The Bahçekapı bus and trolleybus platforms in Eminönü… Shuttles to Suriçi depart from here. This is where the Arpacılar route joins the Reşadiye route. Hünkâr Kasrı is right on our right. The ferry piers along the waterfront have now been built. But they’re quite new. Not even the destination signs have been put up on them yet.
The north wind has slowly begun to push beyond its usual limits. It’s trying to blow the smoke billowing from the ferry’s stack toward the Küçükpazar area. It’s not strong enough to choke you—that cloud of smoke just dissipates into the air now… Its force is around a three, but at this rate, it won’t last until evening; it’ll start causing tiny, foamy waves on the sea’s surface. Will it affect maritime transportation? I doubt it. As long as the southerly wind doesn’t pick up, passenger transport on the water in Istanbul rarely suffers disruptions during the warm summer northerly winds.
Don’t be fooled by the light jackets the middle-aged and older gentlemen are wearing. We’re actually right in the middle of summer. The seasoned veterans of old Istanbul only take off the jackets and coats on their backs for a few days when the hottest part of summer—the eyyâm-ı bâhur (steamy/hot days)—finally arrives. The younger ones, on the other hand, have already switched to crisp white short-sleeved shirts…
It’s around eleven o’clock, nearing noon… But the cobblestones in the tree-deprived Eminönü Square and at the top of the steps leading to Yenicami have already warmed up. If it weren’t for the refreshing northeasterly breeze blowing in from the sea, it would really be roasting everyone…
The pigeons—a staple of that neighborhood—are well-fed and basking in the sun. Back in the day, the area was so densely packed with birds that you couldn’t even take a step. It’s time to burn off the wheat they’ve stored in their crops. They’re probably thinking, “If we flew all the way to Karaköy-Tophane and back, could we maybe relieve this bloated feeling in our stomachs just a little?” But longer-distance flights—like tagging along behind a city ferry without hesitation, flying all the way to Haydarpaşa-Kadıköy and back—aren’t really their thing. Such a crazy (!) whim is far beyond these plump and lazy pigeons. Long-distance cruises on the water are reserved for seagulls.
Even at this hour, the area between Eminönü and Bahçekapı has started to fill up quite a bit. Women have gone “down” in groups of two or three to go shopping. In the old days, people used to say “going down” when heading toward the Eminönü area. Out of habit, I still use this expression, which I inherited from my family. Now they wander all day long—Sultanhamam, Aşirefendi, Sirkeci, Yalıköşkü, Mercan, Fuatpaşa, Balıkpazarı, Tahmis, Küçükpazar, Yemiş, Ketenciler, Hasırcılar—endlessly under this heat, without ever getting tired….Well, but they have to. Because circumcision season is here and in full swing. And since schools are on summer break anyway. Let’s just get this over with, at least this year. Keep an eye on the group of little boys in white outfits and hats behind the Skoda.
Fruko is no slouch either—it knows exactly where to place its billboard. Right where it’s most visible, during those humid, sticky, sweltering hours, that huge yellow glass bottle, its sides encrusted with ice crystals, whets people’s appetites out of nowhere. As you turn into the side streets near Hidayet Mosque, you can grab an ice-cold orange-flavored Fruko from one of the shabby kiosks, down it in one gulp, and feel your spirits soar…
The Maritime Bank is announcing to the public with large billboards that it will soon begin operations in its new building. It used to be on the opposite side of the street, in a row of buildings running parallel to the shore. After the Haşim İşcan expropriation, it was forced to move to this side of the street, ending up practically next door to Nimet Abla.
The blue bus on the right is one of the private buses that run back and forth to Emirgan. In those days, public buses weren’t all the same type, color, or model like they are now. Anyone could paint their bus any shade of blue and run the service, provided they obtained a permit from the municipality. This bus will also travel via Ortaköy-Bebek-Âşiyan-Hisar all the way to the stop under the plane tree in Emirgân.
Don’t expect much in the way of comfort, but if you’ve just missed the Bosphorus ferry heading parallel to the shore from Köprüüstü by a matter of minutes, this will do the trick. At the very least, it’ll get you to your destination somehow. When you get off, you’ll have lost about one to one and a half kilos of body weight through sweating—a nice bonus. An extra sauna session—how lovely. All the side windows are sliding and can be pushed open, and you can rest your arm against the outside, but what can you do? You’ll be stuck inside that stuffy compartment for over sixty minutes in that heat…
A poor man—who had no hands past his elbows and sold peppermint candies to help passengers cope with the journey while clinging to a wooden counter suspended from his neck by a pair of black leather straps—would board these buses and make his sales before the Hisar-Emirgân routes departed. Most people would buy one of those little bags.
Once the red ’57 Skodas waiting for passengers pulled away, their inevitable route was to turn right, heading through Reşadiye toward Sirkeci and beyond: Edirnekapı, Topkapı, Paşa, Samatya-Yedikule, Draman, Sağmalcılar, Rami, Taşlıtarla, and similar neighboring suburbs… To get to Beşiktaş, the Bosphorus shore, or the Beyoğlu-Şişli area, you’d have to cross to the other side of the street. Be careful of traffic!… The Trade Bank’s twin overpasses, which would carry pedestrians over the street to the waterfront, haven’t been built yet. Keep an eye on both sides as you cross the street.