That One Time We Almost Fell For The Istanbul Shoe Shine Scam.

We were on a self-guided walking tour of the Golden Horn area when the man approached us. He shifted the small suitcase he was carrying to one hand and started explaining the history of the neighborhood. We listened. Until then, our encounters with people in Istanbul had been downright lovely. That morning, our taxi driver had insisted – nay, demanded – we each take a hunk of the sesame bun he had just purchased from a roadside vendor.