Boats. Vessels of freedom.

Istanbul is a wonderful place if you like water. Turkey has the Sea of Marmara, just off the Aegean Sea right off the Mediterranean on one side and the Black Sea on the other, right after the third bridge connecting Europe to Asia. And connecting the two bodies of water is the Bosporus, a 20-mile stretch that’s heavily traveled by people and fish alike.

 

There are seasonal fish migrations through the river, with October being a prime one for bluefish and bonito. There are street sellers up the wazoo with loads of them, and you can see fisherman lining the docks and bridges hoping to land a few for dinner. I’ve started running along the river and have to be wary of those casting their lines as I go past. I don’t need another hole in my head.

There are also quite a few boats in the waters at any given time, and like and good Gulf Girl, I am just calmed by them. I love watching boats, and I’m in a great place to do it. Little fishing boats, ferries, barges, tugboats, Coast Guard boats, cruise ships. I’ve got them all.

And one of the things to do here in Istanbul – there’s no limit to those – is to take a cruise down the river, starting at the Sea of Marmara and finishing up right at the start of the Black Sea. And that’s what I did this weekend.

I went with a colleague, and we shunned the 60 Euro packages marketed to tourists and opted for what amounted to a $5 round-trip ferry ride, and hour and a half each way. We made five stops before reaching the final destination, within sight of the Black Sea. There, we had about two hours or so to wander around, but mostly to eat.

Here's the link. I tried to copy its map but failed miserably:  http://en.sehirhatlari.istanbul/en/seferler/long-bosphorus-tour-362.html

The little town there definitely caters to the day trippers. As the ferry arrived, many of the wait staff from all the little waterfront restaurants waved from among their empty tables. As we docked, they were there to hand out business cards and present us with menus, despite protesting that we wanted to look around for a bit first.

And a bit was all it took. Unless we were going to take a taxi up a rather large hill to a castle/fortress thing on top of it, we were restricted to the cute little waterfront, which was fine by me. They had boats there, so I could happily mesmerize myself watching them bob in the waves.

But then I got hungry, so we were shopping for a restaurant. When you look hungry, they pounce. I cannot tell you how many menus I was presented with, nor how many languages some of the languages were printed in. I let my colleague pick – she didn’t like fish, so I had to make sure she’d be happy with the place – and we settled on one of the nicer waterfront ones, rightfully reasoning it would have a well-equipped bathroom.

I let the waiter decide on which fish to get and wound up with sea bass with a prelude of hummus, which worked for me. I’ve only been here four months and I believe I’ve eaten my weight in hummus.

We each bought some souvenir-y type stuff – her a towel and me some olive oil soap – and settled into the ferry ride home. I’d brought a book to read but kept looking up at the neighborhoods and buildings going by – the Istanbul landscape is awesome to see, with all the houses built on hills and such. And besides, it’s a waterfront. You have to like that.

Once, when I looked up, I did a total double-take. There was a submarine, right out the window! It had a Turkish flag flying on it and I was so shocked to see a real, live submarine that I totally forgot I could try to take a picture. My colleague got one (she had a better angle for getting a shot as it passed) and hopefully she will get it to me, but I thought that was the coolest thing of the day.

At least until my commute home. We both got off the boat one stop early, because it was at a main (enough) transit area closer to each of our homes. She took a cab, but I decided to walk a bit before catching a bus. I’d departed for the whole day at 8:15 or so, which meant I only had time to run about 50 minutes, half of what I usually do a day, so I felt like I needed to walk.

The area I walked through was a popular area for street shopping and I detoured down one alley (I kind of meandered home), I found these phone booths and immediately thought of Leila and Riley.  The submarine was still the coolest thing, but you have to admit these guys are a close second.


(Today's blog title brought to you by Scotty Emerick. I'm not feeling creative enough this weekend to think of a more clever title, and I love the song.)