In Istanbul, which for no reason in my head I call Istannybul.
Today, I actually set foot on a whole new-to-me continent. I thought I had earlier but I suppose I was tripping.
Asia - I've been to Asia now. I'd like to think South America is next and Antarctica is a never.
I'm a freak and I prefer the heat, what can I say?
But before I headed off to Asia, I had to check out the Bazaar. Starting in the spice Bazaar.
Then the full blast Grand Bazaar of which I only have one photo to share.
To fully take it in the Grand Bazaar I think I would need to spend hours there alone. I was with a friend and also not personally willing to spend hours there at the time.
The thing is, I go back to the feeling of analysis paralysis in İstanbul. How can I buy one thing, when there are millions of things to choose from?
And even here I feel like a tourist. We had a quick jaunt through before heading off to grab some food.
Did I want to try balık ekmek? Well it's a fish sandwich and I don't even eat those back in the states. However when you're hanging with your Turkish friend, you let them show you what you need to try. So fish sandwich it was.
And it was a fish sandwich if I've ever had one. Not bad, not great, but solid in it's position as a fish sandwich.
Now something that I loveeeed about this meal is we had Gunseven Şalgam, a fermented black carrot juice. This tasted like pickle juice and I'm a fan of fermented things so I was all aboard.
Then we grabbed some simit(sesame seed bread sold all over the place) hopped on a ferry and popped over to Kadıköy, Istanbul, part of the Asia side of Istanbul. İstanbul is so large that it spans two continents.
Did I mention that the day was stunning?
Staring off into the Bosphorus again.
It was a quick ferry to colorful and beautiful Kadıköy. We took a walk along the seaside before cabbing to town for çay.
We also ventured to Nakkaştepe Millet Bahçesi, a nice park with a big Türkiye flag and a great view of the city, or some of it. It would be very hard to get all of Istanbul in one shot.
I've seen this flag flapping from the other side of the water and now up close.
All the flag flapping made me hungry for some more Turkish food!
I had the Kebab and finally had my first taste of Ayran, a tangy yogurt drink. I was a little hesitant but it was pretty good, I couldn't drink the whole glass though, a half glass is plenty.
For dessert, Kanufah! A middle eastern cheese pastry with pistachios and buffalo cream.
The area was very cute and much more chill than the rest of the places I've been in Istanbul.
One more stop for another first, Turkish coffee.
Thicc ‘n delicious.
We both had calls to attend to so we parted ways at the dock and it was back to Europe with me.
I saw a real cute fella on my way back up the hill(s). He definitely had been through some stuff but he was so cute and tried to follow me home.
I asked my friend why I didn't see more houseless people in Istanbul, it's a very large city and I've only seen a few. He said that Turkish families take care of you if you cannot make money, there are social programs, and that the ones that you do see most likely are severely mentally unwell.
One thing I did notice, there's no trumpets allowed on the streets.
After my, I roused up enough energy to take a waltz to another interesting hangout spot where I spent time writing.
It doesn't take long to notice that they love this guy, Atatürk here. Pictures of him hang in windows, restaurants, and other random spots.
After reading about him on Wikipedia, he seems like an OK kind of guy.
I told you that everyone smokes here so it was no surprise to me when I walked by and saw this scene.
He asked for a light but I didn't have one.
Don't judge me but I went back to the Kebab shop to try a different Kebab wrap. I mean these things are just amazing. I had the beef one this eve.
These wraps fufill most of my every desire.
There's no way to understand the scope of the hills here. My legs have been shaking and I'm surprised they are still working at all.
After my wrap I had a sit with a black cat and we had a good time, he was into the pets but then another black cat tried to get pets and bounds were crossed so I had to bounce. I don't have time for cat drama these days.
I'm guessing that I am going to get some sort of disease from all these street cat pets, but that's fine. I've had a nice long life so far.
The day has been full in many ways and I've got a flight to catch tomorrow.
Toodles from Istannybul.