There’s a lot of business coming through my street here in Istanbul. Men carrying big stacks of bread on their head, men with carts with second-hand junk, women selling flowers or tissues, but we also have street accordionists… Not sure if I mentioned them before, but it’s time to dedicate an article to them, since it’s a really unique thing about living in Istanbul.
First things first… The video! Click play. If you’re on a slow connection, like me, pause the video directly after clicking play and wait until the black bar becomes grey.
I’ve encountered this before in my neighbourhood, but didn’t think of making a video. Last time it was a gypsy father and his son, the father playing the accordion and the son collecting the money thrown from the windows. Yes, I was following the ‘ettiquette’. You’re expected to throw the money from the window as a reward. They then stay around your corner for a little while before they walk further down the street.
This custom of accordionists collecting money thrown from the windows might seem strange, but since a lot of business here happens in the street, as described in the first paragraph of this article, it’s completely logical. For instance, something else I’ve seen is people lowering buckets on a rope to receive vegetables from the sellers coming through the street with their carts. They then put the money in the bucket and lower it to give it to the salesman.
Truly some romantic customs here, even though they might seem ‘uncivilized’ to some. I know a lot of people from all around the world visit this blog… My question for you is: do you have street musicians like this? Do you have customs of purchasing stuff right in your street?
If you have anything interesting to share, please do! And remember, what might be normal, or boring for you… migth be extremely fascinating for someone living at the other side of the world… and since my readers are from all over the world, you really have no excuse not to contribute. 😉
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Comments
5 responses to “The Street Accordionist (Video)”
Wow! Very cool to see this! Thanks for posting this up. I would really enjoy seeing something like this from my windows 😀
I’m thankful for my home & the beauty around me in the Netherlands. I can see pastures behind my home and a beautiful view of the leaves turning color on the trees in the distance. The experience on my street: I live in a little village among retired Dutch.. My husband & I are the youngest on this street.
Oh how I miss Turkey! I lived near Adana as a child. Lots of bread in the streets and what is that ice cream type stuff they sell? Kind of like soft serve but different. I can’t remember but yum!
Here in Paris I was visiting some friends in the Marais district when we heard music down in the street. My friend said it is a trio of guys who walk the streets and play and he always tosses money down to them. So, we had the pleasure of listening to them from the balcony and then tossed some Euro coins down to them. It was lovely. 🙂
I used to live in Izmir, Turkey and used to listen to them do this all the time. I would always throw a few lira out to them.
I absolutely loved buying bread off the heads of the street vendors, getting cucumbers peeled and salted for me and eating the spicy mussels with lemon on them. Good times there.
I really miss drinking chai at the local cafes and eating donar.
We have some here in Arles, France, though they don’t play below the windows, they pass from café to café, and play every day the same songs all the time… First it’s nice, but after 3 monthes of the same things… you’re getting bored, and when it’s every year, someday you end up hating them 😕