest is really close to the city, give or take a few dodgy GPS co-ordinates.

We did a walking trail through the woods, which was clearly marked with red flags.  We still managed to get lost, but luckily the dog was better at following the trail than we were, and she led us back to the car.  We were lucky to have a clever dog with us, especially as it was getting dark and we didn’t have water, snacks or warm coats.  I was worried about getting back to the car on time. My nervousness is probably just a combined hang-over from living in the UK, where there are strict park closing times and growing up in Africa, where things gobble you up if you wander around at dusk.  As we drove out of the park in the almost dark, we felt foreign and silly for thinking about closing times at all, because we saw families hiking and eating early suppers (or maybe very late lunches) near the kiosks in the vast picnic area.

I had not read up on the Belgrade Forest but I have now. It turns out there are a few wolves, wild boar and deer, but they are seldom seen.  The forest is 5300 hectares of oak, beech and chestnut trees. There are reservoirs and ancient aqueducts too.  After the conquest of Belgrade in 1521, deported Serbs were settled in the forest by the Sultan to guard and maintain the infrastructure which stored water for the city.

There is something for everyone: walking, running, biking, playgrounds and picnic spots (where you can hire a bbq for a small fee, if you don’t have your own.) There is an admission fee of 10TL and the forest is easily reached by car. Not quite so easy by taxi or public transport.

I fled to the park without a map, but  I would recommend trying to find out more about the park’s layout before you go (especially as maps are probably more reliable than even the cleverest of dogs).

You will want to return to the forest again and again. It swallows up naughty children (like all properly qualified forests should) and sends them home all magically well behaved with flushed cheeks. It also provides a happy escape from the madness of living with winter rain and metro queues.

Following cats down alleyways…(or sometimes not?)

Following cats down alleyways…(or sometimes not?)

by | May 16, 2019 | Places

Last Sunday, I stepped out into a street in Bebek and did not see a cat. I went in search of a coffee instead and nipped into the nearest Starbucks. Starbucks isn’t my favourite, but there is one in almost every city and it works just fine if I run out alternatives (or tissues or friends or energy). I was amazed and delighted to find two surprisingly good things in the Bebek Starbucks: the stunning view of the Bosphorous (from all three floors) and a sleeping ginger cat, curled up on the chair opposite mine.

The cat slept deeply, undisturbed by my children, the customers or the staff. I felt fairly certain that the cat wasn’t planning to give up the best seat in Starbucks, so I drank my coffee and left.
My plan was to find a birthday present for a friend, but my children were distracted by a display of origami flowers in a shop window. One entire wall of the shop was covered in bookshelves and it didn’t matter to us that the books all appeared to be in Turkish. This must happen all the time, as the shopowner immediately showed us a few shelves at the far end of the shop, where she keeps translations of her favourite Turkish novels. She had read them all and could recommend one she thought I might like.

This shop, “envai” has been in Bebek for over 45 years. It is yet another Istanbul gem. It’s full of handmade Turkish craft items, textiles, ceramics and books. I will probably go back for some origami paper flowers one day, just because I have no need of origami flowers and they would provide a delightfully impractical excuse to visit again. I left with a handpainted ceramic cat for my friend’s birthday gift (one can never have too many ceramic cat ornaments!) and for myself, an English translation of “A Momento of Istanbul” by Ahmet Umit.
I had my children with me and they were hungry, so we went to Little China for lunch. The fantastic mural of the Japanese geisha holding a glass of red wine, drew us through the door and the food was delicious too.

After spilling a lot of soy sauce on the table and arguing about how to use chopsticks correctly, we said goodbye to the gracious and friendly staff at Little China and stepped back out into the streets of Bebek. There were cats everywhere, sprawled on the side walk, jostling about on the street and sidling up to the artichoke sellar. We didn’t feel like following the cats anywhere, so we jumped into a taxi (with our ceramic cat gift) and headed home promising ourselves that we would soon learn how to prepare artichokes the Turkish way. That would mean we could return to Bebek for artichokes and paper flowers!