The best part of the adventure is getting lost

Last night, Lexie and I decided with the help of her travel books that we would explore another part of the city today. Our plan was to leave by 11am this morning. Daybreak comes and Lexie decides we should invite other people and plan our day. Vera and Zack end up tagging along and I end up looking how to get to Old Town (location of historical sites like the Blue Mosque) on the dolmus to Sariyer. After about 15 minuets of trying to figure out transportation systems I suggested we go to Beshitas because I heard it has shops and lots of things to do.

So we hopped on the next dolmus and embark on my longest dolmus rides to date approximately 1 hour. I can assume by the slowness of the bus that the driver was either conservative or that the bus was going to break down soon. There were a few moments during this ride where I thought “I’ll call AAA if we break down but I’m not pushing.”  After about 6 “Are we there yet?” from the group we arrived in Beshitas, a huge city that’s full of the hustle and bustle of everyday life. For all of two seconds we attempted to find the Saturday Bazaar. When we looked forward we realized there was a seaport ferry stop to Anatolia (the Asian side of Istanbul), Kadikoy to be exact. The ferry only cost us 1.5TL ($1.06) each way.

The ferry ride provided an awesome view from the top. The skies were still grey but the sun was keeping the rain at bay. In the middle of the Bosporus we could see the Old Town, Beshitas and more of Anatolia. After a 25-minuet ride we were on another continent. By this time it was 1:45 and Zach and I were hungry. We got off the ferry and decided to follow the mass crowd. We ended up on side streets filled with lots of shops and restaurants. For lunch we ate at a nice café/pub. I ordered schnitzel (bread chicken breast), Lexie ton salata (tuna salad), Zach sosis (mini hot dog) and patata (fries) and Vera ordered tavuk (chicken) nuggets. The place had really slow service but it didn’t matter to me because I lost my taste buds sometime during our trip but from what I heard, the food was actually decent. At the end of the meal I went to the restroom to clean up and saw a non-traditional toilet and the American standard. I think this is when it hit me that I was in another continent.

I can assume Zach wasn’t satisfied because he ate corn kernels from a street vendor and lamchaun (a spicy flat bread pizza). Once he was satisfied we started shopping and practiced our “that’s what she said jokes for the other exchange students. Kadikoy had lots of great boutique shops filled with jewelry, clothes, shoes and a wedding dress themed street. The prices were among the cheapest we have seen in the area. The only downside to shopping here was that we don’t bargain. The time was now 4:20 and Zach looked like he had enough of hanging out with 3 girls so we hoped back on the ferry to Beshitas.

We again set up to find the bazaar. Instead we found winding side streets filled with Turkish coffee, roasted peanuts and soft serve ice cream and fish markets. We stumbled upon a bakery where they were still making oven baked loaves at 5 in the evening. I purchased one for 1TL ($.70) and ate it like a banana, first peeling down the wrapper they used to pick up the loaf. The bread was warm and crusty. I truly enjoyed it and the owners enjoyed watching me eat the bread. We looked around some more for the bazaar but then gave up once the rain started.

The 29 bus took us from the Beshitas seaport to Sariyer, another long ride. So long that we all looked like bobble heads in our seats. Traffic was pretty bad in Sariyer. At one point I looked out the window and caught a man starring at me. I smiled and turned away.  I looked back one last time when the bus began to move and watched the man run out and point me out to his unspecting friend. After about two weeks I can finally say I appreciate my awe factor and the curiosity many Turks have.