Today was my final full day in Istanbul before returning home. I spent the morning wandering around my neighborhood. In the afternoon I visited with an American friend who has been living in Istanbul for the past fourteen years.
To get to her neighborhood I took a now familiar tram to the ferry terminal on the Bosphorus. I was early, so I sat at the water’s edge enjoying the cool breeze and people watching. Then onto the ferry across to the Kadıköy neighborhood on the Asian side of Istanbul. Though it is on a different continent, there’s not much else that’s unusual about it. It’s a bustling area, described as edgy, fun, interesting and bohemian.
Pat met me and we walked to one of her favorite restaurants for lunch. As always, the food was delicious. The most exotic thing we ate was a whole walnut (shell and all) known as ceviz reçeli. That doesn’t look, or sound, particularly appetizing. But it is sweet, rich, and complex and utterly different from anything I’ve ever eaten.
We ate and talked for hours, then walked to her favorite spice shop, where I picked up some last minute souvenirs–my luggage is going to be very heavy! Final stop was back near the ferry terminal where we sat and talked more. Pat needed to work, and I returned to my hotel.
In the evening, I met up with a woman who I met on Facebook who is also visiting Turkey. We had a lovely dinner near my hotel.