As we got underway I ordered a hot cup of Nescafe with milk and settled back to watch the now familiar Bosphorus coastline drift on by. In line with the chill of the day, I was lucky enough to find a nicely padded, two person seat by a window and a heater on the second deck. In no time at all I was feeling very cozy indeed.
Lemons…
With great enthusiasm I exited the ferry in Sariyer and started my way up the main street.
Left: the walls surrounding the raised graveyard.
Below: the main street in Sariyer.
However, it wasn’t very long before my enthusiasm began to sour. The bright and colorful storefronts I had seen from the cruise ferry a few days before didn’t quite hold the kinds of shops I was hoping to find. Within 10 minutes or so of traveling up the main road by foot I realized much to my chagrin that spending 3 hours here might be more of a challenge than I thought. The ferry wouldn’t be back until a little before 3:00pm and suddenly that was looking like it was an eternity away.
Right: the ferry port at Sariyer.
Below: the port gate.
…meet lemonade.
But I kept on going, committed to my course of spending the afternoon in Sariyer (whether by sheer stubbornness or enjoyment was, at that moment, beside the point). However, near the end of the main road I came across a “raised cemetery” that was so unexpected and so startling that it snapped me out of my declining mood.
The raised cemetery.
I took a few pictures and kept going with my plan to explore up and down the blocks radiating away from the port. Then my eyes landed on a run-down, but still visually stunning, Victorian building.
The great old Victorian house.
I took some more pictures and began to realize that maybe instead of shopping and browsing (and of course eating) my way through Sariyer, my time could be spent in an architectural survey. I started to get excited again and took a better look around me. There were plenty of fascinating buildings and ruins that caught my eye. My enthusiasm returned in full.
Above: a ruin along the main road in Sariyer.
Above: the waterside walkway in Sariyer.
Right: fishing boats along the walkway.
I finished my architectural walking tour and headed back towards the port. It was still early and although there were many cafes to choose from, I wasn’t yet hungry. So instead I headed south parallel to the water. There was a wide, nicely paved sidewalk that ran between the water and the street and I added myself to the many people walking along it. There are benches spaced regularly along this path which face out across the Bosphorus and when the weather is good the view must be magnificent. This would certainly be a nice place to spend a quiet, sunny afternoon. I walked about a mile, took more pictures of anything which struck my fancy, and then headed back.
Above: a bench framed by some classically cool trees.
Left: a little touch of Ireland.
The first thing I noticed during my return trip was something I had never expected to see: the bottom of the Bosphorus!
The bottom of the Bosphorus.
A close encounter…
As I have mentioned in previous posts, jellyfish are ubiquitous here, and can almost always be seen from the safety of the ferry. But my walk along the shoreline allowed me to get even closer…
One of the "common" jellyfish found in the Bosphorus.
The "jelly-pad."
The Monster Jelly.
Appetite whetted…
By this time I was starting to get hungry and as it had also started to sprinkle with more than a little enthusiasm, I decided to find a café where I could spend the last hour or so before the ferry returned. I ordered the fish soup and stuffed mussels (which much to my disappointment turned out to be one mussel) and a bottle of mineral water. The soup was good but no comparison to the fish soup at my favorite restaurant in Kadikoy. The view was nice though and it was very good to be out of the rain.
My cafe in Sariyer.
Stray cats and dogs abound here in Istanbul and with only one exception I have found that all of the dogs have a very sweet disposition. The cats are naturally shyer but this is also just the nature of cats. In fact most of the cafés I have patronized have had at least one or two resident cats who go from table to table generally begging for handouts. They never get obnoxious, though, so few people (including myself) seem to mind.
This café proved to be no different. However, this time the resident proved to be an adorably rambunctious gray tiger kitten. He stretched and scratched on the burlap-wrapped post next to my table and then darted away around the corner with the characteristic wide eyes and curved tail of “cat madness.” The little rascal was soon back, though, and batting playfully at the strap of my purse where it hung over the chair. I tried several times to snap of photo of him but the little devil just wouldn’t stay still long enough! Unfortunately, my memory of him will have to suffice.
Winding down….
After lunch I wandered around a little bit more and in one of the few shops I did enter was able to buy some sought after yet entirely practical items: one small set of safety pins and two all-metric, 3 meter tapes. The latter are almost impossible to find back in the states and the archaeologist in me just couldn’t pass them up.
Well, it has finally stopped raining and although it hasn’t gotten any warmer it hasn’t gotten any colder either. The haze seems to have lifted slighty as well as it is now much easier to see the far shore. Even though it wasn’t quite what I was expecting, I’m glad I came back to Sariyer today.
Right: my thinking place...
Below: ...and my inspirational view. The Black Sea is just around the far corner and the castle I visited on my first trip can be seen on the hilltop to the right.
I spent the last 30 minutes of my excursion sitting on a bench by the port overlooking the water. It was a little chilly but the view across the Bosphorus was worth it. I watched the seabirds competing over the water and the pigeons competing over the land for small tidbits and scraps of food. I broke off a piece of the molasses cookie I had bought at a nearby bakery for dessert and placed it just a foot or so away atop the breakwall. Although a few of the gulls swooped in for a closer look, none of the birds were either brave or hungry enough to claim it. I chuckled at their obvious frustration and after about ten minutes picked it back up and tossed it to the side into a group of pigeons. One large colorful male was quick to claim it but he spent so much time chasing the other pigeons away that the prize was ultimately claimed by the smallest of the competitors. I couldn’t help but laugh and applaud at the tiny brown sparrow who hopped slowly in and stole it away. Perhaps there’s a lesson in that for us all.
Above: I'm not sure quite what to call this, but as I sat waiting for the ferry a bird in a boix floated on by. I just had to share.
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