Day 4 - Istanbul - Bosphorus Cruise

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We've had a relatively quiet day today as we'd decided that today was the day to do the cruise along the Bosphorus through to the Black Sea.

We started the day with what has become our daily walk across the Galata Bridge to the ferry docks on the other side of the Golden Horn. We purchased our tickets well in advance and given that we had some free time we decided to go for a quick meander through the Spice Bazaar again. Being early in the morning it was far less crowded and we enjoyed it even more than the other day. After about 30 mins there we had to leave to board the ferry.

The cruise was quite pleasant. There were quite a few people on board the boast but it wasn't crowded. Basically the ferry just travels eastwards along the Bosphorus, stopping at various locations/towns on both the Asian and European sides of the strait. The Bosphorus was the location for the summer homes/palaces of the local rich and famous, ranging from royalty through to foreign embassies etc. A number of these summer residences still exist and many have been renovated over the years. There are also lots of modern homes for the current batch of Isanbul A-list members.

The end of the tour is at a small village still inside the Bosphorus. This village appears to survive by catering to the tourists from the ferries although there were 1 or 2 commercial fishing vessels around. On a hill behind the village is an old fortress with good views across both the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. The shipping traffic through the strait is amazing (i.e. lots of it) but it only runs in one direction at a time.

After our cruise we came back to the apartment and had a rest before going out to dinner followed by a stroll up Istiklal Cadessi. Our meal tonight was very nice but we are still getting used to ordering the correct amount of food. Tonight we had more than we needed and so had to do without an ice cream for afters. There are some seriously good ice cream stores in this area and so we need to ensure that we don't do that again.

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Photos

Istiklal Cadessi
This is the main drag of Istanbul and seems to be the place to be seen.

Restaurants in Beyoglu
In the lanes behind Istiklal Cd are areas with lots of bars and restaurants. We ate in one of the restaurants along this street tonight.