It sank in that I am in Byzantium today when I sat on a wooden stool under an fish sandwich vendor’s tent at the foot of the Galata Bridge, my back to the Golden Horn, and looked up at the Blue Mosque, obscured by the flurries and hundreds of wheeling seagulls but wearing a little white cap of snow. I took a bite of the sandwich — spit out the head, and keep on going through the bread, onions, fennel, argula and oily white fish – and wiped my greasy chin with my fingerless gloves. I earned it, having walked five miles from my hotel to the east.
There is an inch or more of snow on the ground and the sidewalks are a bit slushy, but I was determined to walk along the Bosporous, take some pictures and find some street food. The driver was kind and took me into the city from the airport along the straits, pointing out the Theodosian Wall, the dome of Justinian’s Hagia Sofia, and then across the Golden Horn over the Galata Bridge and on to my hotel. I simply retraced the route on foot, walking down to the ferry building and then along the sidewalks taking pictures and having a grand time by myself.
The scene at the bridge was awesome. Ferries were constantly arriving and departing. A crowd of fishermen worked the railing with long poles that would have been at home on the shore of the Cape Cod Canal.
Minarets were everywhere. Look down one alley and there’s an old church. Look down another and it’s an old levantine motor skiff. The age of stuff is humbling. I haven’t had the privilege of visiting many cities that are nearly two millenia old and were home to the longest continuous empire in history.
The sandwich was awesome. These little lit up boats were tied to the quay and rocking in the ferry wakes so badly that as I walked up to them I was more interested in what kind of fenders they used to keep the hull from grinding into toothpicks. Then I saw about fifty people squatting on stools wolfing down fish on bread.
I had to get some of that.
Four Turkish lira = $3. I bought mine from the middle boat below. They cook it on the boat, you eat it on the dock.
I’m here through Sunday — so six more days. Today’s stroll and photo expedition was just a warm up.
Put that camera into video mode and grab some movies of the boats please.
Looks like and awesome trip — keep posting photos. On a side note, I see you’re also a nervous nail-biter.
Nervous? More like obsessive.
Great pics. Don’t forget to go to a Turkish Bath. Makes me miss Istanbul to read your posts.
A Cotuit crusader on the march!
Tremendous images, David. Living vicariously through you on this unexceptional North Carolina day. Cued up–queued up?–two Nuri Ceylan movies on Netflix, too. Have fun. Oh, here are the latest Turkish Super Lig standings in case you want to freeze to death in a stadium this weekend: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/tables?league=tur.1&cc=5901 Cheers…