We decided to take it a bit slower today, chatting with Allyson in the morning then having a late breakfast at the hotel. This is a somewhat typical Turkish breakfast, perhaps if you add a variety of cold cuts to it (they also made us omelet as a second course).
While we were eating we heard this guy coming up the road clearly selling something - it was fresh baked bread out of the back of this truck. Kind of the Ice Cream Man of carbohydrates we decided
;-).
Our adventure today was to explore Karaköy more, to ride the original funicular to İstiklal Street and really take in all the back streets. View of the Galata Tower from near the funicular station.
Tünel funicular (F2) at the Karaköy Station
As we walked İstiklal Street we saw another example of the heavy police presence that is around many of the public attractions.
This image captures a good rendering of the streets of Istanbul. The man in the left is carrying a tray of Simit (Turkish bagels). Add a few scooters on the street/sidewalk and a taxi backing down the road to complete the scene :-).
It has amazed us how much of the city is transported in this fashion - everything from carpets to trash to antique furniture gets moved like this!
For dinner we went back into the Karaköy area since it was Sunday and the crowds were far less. After the meal the server brought çay (tea) which is so integral to the Turkish culture, being served 6-10 times/day and any time someone invites you in to their home/shop. It is nearly always served in a glass like this one.
After dinner we walked more of the waterfront, finding a boardwalk that is very popular at sunset...we see why!
Another example of the mix of old/new, business/residential, occupied/vacant buildings throughout the city.
Then we walked through the backstreets in what (in retrospect) was probably not the best area for us (no issues though) and came out on a street with this view of the Galata Tower!
We found a shop that sold some spice dishes we’d had our eye on - such vivid colors! They are very similar to these (we had our packaged for travel).
After this find, we wound our way back to the hotel and hung up our walking shoes for the day *whew*.
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