a brief escape

Mom and I decided to take a trip up the Bosphorus today. We thought it would give us a nice break (after a month I'm starting to need a break from walking) and as you already know ferry rides are a favorite of mine. Little did I realize just how far up the Bosphorus we would go. We chugged right past the 1st bridge and the beautiful Ortakoy mosque and weren't even half way along the route when we passed the second bridge and Rumeli Hısarı. We stayed on until the end of the line...and the end of the Bosphorus. As the ferry arrived ın Anadolu Kavağı I could look over my shoulder to the Bosphorus and look ahead to the Black Sea. I had no idea we'd go that far, or that the trip would really take us out of the city. Anadolu Kavağı is just a small town - fish restaurants for the tourists on the waterfront, small winding streets of houses (with military housing???) going up the hill and a ruined castle up on the top. Just enough to fill the three hours before a ferry left. So we walked up the hill for the view from the castle, enjoying the breeze and the extensive sight of water, then took the road back down (avoiding the cemetery we'd passed through on the way up) to find lunch. After some fried and some stuffed mussels we were ready to head back to the ferry and claim a rail side seat to enjoy the trip back down the Bosphorus. A great way to spend our last full day in İstanbul.