8/18/2023: Beyoğlu, Istanbul Part 1

Istanbul, Turkey

Our first place in Istanbul was near Taksim Square in Beyoğlu. When we had arrived late the other night we were so surprised by how many people were out and about so late. In fact, aside from the music festival in Budapest, it was the most people we had seen in one area during the trip. More than Rome, Florence, Amsterdam and London. The streets were alive with commotion and a steady river of people.

The apartment was down a hill from Taksim Square towards the Bosporus Strait. Dense housing on the hillside towered 100ft above our 4th story apartment in either direction. When we ventured to the nearby neighborhood the next day, we had to walk up one straight set of stairs spanning 50 meters of elevation. Luckily, every few flights of stairs we got the chance to stop and pet a cat or five.

The food in Beyoğlu was amazing and starkly different from what we found in Sultanahmet later that week. One morning we had a traditional Anatolian breakfast which consisted of: an omelette, sautéed sausage and veggies, assorted cheeses, stuffed olive leaves, bread, raw veggies, fruit, 6 types of dipping sauce, honeycomb, honey, almond butter, marmalade, butter, cream, two large bowls of olives, tea, juice, and a couple sweet treats. In addition to this feast, we found a delicious Asian Vegan spot and a really neat Nepalese diner.

Mostly, Beyoğlu was special for the cats. They were everywhere. You could find cats on the sidewalk and kittens on the stairs. They hung out at restaurants and in small local markets. Most of the cats were healthy and very friendly. They jumped at the chance to be be pet or get a belly rub. They would quickly get up from a nap to get their back scratched and on so many occasions they would sit and purr for Savvy. One dinner, a kitten spent the duration of the meal on Savvy’s lap! It didn’t want her to leave! We almost took him back up to the apartment.

P.S. We went to the emergency room in Beyoğlu and seriously judged a book by it’s cover. It was Saturday, so the hospital and all urgent cares were closed. We were recommended by two pharmacists to go to the ER and so we reluctantly went.

It was DIRTY. The walls and floors were stained, the waiting was packed with people of all ages, some of the rooms were missing doors - it was just different than we were used to. Also, there was a cat in the waiting area.

We eventually made our way to the triage desk. The nicest guy behind us used his translator app to help us explain that Savvy had an ear infection. Might I add that this guy must have been in a ton of pain because both of his feet and one hand were bandaged, oozing with blood, yet he let us go in front of him so he could held translate and he got so much joy out of helping us.

We took our triage slip to the receptionist and again this gem of a man helped us translate. We needed to pay $25 at the payment counter and then were asked to follow the green arrows. After paying, we waited behind two individuals and then were quickly treated by a doctor. The whole process took about half an hour.       

~ J