Bosphorus Cruise: The first stop was a half day (from 10:30 to around 4:00) cruise up and down the Bosphorus. This was pretty damn good. The Bosphorus is the strait that links the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, and that separates the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. It is a waterway that has played a major part in world history, and that forms the lifeblood of Istanbul.
Several friends had recommended the Bosphorus Cruise, and Bryan and I agree that it is worth it. You get a very scenic view of the European and Asian suburbs of Istanbul -- many of which are affluent and picturesque -- you get to see the Black Sea, and you get to stop on the Asian side (in the town of Anadolu Kavagi), before heading back down to Istanbul proper. Our only helpful hint is to skip the audio guide. It is distracting. It'll prevent you from looking out the beautiful scenery. And it just doesn't work well. It's hard to follow what's going on, and the descriptions do not align with what you're seeing. (Maybe I should have gotten the Italian guide -- it could be better than the English one!)
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| A good luck symbol that you see all over the Istanbul area |
SALT Museum: What is this thing? Gosh, it's hard to describe. This is not, first of all, a major site. It's not. But it's an eclectic, bizarre, and interesting venue that is an amazing contrast from most everything else you'll see in Istanbul. If you have 30 minutes free and you're on the Beyoglu side of the Golden Horn, go see it. Oh, did I mention it's air-conditioned and comfortable?
So, after you cross the Galata Bridge and are on the Beyoglu side of European Istanbul, you quickly approach a street that was the banking center of Istanbul (and Turkey) in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This building was the head office of the Ottoman Bank. It is all white marble with black and gray to offset the white. It's a classic, elegant, fancy, bank-type building from the late 19th century, like you'd see in New York or Chicago or London. But it's not the Ottoman Bank anymore.
SALT now has art space here. It's one part museum of Turkish banking history, one part exhibit on Soviet architecture, one part quirky art research library, and other parts very cool cafe and hallways. All in all, although I have no idea really why anyone would go here, it was one of my favorite buildings ever. It's even air-conditioned and comfortable.
Galata Tower (Revisited): I went here last Saturday. But Bryan had not been here yet, and it's a place that offers maybe the best views of Istanbul's famed skyline. Truthfully, my second visit here was way better than my first. It was incredibly sunny today, while it was overcast on Saturday. Plus, the views are so much better after you've taken in Sultanahmet, and have a real feel for the mosques of which you'll have such grand views. I went up to the top of the Galata Tower a bit too early the first time.
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