Rumeli Hisarı and Istiklal Caddesi

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Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day, so I set off with another teacher and her boyfriend to see some of the sights. We took a bus from our neighborhood Batiataşhir to the ferry docks. (A note on Turkish: the ş is pronounced like the “sh” sound in English, and the ç is like “ch”) The bus ride was exciting mostly because I’ve been so busy moving in that I haven’t done much beyond stocking my kitchen and buying useful stuff like a surge protector. There are a couple busses that go to the ferry docks, but we took the 8A. The ferries all take off from buildings along the wharf. Each building has the name of the place or places that its ferry goes to and they are all beautiful buildings. They looked more like museums than docks.

We caught a ferry to Beşiktaş, which is kind of in the middle of the European side of the Bosphorus, between the two bridges. There were ferries for places all along the Bosphorus and even the Prince’s Islands in the Sea of Marmara. I hadn’t realized that the islands were so close; I could see them from the ferry.

The ferry boat reminded me a lot of the ferries in the San Juan Islands near Seattle. The Istanbul ferries are smaller, and you can’t drive your car onto it, but the decks and seating areas are the same. From the ferry I had a great view of Sultanhamet (the Blue Mosque), the Aya Sophia and Topkapı Palace. (Another note on Turkish: the i without the dot: ı sounds like uh). We also saw a whole pod of dolphins and I learned that yunus is the Turkish word for dolphin. After the ferry we caught another bus that drove up the European side of the Bosphorus. This was far more scenic than the first bus ride and went right along the water. We saw several yalıs, which are old wooden houses built right on the water. I’ve read a lot about them and will look for a touristy one I can visit.

We got off the bus just before the second bridge to see the Rumali Hisarı (Fortress of Europe), which was built in 1452 by Mehmet the Conqueror as a start to his conquest of Constantinople. It was amazing and huge and probably has so many books written about it that you could take a whole semester class on just the architecture and construction. They do concerts in the amphitheatre there, and if I ever have a chance to go I don’t care who is playing. Turkish opera, Ukrainian rock band, no matter who it is, the place is so spectacular it wouldn’t matter. I hear they get good music going through there, so I’ll keep it on my radar.

After the Rumali we took the bus back down the European side of the Bosphorus to Taksim Square and walked down Istiklal Caddesi, which I would translate as Independence Avenue. (Just one more note on Turkish: the letter c is pronounced like je in French. As in “je t’aime”).

Istiklal Caddesi is a pedestrian street, except for the trolley. It’s lined with shops, most of them very upscale. There were also restaurants and cafés, many with names in English. The street was packed and reminded me a lot of Paris, both for the people walking and the stores. There were street performers and Green Peace volunteers trying to get people to sign petitions against nuclear weapons. I was so busy looking at all the people that I barely noticed the shops. It is a very cosmopolitan place.

We stopped at a restaurant that I think qualified as a lokanta. You ordered when you walked in, like a cafeteria, walking along with a tray and picking out what looked good. It’s the sort of place that has both hot food and sandwiches. I pointed to the rice, garbanzo beans in a tomato sauce and a baked eggplant veggie dish that looked a bit like ratatouille. They put it all together on a plate then I picked up a dish of cucumber, tomato, green pepper and parsley from the salads. We paid then took our food to a table to eat. In Morocco, I would have been embarrassed to eat in public during Ramadan, but people here are pretty laid back. We were the only foreigners in the lokanta and though I wouldn’t say it was packed, there were plenty of locals eating. I’m sure it’s different in smaller communities where people are usually more conservative, but it’s so nice not to feel pressured to fast. Obviously, people here don’t worry about it too much.

The only shop we went in was an English bookstore named Robinson Crusoe 389. The shelves were crammed with everything from Clive Barker to Hemmingway. I found a workbook for beginning Turkish, but I want to find a tutor to work with before I start buying books. I was looking at a map of Turkey in the tourist section by all the guide books (they have Lonely Planet) and noticed that there is a town named Batman in eastern Turkey. I had to get the map.

We skipped the ferry on the way home since the bus is actually faster and cheaper. I watched a beautiful sunset over the Aya Sofia from the Bosphorus bridge and we got home just before dark. Overall, it was a beautiful day, and I am so happy to be here.

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Photos

From the ferry
On the far left is Sultanahmet (the Blue Mosque) to the right higher on the hill is the Aya Sofia and the low white building in the middle is Toplakı Palace.

Simit
Red carts sell simit, which is like a bagel with sesame seeds. The canons were used by the Byzantines to defend against the Ottomans. The building in the background is one of the ferry docks.

Memo and Tercel at the Rumeli
The Rumeli was amazing and only 3 YTL. I think there were more Turkish tourists than foreign tourists, which is always a good sign. I highly recommend it.

Looking north up the Bosphorus
On the bottom left, mostly hidden in the trees is the amphitheater.

Taksim Square
This is the trolley that goes up and down Istiklal Caddesi.

Church of St. Anthony
There are all sorts of interesting places along Istiklal. There were quite a few people in the pews but also lots of tourists walking around taking pictures of the stained glass windows. It is a very European looking Catholic church.

Modern Art
Istiklal also has modern art galleries. This was one of my favorites and had sculpted scooters made to look like cats and snakes too. I think this one looks more like reindeer than regular deer.