Five out of Seven

View of Old Town Istanbul from ferry

While in Asia, we took a ferry trip up the Bosphorus Strait to have lunch at a fishing village, located on the Asian side of Turkey just before the Strait opens to the Black Sea. In one day, we got to see the Black Sea and set foot on the Asian continent. With that, I can now check off continent number five out of seven on my visited list. Unless you are European and consider America one continent. Then my statistic is even better at five out of six. And if you are French and taught that Antartica is not a continent, then I'm home free. Five out five and done. I can stop traveling...(never!).

Our trip of the Bosphorus was a chance to relax, put our feet up, enjoy the brilliantly colored water, and even watch dolphins cavorting about - quite an idyllic break from our walking. The ferry meandered up the Strait, stopping at a few villages, then a longer stop at Andolu Kavagi. The entire town was about one block long and consisted mostly of restaurants serving the tourists who want to go to Asia. I have no problem being one of the masses in this case. As we pulled up to the dock, I was struck by a colorful fishing boat also docked and full of men sewing repairs on a net. So picturesque, which just goes to show how perspective changes everything. For the men, I'm sure they did not feel picturesque. They probably felt hot, sweaty, and tired. Or maybe they enjoyed net repair day at the dock with the fellas.

While eating lunch at our waterside table, we watched two young boys fishing off of an a moored boat and swimming back and forth to the dock. They seemed to be fishing for fun since they then used their catch to torment some hungry, desperate kitties advancing with determination (eventually, they gave in and gave some fish over, thankfully, as I was finding the whole situation a bit sad). The town itself was a bit boring after lunch, although had we mustered the energy to walk to the castle about 30 minutes away, then I'm sure we would have had some lovely views...but it was so darn hot and the path did not appear to have any shade. Returning to Istanbul, we again enjoyed the Turkish architecture of waterfront homes, and for the afternoon, visited the hamam - a relaxing day from start to finish.