Istanbul, Prince's Island

Sunday March 13^th

Today Graham and Tess invited me to join them on a ferry ride from Istanbul to Prince's Island. In order to get there the ferry sails south in the Maramar Sea, from which you would exit to get to the Mediterranean Sea.

It was a lovely warm spring like day. There was a nip in the air (especially on the ferry in the wind) but the sun was quite warm. The ferry took an hour and a half, with one stop at a different island, before we reached Prince's Island. The scenery along the way was very nice. As we traveled along we could see the urban sprawl of Istanbul as it stretches along the coast. There are twenty million people here!

There are a number of islands that are called the Prince's Islands. We stopped at the second one, called Buyukada. It was quite nice too, with a little harbour with restaurants, much like Greek islands. This is a very touristy place for people from Turkey mainly. Leon Trotsky lived here from 1929 to 1933 when he began to write his “History of the Russian Revolution”. There are lots of horse drawn carriages that take people from one end of the island on a ring road, up a steep hill to the Monastery of St. George. We opted to walk it instead. We chatted and swapped stories as we enjoyed a lovely walk. The view from the top of the hill was just like looking at the Mediterranean. On the way back, as we completed our circuit we stopped at one of the harbour restaurant and had a great lunch. I had fresh sole. Then we took the ferry back.

When we arrived back in Istanbul we took a funicular ride up to the top of the ridge and Taksim Square. From there we walked all along Istiklal Caddesi (street). I've never seen some many people on a wide walking mall. There were people everywhere. It was like spawning, you just had to go with the flow. As we walked it got darker and we could enjoy the sights and sounds of Istanbul at night. Eventually we crossed the Galata Bridge across the Golden Horn. The bridge is lined with fishermen on the top level and shops and restaurants on the lower level.

Finally back at the hotel, we retired to our rooms for the night after a great day and lots of walking!