We left the hotel pretty early in order to catch the tram over to Eminonu, by the Galata Bridge once again, so we could buy tickets for the half-day boat cruise up the Bosphorus River. It's a Saturday, which is also the weekend in Istanbul, but you'd think it was a weekday. The tram station is filled with people, and not just tourists but people who even look like they are dressed for work. Maybe people here just dress nicely every day. Well it's so crowded that when the first tram comes, we don't even bother pushing our way on. It looks like there is one right behind it. So we are patient and once again don't even push to get on the 2nd one. A third arrives and we finally squeeze in. Where is everybody going? Seriously?!?!
We are forced to get off a few stations before we want to, because this tram only goes so far. We have to get off and take the next one (which would have been the 4th) to the correct stop. Man oh man, this is turning out to be a little drama this morning. In the end, we get to where we need to be, and with plenty of time to spare. We buy our tickets and head into the waiting room. Lots of time to kill so I look through the tour book to keep myself occupied, eventually going outside for some fresh air and then boarding the boat. Making note of suggestions made by friends, we sat on the right side of the boat so we could see the Asian side as we cruise up the river. There is an inside section which has really comfy chairs, but we opt for the outdoor seats for a better view. We are semi-covered so it won't be too cold.
The boat leaves as scheduled at 10:30am and is scheduled to make a number of stops along the way, going to the European side and the Asian side and back and forth. We originally sat down next to 2 guys who were speaking Spanish. They were also clearly tourists with their cameras in hand. After a few minutes, they got up, so we slid down on the bench and snatched up the seats closest to the side for optimal picture taking. Since my travels/adventures first started in Israel, I have been trying to take more pictures everywhere I go - partly for the sake of posting them on here (rarely) or on Facebook (more frequently, still kind of rare) so others can see, and partly because hopefully in the end I'll look back through all the photos and remember the fun times! Anyways, tangent aside, these 5 nice Turkish people sat down next to us now that there was more room. After a while of their hearing our English, one of them made some simple conversation, "Where are you from? Do you like Istanbul?" It's the same as what we had heard - friendly people proud of their city wanting to make sure you're enjoying it too! To make a long story short (yes, I can try), they are 5 Turkish Jews! The shocking question was when one man asked us if we were Jewish because we looked Jewish. At first we were so nervous we both kind of laughed it off. It came up in conversation a few minutes later that they were Jewish, and one of the women even spoke Ladino (a mix of Hebrew and Spanish). So once we knew they were Jewish, we felt comfortable saying we were not only Jewish, but that both of us were traveling to Istanbul from Israel! It was nice to have company for the boat ride anyway, and even nicer to be speaking with our fellow brethren! We spoke on and off as we took pictures over the side of the boat, going under bridges, looking at the sights on the shore. When we finally stopped, our new Jewish friends wished us a good afternoon when the boat dockeds on the Asian side (Anadulo Kavagi). We had just under 3 hours to kill.
We had read about this castle at the top of the hill, which we could even see from the water, and decided that despite my feeling not so great, that this would be a good and fun idea. About twenty minutes later and burning calves, we reach the top. Tons of other tourists are here as well. We can see the Black Sea from the top, take some pictures, and walk over to the castle. I thought we'd have the opportunity to walk into this thing and check it out. Well, it's basically a pile of organized rocks with no entrance and no way of really learning anything about it. So we people watch and take some pictures and just enjoy being outdoors.
After about 45 minutes of just hanging out, we decide to go back down the steep hill to get some lunch. Of course, once again, the restaurants are attacking us to come and sit at their restaurants. At some point, we have to say yes to someone because we're hungry, so we sat down at a quiet little restaurant not even on the water (still wondering if that was a good move or not, considering the beauty, and also the stinky smell of fish) and we both enjoy our lunches. We had the place mostly to ourselves which was nice. We were outdoors which was also nice. Really can't complain.
About half an hour left before we want to be back on the boat, and we start walking around the boardwalk area. We found homemade pistachio ice cream! My friend Andrea, who works at Purchase, had given me some tips about Istanbul since she has spent extensive time there. One of the things she said was - try the pistachio ice cream! Who am I to not listen to a friend? We got it, and it was DELICIOUS! Unfortunately, we could not indulge in the crepes because we were so full. Maybe we should have walked around first before getting lunch where we did, because I really could have enjoyed a crepe! But our lunch was nice and our walking around the boardwalk area was nice as well. I don't know how many times we said, "No thank you" and "We already ate" to all the restaurant staff pursuing us with menus, but we managed to do just fine. We got back on the boat, and who meets us at our seats - the Jews!
We not only had a great ride back down the Bosphorus with them, but as we got closer to the end of the ride, they made some suggestions for us to do for the evening. Seeing as we only had kind of half a plan, we took their suggestion! They told us to get off at the 2nd to last stop instead of the last stop, because we could end up taking the tram back home later that night. We got off, they helped us get a cab and explain to the driver exactly where we wanted to go (they were so sweet, really) and went to Taksim Square, the top of a pedestrian mall where we could just walk around and people watch. We walked down Istiklal Cadessi until the bottom of the hill, stopping in a few bookstores and other shops along the way. While we were in one bookstore we even saw a protest go by, of citizens angry about a murder that the police stopped investigating. I guess it doesn't matter what country or city you live in; these things happen everywhere. We picked up immediately where we left off, just looking at books in a store, but it was a very "real" moment of being abroad.
At the bottom of the hill, we got in line at the Galata Tower, a highlight suggested by our Jewish friends from the boat. It's fairly cheap to get in, so we wait in line, take the elevator to the top, not really knowing what this was going to be, and it turns out we can walk 360 degrees around the top of the building - views of the entire city, with lights on the bridges, and we can even see the 3 rocking cooking boats from the day before. Most people spend about 10-15 minutes up there; I think we spent about an hour. We were enjoying the views, enjoying the weather and the breeze, and conversation. We also needed to kill time until dinner. Having late lunches doesn't help in having dinner so early.
We head down from the tower to the street level to check out some menus. Our last dinner in Istanbul - let's make it good! All I really wanted was a salad. I felt like I had eaten so much heavy food over the last 3 days, that I needed something a little lighter! Restaurant was good - food came fairly quickly, and because I told our waiter I was a vegetarian, he kind of let me pick me own little special meal. People in Turkey probably don't encounter very many vegetarians, so they don't know what to do with people like me. Fortunately, this guy was very nice to me! As usual, the food was too much and I had to leave some behind. We headed back to the tram station and started making our way back home.
One last stop before the night was over - baklava! The first night we were out and about, we got the baklava and Turkish Delight from the sweets store, and as we were walking home, one shop clerk tried to get us to come in and get some baklava. We said we'd be back the next day, thinking we'd have eaten all the baklava from the first place, but we hadn't yet, so we hadn't yet fulfilled our promise of returning. Tonight would be the night! On our walk back from the tram, we stopped in and got some samples - all kinds of flavors. We took them back to the hotel and ate them right before bed. Tummy ache!!! And goodnight to Istanbul for the last time.
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