Today we headed over to the Asia side of Istanbul. Most of Istanbul’s 15m live on this side of the continent. It is especially known for its foodie culture, food markets and generally is considered more chilled out than the old town.
First order of business was coffee. We found a lovely quiet spot in the sun and just sat contemplating the sunshine for a bit.
Back on a ferry, we headed over and made a beeline for the food markets. They were full of spices (that I cannot bring home 😢), fresh fruit and veg, cheese, meats, live fish. We were there early, so it was not too busy and we had the ability to taste cheese and olives, buy midnight snacks for our fridge and generally take in the sights.
We skipped breakfast, in lieu of lunch, so settled in for an early lunch of 1/2 a fish sandwich each and some jumbo shrimp. We then took to strolling around the area.
The goose above was known as Kaz Rodi, who lived at the Kadikoy Fish Markets from 2000-2009. H came to the market with a fisherman named Nimet. Kaz Rodi apparently crossed roads at the lights, only going on the green man, took his yea with one sugar, greeted each shop keeper in the morning, chase away people he didn’t like and approached those that he did like. When Nimet died in 2008, Kaz Rodi went into a deep depression and stopped eating and drinking, he passed away in 2009. He was buried at the foot of Nimet’s grave……. 😭😭😭.
As you can see, there were some luxuriating animals on our strolls. Content pusses and doggos in roller luggage, which made me wonder if Hedy would be happy to be rolled around like that?! I doubt it, too many things to sniff and enjoy!
Above, you will note that we’ve selected a seafront house to move into…..! Darryl, can you organise this for us please?!
After our wandering, eating and experiencing of the Asian side of Istanbul, we caught the ferry home. A broken funicular saw us walking up the very steep hill to the Galata Tower and home. There were fortunately some spare seats, with a street front view waiting for us to order a beer…… a short loo break saw a certain “someone” steal my seat. We eventually came to a sharing arrangement!
Tomorrow we are looking to head back to the islands as it is meant to be a nice day, with good weather. We may also do one last Hamam, because why not?!
