The dog walked down the most crowded pedestrian street in the world. The one that has the most foot traffic per day of any street in the world. But that didn’t count the dog. Only the 
people walking down the street. The dog walked, minding his own business, looking at the shops and the people, knowing that they were not looking at him at all. So he was completely shocked when one girl walked past him, stopped, walked back, squatted down, and took his photo. He was pleased to be noticed, but also a little annoyed to not have been asked. Then he noticed the girl’s companion.
“I’m Skye” the mouse introduced herself. “I hope you don’t mind my friend taking photos of you.”
“Not at all,” the dog replied. “My name’s Çilek. It means strawberry in Turkish. Where are you from? What are you doing here? What are you doing with a girl?”
“Nice to meet you Çilek. I’m from the Isle of Skye in Scotland. My friend’s name is Kate, and one day she was left on the road near my house in the rain...I gave him the short version of how I met Kate, left home, and where we’d been since then.”
“Wow” said Çilek, impressed. “A traveling mouse. That sounds like quite an adventure. I haven’t gotten to do any traveling. I’ve been living in Istanbul all my life.”
“Well, I think living in Istanbul is a pretty big adventure. Where do you live?”
“I live near to this street, Istiklal Caddesi. I spend a lot of time walking up and down this street. It’s funny. They say that this street has the highest pedestrian traffic of any street in the world, but they never bother to count me. What do you think of my street?”
Çilek’s street was mental!!! We started walking at this big square sort of thing called Taksim Square. It’s supposed to be the heart of modern Istanbul, or something. Tons of busses come to Taksim. The main metro stop is also here. It used to be the end of the line, but now they’re working on extending it. Hundreds of thousands of people are always rushing up and down the stairs to and from the metro. And hundreds more are rushing to the busses, jumping on at the last minute as the bus pulls away to start its route. Then there are the taxis. I think most of the traffic in the square is caused by hundreds of taxis that are just circling. It gets really bad on Friday and Saturday nights. Litterally hundreds of taxis and no other cars. Then you walk past a big statue for the heros of the war of independence surrounded by a bit of green with a fence that’s very uncomfortable to sit on. There is no other place to sit in the square. No benches or anything. From there tram tracks start. They run the length of Istiklal Caddesi – about one kilometer. The tram is called the nostaljik tram – it’s old style and goes really slowly. The first time I walked down the street I didn’t think that anything used the tracks and so I was walking on one of them, trying to keep my balance. I was so absorbed I didn’t hear the warning bell, and Kate had to pull me away at the last second before I got run over. I’m surprised that more people don’t get run over by the tram.
At the head of the street is a Burger King. It’s the meeting place of the street. At any time of day or night there will be people waiting there – for friends, lovers, blind dates, business deals. I never have anyone to meet there, so I always just look on my way past. And then, as if the madness of the square wasn’t enough, you enter the jam of the street. I guess I’m used to open spaces, and Istiklal is anything but that. The whole street is lined with resturants and posh shops. It’s shops that you would see in any high street – Mango, Benetton, Body Shop. Except that in Turkey they are twice as expensive as anywhere else in the world. And if you turn off the main street onto a side street it immediatly gets quieter and less expensive. Cheap places to eat, places with more interesting clothes, smaller book stores, an occasional hardware store, and lots and lots of bars.
The buildings aren’t that tall or anything. And most of them are really cool – from the 1700s to the 1900s. But the street isn’t that wide, and because of that the buildings seem really really tall. Or maybe it’s that I’m a little small. I always worry that I’m going to get stepped on.
“Your street” I told Çilek “is very full of life.”
“I know” replied Çilek “that’s why I love it. It can be overwhelming, but if you just slow down and look at the people, it’s amazing. And what’s even better is the smells. Near the square there’s always the smell of doner, and the smell of taxis. And then the smell of people. Lots of parfume and soap and makeup, and people dressed up just to walk down the street. And then there’s the smell of new clothes, and more food. And then passing the fish market there’s the smell of fish, and frying mussels. Did you know that big huge building halfwaydown the street behind the gates is a highschool?”
“Kate told me that”
“Can you smell the highschool students? The book residue and the stress?”
“I think that when I visit your street I get so nervous from all the people, I can’t relax enough to even open up my nose. I’ll try it though.”
“The amazing thing about being an animal is that you are often invisible. So you can watch the humans without them realizing it.”
I felt a little silly for not realizing this. I always want humans to notice me, to fit into their world. Maybe sometimes I should take advantage of the fact I’m a mouse.
At this point Kate wanted to know what we were talking about. I told her what Çilek said about all the smells. Is it true? Kate wanted to know. Can you really smell all those things. Yes I told her. I just forgot to open up my nose. I didn’t tell her about being invisible and watching people. I thought I’d give it a try first.