(day 5) Kadiköy

So as I've mentioned before, Istanbul is divided in two sides: the European side and the Asian side (that's actually how people refer to it here). The Bosphorus Strait separates the two halves, but it's very convenient to go back and forth by way of ferry. Many people make the commute every day.

Way, way back, there actually used to be two cities, one on each side. Chalcedon, on the Asian side, was founded first, as a colony of the Greek city-state Megara. Sixteen or seventeen years later, another group of settlers set out from Megara to begin their own colony, headed by a man named Byzas.

Before leaving, he consulted with the Greek oracle at Delphi as to where he should found his new colony, and was advised to raise a settlement opposite the land of the blind. Of course, that's hokey gibberish, and he didn't understand what it meant until he arrived on the European side of the Bosphorus. Seeing how defensible the peninsula was, the clearness of the water, and the potential city that could develop here, he looked across the strait at the Chalcedonians and thought they must indeed be blind to not have settled here instead, and so it came to be that Byzas founded the colony Byzantion across the land of the blind.

The two colonies eventually became one entity, probably when a foreign empire (Romans or Persians) came and took over (but don't cite me on that).

Getting to Kadiköy (a district on the Asian side) from Kabatas was straightforward, simply hop onto the Kabatas-Kadikoy ferry and you're there in 15 minutes. The journey was made even simpler for me since I had a tour guide, the night-shift hostel employee, Gokhan, lives in Kadikoy and he was headed back that direction after his shift. It's kind of funny that I made friends with both of the night shift staff at both hostels, but they're both kind of odd. I guess I get along with odd people better.

My grand water steed.

There are two levels to sit on, this is the upper level. There was tons of space available.

This guy came by selling tea, juice, and sandwiches.

Hot tea and a sandwich! There is a little bit of cheese inside.

Sitting on the open water, sunny day, breeze on your face, hot tea and delicious sandwich, it really was the best feeling. It feels like a real voyage.

I suck at taking pictures so I couldn't properly capture it, but the views of the city were really nice. Istanbul doesn't seem to have a lot of skyscrapers, so it's not a very domineering skyline. More like sleepy little houses and apartments.

Oh, and one of the best parts is that it's super cheap, just about a dollar one-way.

On arriving, we decided to grab a coffee/tea.

We went to this cafe, which is his favorite cafe, he knew the owner and everyone working there.

There was an open-air covered patio, which was nice.

I had been curious about the various degrees of concealment I had seen for women. In the Fatih district, near Chora Museum and Mihrimah Mosque, I could clearly see that it was more conservative. Most women were completely covered head to toe in burkas. In Taksim, where my second hostel is, it's not shocking to see someone in a burka, but decidedly less common. And here at this table, you can see a girl eating with her friend, one with a head scarf and one not covered. I asked Gokhan, what determines what a girl wears? and he said it's basically up to personal preference, which is largely dependent on how you were raised. I thought it was nice though, that even though a girl might choose to be more conservative, that she's open minded to those who aren't.

I got a Turkish coffee. I still think I prefer espresso or brewed coffee. I like Turkish coffee but it's a little too gritty for my taste.

Grounds and undrinkable dregs at the bottom of the cup.

Next we walked to a street called Artists Bazaar. This sculpture marked one of the entrances to the bazaar, I don't know what it is though.

The left side of the street is all lined with little kiosks filled with handmade art. It was really cute! Unfortunately most kiosks weren't open (it was afternoon).

The other side of the street had lots of little restaurants, cafes and eateries. Here is a couple sharing a meal while some stray cats wait patiently for food.

We kept walking after the end of the street, we ended up walking quite a bit, and here's a random collection of things I saw.

No trumpets allowed!

Tons of little cafes in the area, most with open-air or outdoor seating.

There are fresh produce stands everywhere, Turkish cuisine seems to be really fresh.
And look! LOOK HOW MANY TOMATOES THERE ARE! Literally every meal here comes with tomato. I'm pretty sure if you went to McDonalds and ordered a Coke it would come with a tomato.

A tiny sidewalk garden.

Vintage records and items.

Here's what the street and apartments look like.

I really like these little sidewalk guards, they've been painted bright colors.

Interesting graffiti.

Same wall, a little demonic looking.

Huge figs for $3.50 a tray.

Despite being a largely Muslim nation, they do celebrate Halloween and Christmas here. Halloween costume store.

More brightly-colored sidewalk guards in front of an old church. Here, you'll see churches and mosques standing right next to each other, a testament to the Ottoman's open-mindedness towards its conquered peoples. Of course there are way more mosques than churches, but Christians and Jews were allowed to practice their own religions without fear of persecution.

I liked this juxtaposition of this old crumbling wall (1800s) to the new and modern Mango clothing store.

This is Gokhan, my tour guide for the day. Little bit of a weirdo, but a good person. I went to the front desk the first night and asked "is there anyplace still open that has food?" and he said "yes" and gave some directions. Then he said, "after you eat, come back here and we will have tea". I was like "are you...asking me? or telling me." O_o Pretty sure I was just commanded to have tea that I didn't want. What the hell.

They have McDonalds, Burger King, even Carl's Jr! Look, you can learn how to say burger in Turkish, it's "BURGERLER"

Speaking of good ol' home comforts...they have Pumpkin Spice Latte here!!!!!!! Never seen an international Starbucks that carried it.

After walking a ways, stopped for some Turkish ice cream. Apparently this place is really popular. Ali is a name, Usta means "master", so the place is called Master Ali.

Mmmmmmmmm. Ice creams.

The trees outside were all decorated with these cute lanterns.

Walked to the seashore, where you can park yourself on these big comfy rocks. I would definitely love to come here on a sunny day with a coffee and just read a book.

There was a string of balloons along the seashore, I was curious what they were for. There's a guy nearby with air guns, for $3 you can take 12 shots.

Windsurfers in the background.

The guns. We bought a round, I hit 3 out of 4! There's a laser sight on the barrel though that makes it a no brainer. He has a second rack of targets you can go for, much smaller objects, all the way down to a toothpick.

Found this little baby napping on a rock, I played with him a little.

Stopped by for another snack and tea. This is a chain cafe, I think.

They had sweets...

...and savory pastries.

We got one of each,

The savory pastry was hella good! They call pastries börek, I'm not sure if it's a specific kind of pastry, but anyway, it's common to stop by and grab a börek for breakfast.

World's neatest park, very Alice in Wonderland.

After walking for hours we decided to head back, by bus, thank god, not on food. They have large double decker buses here, smaller buses, mini buses, and a thing called a dolmus that's more like a van.

I kind of wanted to head home at this point, I was socially exhausted and my feet hurt, but Gokhan knew a good place for dinner. So far on this trip, I was pretty pleased with the pace that I had been seeing things and exploring the city, the two things I felt I was lacking in were climbing and food. I meant to climb twice a week here but so far hadn't made it to the gym yet, there was just too much to see! And as far as food goes, I had barely gotten to try anything, my hours were too weird, travel companions kept picking shitty places, etc. Since Gokhan lived in this neighborhood, I trusted he would know what he was about.

I am really glad I was right.

We went to this restaurant, which was once again covered outdoor seating. Almost all restaurants/cafes seem to have outdoor seating, which is interesting because it does get quite cold here in the winter.

Mmmm kebap meat. We didn't get kebabs though. I actually had no idea what we were getting, Gokhan said he would order, but before he did he asked "Do you like butter?" and I said "who the fuck doesn't like butter" and he said "Great, I will ask for extra butter for you". I was like ummmmmmmmmmmHYAH I'M ALL IN.

It was.............amazing. There is buttered bread at the bottom, with some thin slices of meat on top (come to think of it, it was probably kebab meat), covered with some tomato sauce, then covered with actual tomatoes and a green pepper. The white stuff on the left is yogurt. As you pick up each forkful, you grab a bit of yogurt and eat the whole thing. It was SO GOOD.

Food coma, then I headed back to the ferry.

The night views were really nice too.

Today was really different from all the previous days I had spent in Istanbul, which were largely focused on sight-seeing, history, and culture. Today was a much more chill day, hanging out on a Sunday like locals do. Actually it's the sort of day I would usually prefer to spend while traveling, just that Istanbul has such a wealth of history and culture that I really want to see it too.

While the museums and mosques and structures are really, really great, so far I had been a little more wary about the people. In Sultanahmet, the old part of the city, I had definitely been having less than ideal interactions with locals, most of whom were very pushy and aggressive. Of course it should be emphasized that that is the touristy area, and not totally representative of all Turkish people. Still, from my first few days in Istanbul, I just didn't feel like I fit in, or that I could see myself staying here or coming back.

Today changed things a lot though. The Asian side of the city was totally different from Sultanahmet. It was much more of just a normal city, families going out, people living, sleepy cafes with friends chatting. I am so relieved to find out that there is another, much better side to the city. It was really confusing and mentally jarring to me that a city could be so unpleasant, but I realize now that that was just out of my own ignorance and narrow view of Istanbul so far.

I remember when I first went to Tokyo, how much I both loved and hated it there (mostly hated). I just couldn't wrap my head around the culture. Over time, I began to gain an appreciation for parts of it, and those parts that I did not like, at least an understanding of it. Knowing that, I had been trying to keep an open mind about Istanbul, that maybe there was a reasoning or mentality behind some of the behaviors I'd seen that I just didn't understand. Well, I still really really hate the sort of behavior around Sultanahmet, but coming to Kadikoy today I felt vindicated -- Istanbul is a great city, and Istanbulites are by and large great people, you just need to experience them in a natural setting.