(day 6) Kybele Cafe

After walking around all day, I was all tuckered out. I actually spent half an hour sitting and reading at one end of the archaeological museum because my feet were too tired to make it through yet another exhibit hall.

So I pulled up my handy Google maps where I'd saved any places of interest that I had found while researching, and looked for coffee shops. I found one somewhat nearby, recommended by some guidebook as having "antique furniture and thousands of lights hanging from the ceiling". That sounded interesting.

And it was really cool! Hundreds and hundreds of lights (I was later told there were more than 4000 lights hanging from the ceiling of the establishment) gave this restaurant/cafe/hotel a really unique look and atmosphere. I'm really not into antiques or ornate and flowery furniture, but I do like lights.

Another view.

Iced latte (12TL = $4), baklava $4. You know I'm not actually sure I've had baklava before. I like it except for the nuts, I wish they had it without nuts. But since there are only 4 ingredients, one of which is nuts, I guess they probably don't have nut-free ones.

After reading downstairs for a while, I was told there's a terrace upstairs, and do I want to go sit there. Duh! Y u no tell me earlier.

It's super cute. I could really get used to cafe life in Istanbul. Best cafe life of anywhere I've been to so far.

The waiter started chatting with me, and I found out his uncle owns this place. It used to just be a hotel, then he bought the building next door and turned it into a cafe/restaurant and joined the two. Then he bought the apartments upstairs, and turned part of this one into a library + private dining room for guests. It's really cute inside, I want one of these in my home (but instead of a dining table just a big lounge chair).

The book that I'm reading now, The Boys in the Boat, is about 9 American boys that go to the 1936 Olympics for rowing (crew), right before WWII. It's about their individual stories, their journey to the top, and the art of rowing. It sounds like kind of a dry topic, but the author does such a good job of pulling you into the spirit of things, introducing you to the boys, that really it was an incredibly emotional book. I almost cried a few times, literally. Due to literature. Pun.

But seriously, highly recommend, for any of you looking to pick up a book.