Oda Stambulai

What is it that makes a city "great"? Is it the breadth of its boundaries reaching to other cities, or how many people a minute pass along its most crowded street? Is it the age of its oldest building which makes a city great, or the amount of tears that are shead by those who miss it? Should we measure the width of its roads or the depths of its memory to understand a city's greatness?

Istanbul ir a great... a very great city. Wherever you stand, however you look at it, it is very difficut to squeeze it into units of measurement, to explain it within the confines of models and matrices. Istanbul is more than just a city, it is a universe. When you try to describe it, however broad your vocabulary may be, you will definitely miss something; it is a massive universe and if you hold one end, the other will be beyond your reach. When you are far from it, you will search for it like a lover you cannot forget, a passion which leaves you wandering the crowded streets of another cities hoping, but never able to find just a part of it...

(www.istanbul2010.org)

Gribēju uzrakstīt skaistu kopsavilkumu un poēmu Stambulai, bet tad manās rokās nonāca Kultūras galvaspilsētas (šogad tā ir Stambula) katalogs, izlasīju ievadu un sapratu, ka tas ir tas, ko gribēju pateikt - Stambula ir lieliska un ievērojama pilsēta. Lai kā arī es censtos, Stambulu nav iespējams izmērīt un izstāstīt vārdos, un, ja grib ieklausīties un saskatīt, tad var izdzirdēt pa stāstam no katras sienas, ielas, mājas, ostas, kaijas ķērkšanas un, pats galvenais, garām ejošajiem un stāvošajiem cilvēkiem.