Firstly there is a mistake in my first account of being in Istanbul. We are staying in Kadikoy, not Karokoy…I can certain be forgiven for getting these names arse about. Im confused myself but working hard to get the orientation in order.
Secondly a general comment that to travel with Chris is to explore the path less trodden and the more obscure attractions of a city. It is always interesting and full of lovely surprises but it is definitely different! To travel with Chris is also to end up totally exhausted at the end of the day and such is the case at the moment as I have just struggled up that last hill to our hotel…a hill so steep it is like climbing stairs…I fear I could topple backwards!!…collapsed into our room, opened the bottle of white (who’s saga I told you about yesterday), only to find it tastes like a disgusting cheap sherry. However the human spirit is amazing, it keeps regrouping and here I am staggering to the computer to write!!
So today…breakfast at the hotel. I swear I cannot cope with breakfasts that consist of meat, cheese and vegetables. I did my best, the bread is fantastic here so I can always make that work for me!!
Then we set off to the ferry to go to the European side, the Galata bridge to be precise. Then we had to find a more obscure ferry to take us down the Bosphorus to the Golden Horn. That was far from easy but Chris had a few clues and we eventually found the right ferry. But we were early so we went off to find a coffee place and found a lovely little place for a juice, a tea and they gave us some yummy yoghurt and honey as an added treat. That was a nice little sojourn.
Then the ferry ride! It is just so beautiful on the water with Istanbul with it’s lovely buildings, mosques, palaces and houses tilted on hillsides. The water sparkles and there is a beautiful breeze to keep the sweat under control. We got off to go to the Rahmi M Koc Museum. It is a quirky museum, the result of obsessive collecting by said Mr Koc…a very wealthy businessman ( or maybe a bit of an obsessive nutter, who knows?). Anyway the Museum was full of beautifully kept cars of every make for the last century or so. Locomotives, trams, beautiful wooden crafted boats, electronic paraphernalia, even dolls and dolls house. Much as I would never have picked this museum out and gone to it myself, it was indeed interesting. Chris had also worked out that it had a good restaurant perched on the Bosphorus where we had lunch. The setting and ambience was possibly better than the food (which wasn’t bad at all).
When we finished there we had to set off to find the Aynalikavak Kasri Pavillion. It is this absolutely fabulous walled garden setting perched on the top of a hill in the middle of an industrial area that you would never see if you didn’t know. But you go inside and there is another world. a beautifully restored summer pavilion for sultans and their entourage sitting in the middle of beautiful gardens. The pavilion itself was just gorgeous with beautiful headlight windows and rooms where you could really feel the Turkish royals lying around on the couches playing music, reading etc. It is such an obscure setting that it was hard to find but someone told us a bus to get on and it all materialised.
After this it was back on the ferry. We took a different route home and got off the ferry in Uskudar which meant having to get a kind of maxi taxi that fills up with people sharing the ride. So that was fine, we got that back to Kadikoy but it took unquote a way from where we wanted to be (as is always the case isn’t it??) so it was a trudge back to our hotel and then up the fucking hill…now back to the beginning. I’l finish off later if we can gather the strength to get ourselves out for a meal.
Just finished getting up that bloody huge hill!! Made all the harder having to lug the 2 bottles of wine I’d just bought. It’s sweaty business!! We walked to the cafe strip(s) and had a meal in a lovely older style restaurant with a long family history in the business. It was great. One dish deserves an extra mention. It was desert. A typical Turkish pudding made from chicken!! If you don’t think about it it is really delicious. As the owner said, don’t think about the chicken, it becomes something else, it is cooked so long. Anyway…yum!!!
Now its a cooling shower and a much deserved rest!