Bosphorus Cruise

Saturday June 8 was a picture perfect day- blue sky, sunny and 26C.  We decided we would take a cruise on the Bosphorus.  We walked down Istiklal Street and Alain got his daily simit (a sesame encrusted bread ring, much like a Montreal bagel) from a street vendor.

Alain with his simit

We sat in the sun waiting for our 1:35 boat to arrive at Eminonu (near the Spice Bazaar).  We took the Municipal Ferry which has been operating since 1851.  The boat makes five very short stops; three on the European side of the Bosphorus and two on the Asian side.  It arrives at the last Asian stop at 3:15 p.m. and the next boat returns at 4:15 p.m.   The timing was perfect for us, as we just wanted a light bite to eat at the end of the ride before heading back.  We landed back in Istanbul at 5:35 p.m., a perfect afternoon trip.  The cost was only about $14.00 CAN each for a return trip.

Our boat coming to pick us up

The trip passes some amazing former embassies, summertime retreats, and more than a few gorgeous Ottoman waterfront mansions.  The Bosphorus villages and towns were much larger than we expected, wealthier and there was much more green space than in Istanbul.  The setting for these towns is gorgeous and many are wealthy enclaves, while others are small fishing villages.  There were many boats in the harbours, and fish restaurants abound in each port.

The first photo is a look back at the Galata Tower, which we visited on our first day in Istanbul.

View of Galata tower

View of Istanbul Modern museum from the Ferry

We continued towards our first short stop at Besiktas, near the Dolmabahce Mosque and  Dolmabahce Palace.  The Palace was completed in 1855 by Sultan Abdulmecid, and has a 600 metre frontage on the Bosphorus.  The Sultan moved in, abandoning Topkapi Palace which had been the imperial residence for four centuries.  Ataturk died there in 1938.  The palace is still used for state functions.

Dolmabahce Mosque

Dolmabahce Palace

We continued past the Bosphorus Bridge was is considered the Strait's best bridge, for its delicate architecture.  It truly is a magnificent structure bridging (so to speak) the Asian and European continents.  There was a Gezi park banner on the bridge- but it was hard to read the message.

Bosphorus Bridge with banner

Spanning two continents

We passed by some interesting waterfront homes near Arnavutkoy.

Waterfront home

Passing by the town of Arnavutkoy

Mansions in the hills

We next passed the Beylerbeyi Palace on the Asian side, built of white marble by Sultan Abdulaziz in the 19th century.  It was used as a summer residence of the sultans and as a guest house for visiting foreign dignitaries.

Beylerbeyi Palace (this was intended as a summer annex to Dolmabahce.  After being deposed

 in 1908, Sultan Abdul Hamit II spent the last years of his life here).

We then passed by the Goksu Pavillion which takes its name from the streams nearby.  It was built by Sultan Abdulmecid in the middle of the 19th century and was used as a summer residence.

Goksu Pavilion also on the Asian side

On the European side, we passed the Rumeli Hisari fortress, consisting of three huge towers joined by defensive walls.  It was constructed as part of Mehmet II's plan to capture Constantinople.  Work was completed in 1452.  It was effective in helping with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, but after was downgraded to a prison.  It was restored as a castle in 1953.

Rumeli Hisari Fortress

Beautiful homes on the waterfront

Our next stop was Kanlica on the Asian shore, a lovely village filled with mansions and backed by the lush Mihribad Forest Preserve.  Apparently, Kanlica has been celebrated for its rich sheep yoghurt since the 17th century.

A short stop at Kanlica

Mansions on the water

Alain on the Ferry

We then headed back to the European side to Sariyer, a beautiful town.  The turreted Naval Officers' Club was built in 1911, and bears the seal of Sultan Mehmet V Resat.  It is now a restaurant and social club for naval officers and their families.

Former Naval Officers' Club

Boats at Sariyer

Sariyer 

We stopped next at Rumeli Kavagi a small town on the European side with a swimming beach.

 Beach at Rumeli Kavagi

Pier at Rumeli Kavagi

Our last stop was Anadolu Kavagi on the Asian shore, a small village with a number of fish restaurants on the waterfront.  Everyone disembarks and are met by hawkers from the many restaurants.  We had a delicious mackerel sandwich and some calamari and Alain had his first ice cream of the trip- pistachio and walnut.

Anadolu Kavagi pier

Toby at the fish restaurant with her piece of mackerel in the cook's hand

The outside of the restaurant

 Enjoying the sandwich in the sun

Alain with his pistachio and walnut ice cream cone

As we left the harbour, we saw Yoros Castle, originally the site of a temple to Zeus, where Greek sailors would make a sacrifice to ensure safe passage through the Strait.  The present fortress was built by the Byzantines and then occupied by the Genoese in the mid 14th century until it was captured by the Turks.  The Castle lay abandoned for a period of time until it was opened to the public in the 1980s.

Yoros Castle

On the way back, we noted some more interesting homes.  One especially caught our eye- a mansion with two life-size sculptures in its garden.

 Beautifully decorated home

 Strange sculpture in garden

Another one

The house with the sculptures

We landed back in Istanbul at about 5:30 p.m. and walked back to the apartment.  We passed a group of demonstrators heading to Taksim Square.

Heading to Taksim Square

We deeked into a side street and headed to a recommended coffee shop for a turkish coffee.  Mandabatmaz has been around since 1967, and the present coffee maker has been there for the last 17 years.  The coffee was great- thick and tasty. The cafe is very small, and everyone has their coffee or tea out in the alley.

Making the coffee

The ally where everyone has their coffee- sitting or standing

After coffee, we headed back to the apartment.  We had just been talking about the need for the demonstrators to come up with a good T-shirt and poster, when we saw these great posters with the five demands and the relevant twitter feeds identified.

The latest Gezi park poster with five demands

Then it was back to the apartment for another great fish dinner cooked by Alain as I worked on the blog.