After the last two days of 15-hour tours with flights, we decided this was a perfect day (Saturday) for a relaxing Bosphorous Cruise. The Bosphorous Strait marks the border between two continents – Europe and Asia. It is a 19-mile strait (now within the municipal limits of Istanbul) that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and ultimately the Mediterranean. What makes “cruisin’ the Bosphorous” so unique is the fact that you can travel between two continents within a matter of 15 minutes! Modern Istanbul straddles both sides. A complex system of ferries, bridges and now a railroad tunnel joins the community into one large “metroplex”. To say that this waterway is very busy is an understatement. We saw mostly commuter and tourist boats but they also compete with large oil tankers and container ships from all over the world that sail from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
It was a gorgeous, blue sky, sunny day. The ferry boat was packed with what appeared to be mostly Turks with their families. There were only a few tourists and it appeared to us that we were the only Americans. We sailed past palaces, nice homes, fishing villages, fortresses and dodged fisherman and freighters. Mosque and modern feels like the typical Istanbul mix as you travel along the Strait. The shoreline is lined with summer houses (that were once for the Ottoman elite), mosques, palaces and restaurants. If anything, cruising the Bosphorous gives one a visual hint to just how much massive Istanbul (population of over 15m) there is to discover.
After lunch, we walked over the Galata bridge to explore Karakoy which is Istanbul’s hippest neighborhood. Karakoy is the second half of the European section of Istanbul. It is the “new” tourism center of Istanbul featuring many worldwide clothing chains such as Zara, Mango, H&M, etc. and a plethora of restaurants and chic cafes. The major cobbled street in Karakoy is Istiklal Street where the most recent terrorist bombings took place in March. It was difficult to walk this street due to the hordes of young” locals” strolling along the street on Saturday. It felt like we were walking on Fifth Avenue in NYC during Christmas time. Not surprisingly, Karakoy is also a contradictory neighborhood with steep, tight-knit streets reflecting an old world multiculturalism. Once again, it felt like we were the only Americans roaming the streets of Karakoy!
