Istanbul, Turkey
Flat White
This city might rival Seattle in CSPC (Coffee Shop Per Capita).
Marika, Bozkurt Mahallesi, Seymen Sokak, No 34/C, Şişli
Ricardo has spent a fair amount of time in Istanbul and in the same neighborhood now for two summers. He knows the area well - and especially the coffee shops, where he does a lot of his reading. He told us to check out Marika, a precious coffee shop just two blocks away from our apartment.
Yennie has been craving pancakes for a couple weeks now, but had no hope she’d find them while traveling. Maple syrup is more precious and rare than GOT without VPN in Europe. But, guess who had it on menu?! Marika! They weren’t what you’d get at Homemade Cafe back home in Berkeley, but they did do the trick. As we were leaving, we could feel the chilly wind of an incoming thunderstorm and we decided to wait it out in the cafe. We took a seat right by the sidewalk, under the awning and watch the rain gush down the streets. The cafe cat took no bother and kept napping in its little spot. #cats
Once the thunderstorm was over, we made our way to Hagia Sophia in the Old City. We had to take the F1 Funicular to get to the Hagia Sophia, which was a mini-adventure in and of itself. We read a Monocle essay about the funicular in Istanbul - so apparently it’s a thing. So, this is when the day took a turn for the annoying. THE LINES, THE TOURISTS. BOO. 😣🔫 You’d think a bunch of Europeans would queue politely. Um, nope. Because it was lightly raining, it was every tourist for themselves. Yennie got very angry and bothered.
And once we got into the Hagia Sophia: selfie sticks, large tour groups, pushy ladies, f*cking rain ponchos up in your piece. But, we were inside a world marvel, a Byzantine church, first built by Justinian I, then converted into a mosque in the 15th century by Sultan Mehmet II, and then completely secularized by Atatürk in 1935. It was impossible not to look up and see a structure we’d only previously seen in textbooks and doomsday movies IRL. The building is undergoing a lot of construction and renovation (as are many other ancient sites in the city), but it was puzzling how the Hagia Sophia had pigeons roosting in its arches and feral cats napping in front of the mihrab, the marker that signals the direction of Mecca.
We later learned that these cats are devout residents of the Hagia Sophia. The most famous of them, Gli, who is cross-eyed and convened with President Obama. #goals #🐱 #🕋
Though we loved the Hagia Sophia, we had to GTFO. We walked a bit around the plaza next to the mosque, then decided to make good on our spiffy Museum Pass by visiting the Istanbul Archeology Museum. The museum was much less crowded and housed some of the oldest things we have ever looked at, including a ballin’ collection of cuneiform tablets. Whoa - quite a medium for listmaking: three goats and a she-camel for a sale for services rendered, detailed steps required for a marriage ritual. There was such an abundance of ancient artifacts, they decorated garden space with the tops of Corinthian columns like it ain’t no thang.
We spent the afternoon stopping for a spot of çay (pronounced “chai”, e.g. tea) and baklava at Hafiz Mustafa 1864, again. And then making it over to Kadınlar Pazarı Yeşil Alanı, a market area off of Atatürk Boulevard in the Fatih neighborhood. This area is famous for the restaurants that serve roasted lamb and pilaf. We met Ricardo under the Valens Aqueduct and had a feast of shepherd’s salad, roasted lamb, pilaf baked in phyllo, and ayran. Ayran! The restaurant we went to had a neat ayran machine that mixed water and yogurt continuously and created a nice foam ladled on top of each serving. Ayran has actually stirred a national debate on Turkey’s “national drink,” instigated by none other than the country’s current President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in 2013. Erdoğan has been in the news a lot lately…
We haven’t enjoyed much of the nightlife since traveling, mostly because it seems strange for just the two of us to get shitfaced in a club where we know no one. We can do that in a restaurant or in our Airbnb - LOL. But, since we’re in the company of friends, we went out! We went to a dance club in the Taksim neighborhood, where we were transported back in time with 2008 club hits, such as Lady Gaga’s breakout “Just Dance.” No disrespect to Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, but really. 😑 Where’s Lemonade.
We made it back home at around 4AM without getting any Turkish drunk food. Yennie no likey. But, all in all, a good day in this fabulous city.
Rakı, Yeni Rakı
Rakı, Bottled Water
Chez Ricardo
