Ancient mosques and modern high-rise
buildings greet The Constant Gardener's Rachel Weisz on her
return trip to Istanbul, the city where Europe and Asia
meet.
I'm in an apartment in
Paris, calling Rachel Weisz in New York to
talk about Istanbul,
Turkey. It's an odd constellation of cities,
but it somehow makes sense. In the apartment where I'm staying,
there's a stack of magazines proclaiming Istanbul as this
millisecond's hottest "It" city, and this morning's International
Herald Tribune bears the headline "Selling Turkey," above a story
about how Istanbul's spin doctors are selling their country to the
world. "You can have breakfast in Europe and take the boat across
to
Asia for lunch," Weisz says. "It straddles Asia and Europe.
That's kind of what the whole place is like. It's a real mixture of
East and West, a real kind of hybrid of mosques and the Ottoman
Empire, and then European values and culture."
Born in
London and educated at
Cambridge, Weisz (pronounced "vice")
visited Turkey as both a six-year-old with her family and, more
recently, with her boyfriend, American film director Darren
Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Pi). (Next year, she stars
alongside Hugh Jackman in Aronofsky's sci-fi thriller, The
Fountain.) A city of beauty and mystery, Istanbul is the perfect
destination for Weisz, who tends to play difficult women who revel
in making mincemeat of men, from a conniving art student who dupes
her lover in
The Shape of Things to the student-turned-activist
whose murder sends her soft-spoken husband (Ralph Fiennes)
spiraling toward doom in this year's The Constant Gardener. So
here's Rachel raging in Istanbul, a city of souks and spices.
"Oh, I was in Paris last week!" she tells me as we two
oh-so-cosmopolitan travelers launch our chat, me past midnight in
Paris, she at cocktail hour in New York.
I want to answer with something clever, intelligent, exotic - along
the lines of what Fiennes told Kristin Scott Thomas when they were
stranded together in the desert in The English Patient. ("There is
a whirlwind in southern
Morocco, the aajej, against which the
fellahin defend themselves with knives. There is the africo, which
at times has reached into the city of
Rome. … The alm, a fall wind
out of
Yugoslavia ... The samiel from Turkey, 'poison and wind,'
often used in battle.")
But I blow it with a blunder before we even begin.
So, we're going to talk about Istan-BUL.
Yes, please. As the people there say, Is-STAN-bul. Yes, it's very
funny. I've always said Istan-BUL, coming from England. But, there,
they say Is-STAN-bul.
I stand corrected. How did you discover it?
I went there as a child with my family, and I just never forgot the
Blue Mosque. It's such a beautiful mosque. Then, I went to the
Turkish Film Festival a few years ago with my boyfriend and fell in
love with it. The
Blue Mosque is immense, huge, and it's all blue
inside, obviously, as the name suggests. It's incredibly
impressive, visually, very romantic and awe-inspiring.
My guidebook says, "It takes its name from the mainly blue tile
work. Its minarets are circled by keening animals …"
It has hand-painted blue tiles, calligraphy, and abstract geometric
design, which has philosophical, religious meaning to the Muslim
culture. If you're interested in that, there's a museum of
calligraphy. They're big on calligraphy and geometric design.
That's what the tiles have on them.
So where does one camp out in Istanbul?
We stayed at the Yesil Ev, which means "the green house." It's
gorgeous, a converted Turkish palace right by the Blue Mosque. We
stayed in the Pasha Room, which has a little hamam in your
bathroom, a little steam room. It's a traditional Turkish thing to
do, which means you sit in a room which fills up with steam, and
you sweat and sweat and sweat and you get refreshed. The Yesil Ev
is very grand, old Ottoman style, with very ornate four-poster beds
and gilded chests of drawers and chandeliers. It's almost rococo
or something. It's like Ottoman, European, ornate furniture. Quite
fancy. Historic. Gorgeous.
Did you dream of going to Istanbul when you were a
child?
Well, I went with my family when I was a child, so I guess I had a
young impression of it. I don't remember an awful lot of it, but I
do remember the Blue Mosque and a trip on the Bosphorus River.
Also, the call to prayer. If you're not brought up in a mainly
Muslim country, it's a very unique thing to hear. You know what I
mean by call to prayer? ["Yes!" I assure her.] And the market.
There's a great market, the Grand Bazaar, where you can buy spices
and fruit and handbags. The market's absolutely great. You have to
go in and haggle there. It's part of the culture. They don't like
to sell something without the bargaining. There's one main one
that's a covered market that's just phenomenal. We bought a couple
of old blankets, and I bought an old, embroidered belt with a big
silver buckle. You can see the great Turkish carpets at the Museum
of Turkish and Islamic Arts. The carpets are all about geometric
design, and they all have meanings.
What do you remember from your most recent trip?
We went to the Topkapi Palace, where the Ottoman emperor lived. And
you can get a tour of the harem, where the emperor would keep all
of his wives. It's no longer in use, of course.
What did the harem look like?
You guys say harem. But I think it's pronounced -eem at the end,
actually. Maybe it's double e. You better check. It was just very
interesting to see somewhere where somebody had kept all their
wives. Our tour guide told us the sultan had 300 wives, and they
would all fight for the favor of the sultan. [The Palace has] an
interesting archaeological museum, with a sarcophagus of Alexander
the Great, which is very cool. The world's first peace treaty. I
seem to remember they had Moses's staff, or so they said. It was
really short, which made us think he was really tiny. They had
letters from the prophet Muhammad.
Got it. What else do you remember?
Definitely, I would advise a trip on the
Bosphorus River. It's
very, very beautiful. Istanbul is on both sides of the river. What
the Bosphorus divides is Europe and Asia. I would suggest going to
smoke a nargile, which is a water pipe, which is what the Turks do.
There's one great place, Corlulu Ali Pasa Medresesi, and that's a
cool spot to go and smoke a water pipe. It isn't actually tobacco.
I don't know what it is exactly. It's just kind of hot smoke. I
think it's made from some kind of herbs. It's certainly harmless.
That's a great hangout. It's in a 300-year-old former religious
school. In Turkish, it's called a medrese.
Where are some good places to eat?
The best restaurant is called Leb-i Derya, and it's got amazing
views of the city and of the Bosphorus. It's got really good food,
and it's got great atmosphere, and it's owned and run by two women
who used to be on the national
basketball team. There's a lot of
grilled meat and fish and barbecued meat, and things like hummus
and beans and rice, and it's spiced in a really good way. Again,
it's kind of a fusion of European food and Asian food. There's
another good bar/restaurant, which is called 360, and that has a
really huge outdoor terrace overlooking the city and the Bosphorus.
For me, it's all about views. Traveling, I love views. Istanbul has
great views. You see all the mosques and the high-rise buildings.
It's just that mixture of modern high-rise buildings and ancient
mosques. There are hundreds of mosques - they cover the city's
skyline. That's what makes it so beautiful. Do you want to know
more restaurants?
Of course.
There's a more kind of underground place, and it's called Galata
Evi, which used to be the old British jail, and it's since been
converted into a restaurant serving traditional Georgian food. It's
run by a very eccentric couple, and the woman will often sit down
at a piano upstairs and start to sing traditional Turkish songs.
And people sometimes bring instruments to join her. She's not
necessarily a great singer, but it's a great atmosphere. This is
off the beaten path, and I'm not sure it's been written about
before. Do you want to know about Istanbul's nightlife?
Yes, please.
The best place is called Babylon. It's very good for jazz. They
play jazz and funk from all over the world. The owner even brought
Sun Ra, who was a singer, to Istanbul. All of these places I've
mentioned are in a district called Beyoglu. The food is just great.
This is everywhere in Istanbul. You drink this alcohol called raki.
It's kind of a liquor. Delicious. You eat fish. The thing they eat
is called meze - the Greeks have this, too - and it means "mixed
appetizers." So they bring a little plate of olives and sardines
and cheese. Kind of their version of tapas.
What are the people like?
Very, very, very hospitable. Yeah. Incredibly hospitable.
Hospitality is a really important part of their culture. If you go
in someone's home, they give you tea and food. We met an American
who lives there, Paxton, and he's a director and a screenplay
writer. He's lived there for 10 years. He was the person who showed
us around and introduced us to Turkish people, because he's lived
there for so long and speaks fluent Turkish. The thing that really
struck me was their hospitality. They're so generous and warm.
Did you get outside of Istanbul and explore Turkey?
Yes, and there's a lovely little village on the Asian side called
Kuzguncuk. I know that there are some really old Greek churches and
Armenian churches, and there's an old synagogue. It's great to
visit there. It's a little fishing village, and it has great fish
restaurants nearby. Oh! And there's another place, Buyukada, which
is called the
Big Island, and it's about an hour-and-a-half ferry
ride from Istanbul. I spent the day there. They have old mansions
there, and Greek and Armenian monasteries and churches and
synagogues. And there are no cars on the island, and that's what
makes it really romantic. You take a horse-drawn carriage around
the island, or you can rent a bicycle. Very, very romantic. There's
a great hotel on the island called the Splendid. It's over 100
years old. The beaches and the islands of Turkey [offer] some of
the greatest beach holidays that you can have in Europe. It's a
pretty first-world country. It's not difficult to navigate. Very
cheap local taxis. You can hail a cab in the street. And they're
metered taxis.
With so much to do in the country, it makes sense that Turkey
invented the steam bath, or the Turkish bath.
The great one is the Cagaloglu Baths, built in the 1700s. What's
unique is that they've been doing it since the Middle Ages. They
have
massage, body scrub, the whole thing.
I loved your hellion-like character in The Constant Gardener.
She was so adventurous! What would she do in Turkey?
She would look for injustice and try to put an end to it. There are
victims of poverty and injustice everywhere. So she'd go looking
for trouble.
I bet she'd find it there, right?
Oh, yeah. Of course.
MARK SEAL is an
American Way contributing editor. His
work has also appeared in
Vanity Fair, Esquire, Playboy, and
Time.
American Airlines offers codeshare service to Istanbul on British
Airways and on Turkish Airlines. For more information, visit
www.aa.com and click on About
Us/Codeshare Partners.
american airlines offers codeshare service to istanbul on british
airways and on turkish airlines. for more information, visit
www.aa.com and click on about
us/codeshare partners.
she said ...
where rachel weisz indulges her vices in istanbul
lodging
the splendid hotel, buyukada, inexpensive,
011-90-216-382-6950
the yesil ev, expensive to very expensive,
011-90-212-517-67
dining
360 istanbul restaurant and bar,
moderate to expensive, 011-90-212-251-1042,
www.360istanbul.com
galata evi, inexpensive to moderate,
011-90-212-245-1861,
www.thegalatahouse.com
leb-i derya, expensive, 011-90-212-293-4989,
www.lebiderya.com
attractions
the blue mosque, 011-90-212-518-1319
the cagaloglu baths, 011-90-212-522-2424,
www.cagalogluhamami.com.tr
corlulu ali pasa medresesi, yeniceriler, cad 36, cemberlitas
the grand bazaar, carsikapi cad, beyazit
topkapi palace, 011-90-212-512-0480
turkish foundations calligraphic arts museum,
011-90-212-527-5851
nightlife
babylon, live music, 011-90-212-292-7368
we said...
where we indulge our vices in istanbul
lodging
bentley hotel, expensive to very expensive, 011-90-212-291-7730,
www.bentley-hotel.com. a trendy neighborhood, chic clientele, and
designer accommodations complete with high-tech electronics and
espresso machines - you might think you were in a hotel in new york
or
los angeles, but this is istanbul at its finest. but the hotel
has only 50 rooms and eight suites, so you'd better book ahead.
hotel sari konak, moderate, 011-90-212-638-6258, www.sarikonak.com.
the rooms at this charming, family-run establishment are just fine,
but we prefer the roof. why? that's where you'll find a lovely
terrace with unparalleled views of the blue mosque and the marmara
sea.
dining
kumpir street vendors, inexpensive. the ortaköy section of town may
feature some of the most coveted tables in town (at restaurants
like dada and angelique), but we'd rather wander its cobblestone
paths and plop down a lira for one of those crazy kumpir
concoctions - a giant baked potato stuffed with cheese, butter, and
everything from pickles to peas.
the pudding shop, inexpensive, 011-90-212-511-0539,
www.puddingshop.com. an istanbul institution since 1957, there is
perhaps no better, cheaper, or more historic place to introduce
your taste buds to turkish cuisine.
attractions
binbirdirek cistern, 011-90-212-517-8725. the oldest and second-largest cistern in istanbul, binbirdirek’s 224 columns once held 50,000 cubic meters of water, and then later, um, trash. today, it’s a worthwhile historic, if somewhat anomalous, family attraction. better yet, it’s open until midnight, and admission gets you free tea, coffee, or soft drinks.
cemberlitas hamami, 011-90-212-522-7974, www.cemberlitashamami.com.tr. dating back to 1584, this turkish bath is not only authentic (prepare to be scrubbed, rubbed, lathered, and bathed) and a great spot to wind down after a long day of sightseeing, but it was built by the same architect who designed the breathtaking blue mosque.