Yesterday we went along the Bosphorus to Bebek, a wealthy neighbourhood overlooking the sea. It was very pleasant, quite like Hampstead or Primrose Hill, with some nice restaurants and cafes, pretty houses with white wooden decorations like icing on a cupcake, and of course beautiful – but not too beautiful – people. I suspect a very comfortable and pleasant place to live, but quite far from the centre of town, it would be the place one lived and didn’t leave very often. We had a nice lunch at a restaurant frequented by beautiful people and then strolled further along the sea to the fort of Mehmet the Conqueror, and on to a dramatic and very high suspension bridge. The fort was, unfortunately, closed to visitors, but the stroll along the sea was quite lovely, with a clear, blue-green sea, the Asian coast opposite lined first with houses, then with mansions and forested hills, cool breezes and blue skies. There were many people -all men or boys – fishing or swimming, and some quite impressive bellies, curving broadly over sun-beaten trousers or swimming trunks. It was rather shocking after Taiwan, where people of all ages, but certainly the elderly, tend to be slender and diligent exercisers. The elderly woman who strolled past in the park one day to hang from a bar for a good five minutes particularly sticks in my memory.
On the way back I got really quite tired, mostly from the heat I think, as we were now facing the sun, plus after a while the esplanade came to an end so we had to walk along a road. We got as far as Ortakoy, where the GF went to see a mosque and I stayed outside as I’d forgotten to bring a headscarf, and looked at the 19th century exterior. It was very Europe-facing.
Dinner was in Cihangir, the next neighbourhood over, where I had a very tasty Antiochan grill, though it was much too large for a single person. But still, nice to try it.