I arrived in Istanbul early evening and caught a bus along the coast towards the city center. It was raining and felt much colder than Vienna, which surprised me. (The amount of stray cats hanging around the city also surprised me). I got to the ferry terminal and across the road were a selection of dining places. In Turkey there are separate restaurants for fish/seafood and others for meat. I had a selection of appetizers, including eggplant, what I think were butter beans in a sauce, calamari, and various other vegetables and salads before having fish. Dessert is normally figs and boiled quince with cream on top. I have to say that I only just worked out that it was quince I was eating, when I asked what it was I only got, "it's bigger and harder than an apple" to work with.
Princes Island is a 20 minute ferry ride from the mainland of Istanbul, I stayed there for three nights. On the map above it is the island "Adalar". About 5,000 people live on the island, and no cars, buses, trains etc are allowed. The main forms of transportation are cycling and horse and carriage. (Click on the photos to view them at a larger size).
Princes Island is a 20 minute ferry ride from the mainland of Istanbul, I stayed there for three nights. On the map above it is the island "Adalar". About 5,000 people live on the island, and no cars, buses, trains etc are allowed. The main forms of transportation are cycling and horse and carriage. (Click on the photos to view them at a larger size).
The typical breakfast here is one plate with a selection of meats, cheeses, olives, cucumber, tomato, hard boiled eggs and a basket of bread. And tea, of course you have tea. Everyone is drinking tea, all the time. I think on my first day I probably had about six cups of tea. It almost always comes served in a small glass with no handle and a couple of sugar cubes for you to stir in and to make it sweet. There is a coffee house on top of a hill, which faces out towards mainland Istanbul. I went there for morning tea. You get a small pistachio chocolate with your coffee :) I made friends with a stray cat there too.
I went on an island tour horse and carriage ride, which takes you through the main streets, to the top of a small hill where there is a cafe and small market. It’s traditional to get out there and drink tea. So that’s what we did. Then we continued down the hill and back into the town centre. I ended up accidentally walking into the square where all the horses and carriages are gathered waiting to go out onto the streets and it felt like I was in the 1800s haha.
There are some amazing houses and hotels on this island, but the majority are empty during winter. In summer the population swells. I would really like to come back here in summer, there is a nice walkway along the water with many restaurants that have almost completely glass walls and doors.
There is an awesome mix of buildings, forest and sea. There is a huge picnic area on top of a hill in the forest overlooking the coast and out towards Istanbul. The photo of the sea below shows an island called Military Island. It's named that because a big military school is located there.
I ventured over to the Asian side of Istanbul. This is apparently the much busier, business side. I spent the day walking around the harbour and the main shopping streets. It reminded me a lot of Vienna. It’s actually very different to what I expected, but I’m not quite sure what I expected in the first place. There are so many cafes. I had a really nice baked rice pudding. One thing I have noticed is there are always men drinking tea in cafes. There are of course women too, but normally they are out numbered by the men drinking tea. The service in restaurants and cafes is incredible. You are served fast, the plates you are finished with are taken away and replaced with new ones as soon as you are finished.
I didn't take many photos when people were around because then it becomes obvious I am a tourist and all of a sudden I would be bombarded with people trying to sell things and make me eat at their restaurant. Overall I really enjoyed my short time in Turkey. I especially loved the food and how friendly the people are. I will defintely go back again.