european istanbul

last night i sojourned back to my origins on the european side of istanbul. it was my first time back in almost two months and it felt good to be back. taksim is a crazy place, its hard to believe i spent three months there considering how different this last three months of my turkish adventure have become upon the asian side of the city. i got to see the blessings of my nearest and dearest friends i've made in this city over the months as well as the heated beginnings to yet another protest on istiklal street. the night took me deep into the memories of living in a part of the world which boats the most beautiful rooftop terraces and smokey mornings made hazy by the early sunlight. part of me really misses living there.
















needless to say i made my was past sultanahment and into an infiltration of the grand bazaar early this morning. i have not been here since i first arrived in september and sometimes its nice to be a tourist for a day. this time around i speak the language enough to make good conversation with the hagglers and shopkeepers. i drank chai deep in the heart of the bazaar with two women from sweden and a cat who shamelessly drank from a sacred washing fountain. the grand bazaar seems of a blast from the past into a time when sunday (pazar) was the day to come to the city center to trade goods at the open market. the colors are beautiful from within and the endless clustering mazes that make the bizarre are compellingly confusing. its hard to find your way around and easy to wander off into endless corridors of sound, color and light. if youre a good navigator of the grand bazaar you can find several hidden secret gardens where old men play tavla and sip chai. plants and trees grow from the stone corners of these secret places and being there feels like you are in the eye of the storm that is the grand bazaar.







i walked from sultanahmet to eminönü so i could catch a glimpse of the boğaz before crossing it at the harbor in karaköy. its a really cool sight to see the endless lines of fishermen casting their lines over the great bridge. it was a beautiful day to walk across the splashing of "the throat" of istanbul.

















i ended my journey with a long and relaxing boat ride back to the asian side of which i now hail from. its been too long since i've taken this path whereas there was once a time i did this every day.

to home from istanbul with all my love,
mookfish