Fragrant Coffee & Pungent
Smoke
Dodge into a low stone doorway
on Istanbul's Divan
Yolu near Beyazıt
Square and this is what you'll
find: an old-time Ottoman-style kiraathane (coffeehouse).
Take a seat on one of the low
benches covered in soft, colorful Turkish
carpets and a waiter
will bring you fresh
hot tea, Turkish
coffee, a soft drink, and
perhaps a nargile (water
pipe).
I'd love to tell you that this
great old place is an imperial
survivor, a corner of
old Constantinople that time
forgot, but of course that's
not the case. It's a revival:
the owner's idea of what it was
like back then.
More or less. Let's face it,
the place is cleaner and more
attractive, the coffee better,
the nargiles and carpets in better
shape than they ever were in
Ottoman times. Women and foreigners
are now welcome.
All the better. All the better! |
