Istanbul – is the Black sea black?

Day seven in Istanbul we decided to check it out. Seeing the Black Sea has long been an ambition of Joe’s since Neil Ascherson’s history of the area. So it was his second must do on this trip, after seeing the Hagia Sofia. Murphy’s Law ensured it was the wettest day we’ve had here. We’ve only had one other and it was when we went to the Hagia – Joe’s curse.

Anyway we dragged the children out earlier than they thought necessary which turned out to be true as the boat was no-where near full- sensible people with time having delayed their trips due to the weather.

Off we went under the Galata Bridge. And on down the Bosphorus enjoying houses, palaces, ships – despite the constant rain.

From the water every bit of earth is covered with buildings. We only saw only a couple of wooded areas. Like Japan in terms of crowding people in. You could see why this was the most desirable location for wealthy Istanbulites. Beautiful river frontage. The Sultan had palaces and summer residences here.

And there were mosques of course. And two graceful bridges. We went over these on our adventure going to the Asian side when we saw Leonard.

Lots of lovely little fishing villages. We had Turkey’s best yoghurt at a place called Kanlica. We didn’t get off, instead they brought it on board and ferry staff handed it around. It was very delicious especially after you added the sachet of icing sugar that came with it. Had a crust on top – so the real thing rather than the everlasting stuff we get in our supermarkets.

I loved the ships. You could see them following the shipping channel, marking out a z shape as they came down the Bosphorus. Impressive. It was pouring when we crossed the channel to go to our destination, Anadolu Kavagi where there was an old fort Joe was adamant we climb up to in order to get a view of the famous Black Sea.

I tried to convince him we wouldn’t get a better view than this – with the ships all in a line.

But he and the children were insistent. It started to rain when we were part way up. I had bought a shawl from a tardy stall holder to give me some warmth at the start, so was able to use this to give me some shelter. We didn’t have an umbrella or anything sensible – mad! It was dismal on top of the hill. Visibility was poor. And we were all drenched. But we got to see the Black Sea!!! Looking back towards the village was pretty.

It rained the hardest when we were walking up and back from the fort. Which was a pretty non- descript ruin.

The place is still fortified as we went past two military places with soldiers guarding them. Unsettling. It stopped raining when we were in the village so we had a look around.

Then we recovered our spirits by having a fish sandwich in our first authentic, i.e. non-touristry cafe. I won’t share with you what we are laughing about.

Then back on the boat and a sunny trip back to Istanbul. We passed lots of lovely houses. Or yalis, some of them still in original condition, but most of the old ones have now been replaced with modern ones. Also saw the old fort Mehmet the Conqueror built at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus.