イスタンブールの歩き方 Walking in Istanbul

イスタンブールの観光名所は一か所にかたまっていて移動が便利。
白地に青のタイルの美しさからブルーモスクという名で知られるスルタンアメフト・モスク、
キリスト教の大聖堂から、オスマン帝国時代にモスクに転用されたという面白い歴史を持つアヤ・ソフィア、
など見逃せないものばかりです。

In Istanbul, there are main tourist attractions in one distinct, so it's convenient to visit them.
Such as Sultanambmet mosque, commonly known as Blue mosque because of the excellent white tiles with blue patterns, and Hagia Sophia, which has interest history ; it was changed to a mosque from a cathedral in a period of Ottoman Empire, those places are must-see.

そんな観光地を歩いているとよく話しかけられます。
トルコの人は日本好きが多いといいますが、中には日本語が大変流暢な人も。
「中国人や韓国人もいるのに、なぜ日本人だと分るの？」と聞くと、
「歩き方で分る」とのこと。日本女子は「足をすって歩く」。
・・・確かに私はそうかも。もはや着物を着ない時代になったのに、歩き方だけは変わらないのでしょうか。
男性は見わけがつかない場合があるけれど、女性ならほぼ間違えないね、と自慢げに語ってくれました。

When I was walking in that area, many people talked to me.
I had heard that many of the Turkish liked Japan, still I was surprised that there were many fluent Japanese speakers as well.
I asked one of them how to distinguish Japanese from other Asian although many Chinese and Korean came there.
He said that he judged by their walking style, "Japanese walk with their feet scuffing the ground."
Certainly so do I. Today we hardly wear a kimono, but still walk the same as old days, do we?
(We cannot walk in long strides in a kimono, because the bottom would be opened.)
He would mistake it in case of men, but be almost right in case of women, he boasted.

物が売りたくて話しかけてくる人がほとんどだと思いますが、ナンパや話したいだけの人も多いかも。
私はこんなおじさんに話しかけられました。
「２回トルコの女性と結婚して、２回失敗した。トルコの女は口うるさい。私の友人の奥さんは日本人でとても静かでいいそうだから、次は日本人と結婚したい。」
また、夜のブルーモスク（ライトアップされていてきれいです。）を見ていると、流暢な日本語で話しかけられました。
彼は日本に住んでいたそうで、日本語を話したかったんでしょう。
「歳いくつ？」と聞かれたので「秘密」と答えると、
「秘密ということは２９歳か３１歳くらいですね。それくらいの女性は歳を言わない。」
うるさい！図星だわい。

I guess that the most of them who talk to visitors may want sell something but some of them may want to have a chat or to pick up a woman.
I was talked by a man.
He said, "I've married a Turkish woman twice and divorced twice. Turkish women are noisy. A friend's wife is Japanese, he says she is quiet and nice. So I'd like to marry a Japanese woman now."
When I was looking at Blue mosque, which was lit up beautifully in the evening, a fluent Japanese speaker talked to me.
He used to live in Japan, so would want to speak in Japanese.
He asked my age and I answered that it was a secret.
Then he said, "The secret means that you must be 29 or 31 years old. Women of that age won't say their age."
Hold your tongue! You hit it !!