May 1

Tomorrow is May 1 which means nothing in the US. May Day? Huh? What's that? But here in Istanbul, it's "Workers Day," a day on which, of course, everyone has to work! But it is also a day marred by violence (in 1977 30 people were kill when a riot broke out between protesters and the police).

As one English-language newspaper put it today "Mayday or May Day" in Taksim (the main square on the European side).

As a result, the government tries to prevent the same thing from happening again. Putting up signs about protests is illegal. Protesting is illegal. And preparation is intense to say the least.

This afternoon as I left for work they were already putting up barricades everywhere in Taksim square in attempt to control the flow of pedestrian traffic.

In order to control other types of traffic, transportation will basically become impossible after 7:30am.

No ferries.
No metro (you can use it starting 2 stops after Taksim - there are 6 stops total)
No tram
No funicular
No buses stopping in Taksim (a major bus station)
The 2 inter-continental bridges will only have 1 lane of traffic open

I guess they just want everyone to stay home. Unfortunately, most of us still have to get to work somehow.

Normally, I take the Metro to work. Tomorrow I plan on walking a good deal of the way - maybe a 1 hour walk.

In attempt to avoid the traffic (good luck!), Vodafone will open a half hour early and close a half hour early.

But I'm sure this is a problem which cannot be avoided.

I'll let you know how it goes.