Kadıköy
After a seven or eight hour bus ride from Kurucaşile, we arrived in Istanbul. We were dropped off at around 06:00 at a bus stop depot in Ümraniye. We took a quick nap before heading to Starbucks for some caffeine and to find an accommodation for the evening. We didn’t have much luck as we made multiple requests on AirBnB but none of them responded to confirm or reject the booking. While we waited, we went to check out a campground that we found on Google Maps. Turned out, it no longed existed. After a day of futile effort, we decided to camp in the park and hope that it was OK. We ate pilav for dinner then once it was dark, we found a spot to set up our tent. All was well until a police officer on a scooter woke us up a few hours later. He told us that the park we were in didn’t allow tents but we could head to another just across the waterway. So we did that. That was fine until we got woken up at 5 or 6 am to an intense sprinkler system, like none we had experience before.
Starbucks Break
Earlier than we would’ve liked, we headed to Starbucks with soaking wet belongings. We searched once again for an accommodation and luckily, found one that was auto-confirmed! Our reservation would start that night so we then needed to make our way to Kağıthane which was on the European side of Istanbul.
Kadıköy -> Ferry -> European Side
It was time to make the journey across Istanbul. Such a huge city! We rode our bikes to the ferry, boarded the ferry for a quick boat ride, and then biked from Karaköy to Kağıthane. It was a long day especially because it was quite hilly on the European side.
Riding to Kağıthane
Taksim Square
AirBnB Arrival
We got to our AirBnB and check-in was super easy. Our hosts ended up being an Indonesian women and a Turkish man who were planning to marry soon. They had two other guests who had been with them for over a month, two young Chinese men. But most remarkably, we had a bed for the first time in over a month! And even more, we had the fanciest shower I had ever seen. It had faucets that came from every direction you could imagine.
Exploring Kağıthane
After some rest, we went for a walk and found another Starbucks where we sat and discussed what we needed to accomplish in our remaining days together. There really are a lot of Starbucks in Istanbul!
Çay
We also explored the other side of our neighborhood, just up the hill from the Nurtepe Metro station. Once we got to Istanbul, we seemed to have fewer opportunities to drink tea so we sought one out!
We have a kitchen!
Aside from huge coffees, a bed, and an amazing shower, I particularly enjoyed using our AirBnB kitchen. I decided to try to cook kuru fasulye. I also spotted couscous in our neighborhood Şok and decided to make it as a surprise for Selim. I didn’t tell him I was doing it. When he saw what I served him, he asked me what it was. Evidently, it wasn’t what he knows as couscous.
Istanbul Metro
During our time in Istanbul, we frequently used our Istanbul Kart to take the metro and the bus. In on of the metro stations, we saw this food and water station for dogs!
Fish Sandwich / Balık Ekmek
One thing that Selim was really hoping to eat before he left Turkey was balık ekmek or just simply a fish sandwich. When he spotted a busy shop next to the Bosporus Strait selling them for 30 lira, he jumped on the chance.
Egyptian Market / Mısır Çarşısı
We planned to go to the Grand Bazaar but got sidetracked when we saw the Egyptian market. It was full of souvenirs, spices, helwa, etc. And Tunisian folks. In fact, among both the vendors and customers, we heard mostly Arabic in this neighborhood.
Halva Icecream / Dondurmalı İrmik Helvası
Evidently, Selim had one more thing he wanted to try: dondurmalı İrmik helvası. This was dondurma, Turkish icecream, with a layer of semolina helva on top. As a topping, we had the option of adding tahini and cinnamon.
Bosporus Strait
After the market and dondurma, we decided to walk along the path close to the Bosporus Strait. There were quite a few men fishing and tons of tourists. Also, there were many cruises that you can take to tour the strait.
Bike-Friendly?
We didn’t ride around the city enough to be able to talk about how bike-friendly Istanbul is but I can share the rules for the metro. You can take bikes on the metro (and the ferry) though if your bike is in a box or if you have a box the size of a bike, you may not take that on the metro. I didn’t see any buses with bike racks on the front and we didn’t try to board with them so I’m not sure about buses.
Goodbye Turkey
Our final day in Turkey came too soon. Selim came with me to the airport at 5 AM. Thanks Selim! I was flying out of SAW and he was flying out of the other Istanbul airport, on the complete opposite side of the city. Selim had quite the struggling getting his bike and luggage to the airport but all is well that ends well! Thanks for the memories Turkey 🙂
