This afternoon we took the ferry across the Bosphorus from Europe to Asia. We went to Kadikoy, and in particular to Moda, which is a little pointy bit of Anatolia looking down from the Bosphorus into the Sea of Marmara. Because it is pointy, there is a sort of a quiet lagoon within a lagoon to the south of it, with the Princes’ Islands hazy in the distance. But first we took the ferry across, passing Seraglio Point and the beautiful seaward view of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, past a working port, then across to the ferry terminal of Kadikoy. The first impression of Asia was not great: after the lovely architecture on the European side there were rows of very generic commercial plazas and the pedestrianised streets looked like many other tourist streets around the world, lined with generic looking restaurants and some fast food chains, and shops overstuffed with bright coloured tat.
But soon we left this bit and entered Moda, which was altogether nicer. Much, much quieter (though more traffic than on our bit), with attractive but low-key buildings, some overhung with vines. The people also seemed different: instead of the mix of refugee, poor service worker, tourist and the rich, here it seemed far more uniformly middle class. Few women in headscarfs, also few women in the billowing summer dresses that are ubiquitous on the other side. Far, far more women in jeans, often ripped jeans. For all it’s in Asia, this is perhaps a more westward-looking part of Turkey, with a reputation for oppositional politics.
We had a pleasant lunch and then a good coffee, both on the street of course, and in both places they’d set it up so that you had to order at the door, customers weren’t really allowed inside at all. I hope street dining persists after the pandemic; that and handwashing. I am less enamoured of masks, though it would be nice if the East Asian idea of wearing masks to protect others took hold in more places, instead of what it currently seems to be: as the GF put it, a matter of signalling first, and of self-protection second, with protecting others a very distant third if at all.
We bought an ice cream and strolled down to the southern tip overlooking the Marmara sea. Very quite indeed; I wonder if it ever is very choppy. There was a boat moored just off the shore, with an elderly man lying in it. Just by it, an elderly woman with fierce mehndi hair swam in the still sea. We walked on a bit through the busy park bordering the sea, and then turned to walk along the sra towards the ferry. This, the western side, has a lovely view of the Fatih penninsula and its monuments, though the sun was low now and in that direction, so they they were indistinct in the haze. The flats lining the coast just above the walking bits looked rather lovely – not as beautiful outside as those on the European side, but with enviable views, a feeling of openness and plnety of greenery around them.
On the ferry back we saw jellyfish off the side, of all sizes. Soon to take over the seas, no doubt and perhaps the air as well.
And so, back.