Melissa in Constantinople, part three

Day two of the Istanbul adventure, starting with…

…breakfast. Hotel breakfast served at the bar, in fact. I love buffet anything, and if all the olives you can eat are included, so much the better. Olives are a staple of the Turkish breakfast, and my thanks to whichever deity is responsible for that.

Yeah, the two carpet guys thought I was taking a photo of them, but no— I was taking a photo of the sign for one of my favourite Istanbul institutions, the internet laundromat. Put your laundry in the machines, hang out on the internet until it’s done. Genius.

We were looking at the carpets in this store window when I noticed we weren’t alone. What a great life, Turkish carpet store cat. I want to come back as that.

Emirhan kept asking me if I’d been to “the islands,” and despite the fact that I’ve been to Istanbul many times, I had no clue what he meant. So this time I got whisked away on a boat, an hour’s ferry journey to Kınalıada, nearest of the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara. The journey itself was as interesting as the island, but then again I love journeys. This is a photo of Dolmabahçe Palace as seen from the ferry boat. I’d like to see the inside of it sometime, if that’s possible.

I have this thing about shipping, in the traditional sense of the word. I’m a fan of slow, long journeys, and ships are just about as slow as you can get in this age of air freight and high-speed trains. Every time I see these huge cargo ships I spend a tremendous amount of time wondering where they’ve been and what they’re carrying.

Also, they just look cool. And now I want to learn what the history of the Yang Ming Line is. It’s a great name.

I can’t even remember what this building is (Emirhan can remind me I’m sure), but I remember thinking that Istanbul has so much interesting architecture beyond just the mosques and palaces that people think of as typically Turkish.

This is the Kadıköy ferry station. It looks very European to me, which is odd because it’s on the Asian side of Istanbul.

Emirhan tells me that this tethered balloon is used not only for sightseeing, but can also be rented out for events such as weddings. Interesting.

The first glimpse of Kınalıada from the ferry… just a teaser of what’s to come.

I’ll do a separate post for the island photos, because they deserve their own separate attention. It’ll have to wait a few hours, though, as I’m absolutely sleep-deprived and must get at least a bit of rest now. So I’ll see you on the other side of that nap.