Sometimes The Nicest Thing Is A Pool on a Roof

Summer in Istanbul is unbearably hot and sticky. Compounding this (very typical) problem are streets and trams that are overcrowded, and a now well-known dearth of green spaces. I spend a lot of time melting into sweat puddles and preparing iced tea, and dreaming of air conditioners. So when some of my visiting friends invited me to spend an afternoon lounging in the rooftop pool at their hotel, I did what any other clear-headed (albeit sweaty) girl would do—I grabbed my bathing suit and I ran there as fast as I could. My friends were staying at the Marmara Pera, and the staff didn’t bat an eye at this crazed expat taking advantage of their pool. Not that it would have mattered—I don’t think much would have kept me from that fabulous water. (Except tear gas, which did keep me from going again. But these are extraordinary times.) The pool had a panoramic view of Istanbul, which was really just icing on the cake. Sitting on top of the world, in a cool blue pool while the city sweated below me, was pleasure enough. The world of hotels, hostels, and tourism in general is not one I usually live in here. Instead, I inhabit the world of the day-to-day: I maneuver Istanbul’s convoluted transportation system in neighborhoods that tourists wouldn’t dream of going to, I order drinking water for my apartment, I cook in and curse the sin tax on alcohol. For this city, my life is mostly normal. The simple luxury of a pool and a view feels like flying to the moon without leaving my backyard. As I floated in that pool on top of the Marmara Pera, I could see Kadikoy in the distance: my neighborhood, waiting for me to come down to earth and sweat with everyone else. Somehow, it made the pool day that much sweeter. Real life could wait. It’s time to go swim.