in the ‘World’s Hippest City’

Here I am again, in -according to Lonely Planet and others but definitely not me- the World's Hippest City on the frontier of many different cultures, in the former capital of former empires, in the commercial and cultural center of the country, in the city built hundreds years ago and larger and more populated than Moscow or London, the only metropolis located on two continents - Istanbul.

And I am not really excited or astonished by the city. Ok, it has the great monuments like the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazzare, Aya Sophia etc but still I find the rest of the city ugly. The architecture is a mix of old buildings from different centuries and a lot of 'once-upon-a-time new', concrete'n'glass'n'steel, shabby buildings mostly from the second half of the twentieth century. A mix I truly hate and that reminds me of what communism did to Poland and how it made cities like Warsaw, Gdansk or Lodz ugly.

I went to Istanbul for the first time in summer 2007 and back then I did not feel the vibe of the city. Maybe because I was coming from Morocco with whom I had fallen in love by that time. Luckily, there were places like the picturesque Princess Islands that made up for the rest of the huge metropolis. And I am sure that there are places I have not discovered yet and that I will surely fall in love with.

So clearly in my 'people versus places' never-ending dillemma Istanbul is losing as 'a place'. The people part makes up for it and it is not only about the hospitality and the politeness of the locals (which is for me considerably better than i.e. in Morocco).

Last night, we went for two house parties thrown by two different expats living in Istanbul and working as English teachers. I felt as if I were at home. Dozens of interesting individuals, mostly English native speakers, a few Europeans and some Turkish who traveled around the world or lived abroad and all ended up in Turkey. People for whom careers or money are not the supreme values. People who love traveling around the world and being more than some tourists. People who love learning languages, meeting new people, discovering new cultures and sites. People who like enjoying their lives, challenging it and who are sometimes slightly neurotic. People like me. Yesterday Istanbul -the city I am not too excited about- gave me it all and made me very happy. After a few glasses of unbeatable red and several people I had the pleasure to talk to, walking down the stairs of an old, funky, dark and spooky building on the last floor of which my friend's apartment with a magnificient view over the city is located, I praised my life, people in it, travels and all I love and happen to have.

Does it then deserve the ‘World’s Hippest City’ title?