Pasabahce

Pasabahce, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, was my destination via the 15TY bus for some walking and lunch.  I mailed a few postcards at the post office on the right, with the band of yellow.

On the opposite side of the street is the large Pasabahce mosque.  Walking down the street...

you arrive at the Bosphorus, where I found two ferry landings and a schedule for a previously unbeknown to me ferry to Istinye.  Potentially handy information.  The Bosphorus is very wide at this point.  A number of fishing boats were out,...

with the yellow and white fishing boat attracting all available seagulls hoping for a bit of the catch.

I decided to try the Beykoz Izgara Balik (Beykoz Grilled Fish) open air restaurant for lunch.

 I went for table number "22", not that that is my lucky number, but it was the only table with napkins!

My tree trunk slab table was covered with paper and the grilled sea bass was served on aluminum foil. Both fish and salad were delicious.  After ordering, the owner stopped by to chat and told me that this was his first day in business.  I am sure he will do well with the good food and good location.

After lunch, I continued my walk along the Bosphorus road before catching the 15TY back home, still wondering why someone needs so many plastic bottles.



From Soguksu to Cubuklu

I was in the Soguksu (Cold Water) section of Pasabahce last week and decided to take a walk down to the Bosphorus. On the map, I found a fairly straight route down, that would take about 30 minutes, walking. But I had only gone about one block down and found that the road I wanted to take to the right was uphill, so I turned to the left and went downhill. At each intersection, I chose the most downhill route. Purple and lavendar colored houses are not as prevalent at pink, but I did find some lavendar on this route.

In front of a well made house, there is a quickly fashioned one room residence, possibly a squatter residence. If a roof can be established, the squatters can have some rights. This work gets done at night, and in one night.

At one bend in the road, I was happy to see a stream, which certainly would be flowing to the Bosphorus. I knew I was heading in the right direction, following the stream.

But at the pretty red leaves, the stream veered to the right and the road to the left and I was soon faced with an intersection, with all roads going uphill. I went to the left again - the hill was not as steep.

You do not see much graffiti in Istanbul. Occasionally, you do see some painted walls, although there has been a plan in painting either by the town or the school by the wall.

After 45 minutes of walking, I could see the Bosphorus in the distance. I had reached Cubuklu (With Twigs) and the rain arrived at the same time. I ducked into a shop for a spinach pastry lunch and then walked up the main street to see the village.

The rain continued, so I walked to the Cubuklu bus stop and rode back to Anadolu Hisari along the Bosphorus. It was an enjoyable walk, albeit not quite the one planned.

The Color Orange

I purchased a vase recently. Not only is it orange, but it is in the shape of an orange segment. It is made by Pasabahce, one of my favorite shops in Turkey. They have been making glass pieces for everyday and art since 1938. There is also a village named Pasabahce, just a few villages north of me on the Asia side. It was the location of their factory until a recent relocation out of the area. When they first established the factory, it was probably considered far out from the city, but as the city grew, it became incorporated into the densely populated part of Istanbul. I did take a walk by the factory to see if it was completely closed down, and it appeared so.

Nearby, a creative someone seems to have made a home out of containers and painted them orange. So in keeping with an orange theme, here is the container house,...

and a more traditional house in another part of town, ...

life saving equipment on board a newer ferry, ...

and a couple of flowers from my brother-in-law's garden.

I just bought the flowers for my vase today and wonder if my husband will notice them. He had not yet noticed the orange vase!

Hope all are noticing some orange in the changing seasons.

Amy