The Great Yankees Game of Summer 2019

This is August, and reflecting back on a busy summer of interning in the city and canceling plans to go to the beach because of erratic thunderstorms, the one thing I definitely don't want to forget is a balmy Saturday night in June.

Specifically, my boyfriend's second cousin once removed, of all people, had invited us to, of all things, a baseball game.

I mean it IS allegedly a big deal to go to a Yankees game as they are allegedly a better team than the Mets, and I AM grateful that the experience was sponsored (can't imagine how I would have reacted if the bf had asked me to pay out of pocket). And it WAS an experience.

I don't know if I've made it obvious yet, but I don't know anything about baseball or the Yankees. I insisted that bf and I eat dinner beforehand, because if baseball stadiums are anything like movie theaters, then I knew it was going to be a racket.

As it turned out, it wasn't a racket - it was an absolutely horrific scam. I'm pretty sure a single beer was something like $17.

Anyway, we filed in (I had worn a navy shirt with stripes which happened to be the pattern of the Yankees, which I felt pretty proud about) and sat in our little seats high above the diamond or whatever. It was in this time, before the game started, that I learned that the guy who stands behind the batter is actually pretty important and not just the ball-catching gofer. Like I thought he played an equivalent role as the parent in a kids' soccer game who runs and gets the soccer ball when it goes out of bounds.

Oh, also: the people we were playing against were the Astros. From Texas. Houston? I don't really know.

So, armed with plenty of knowledge about innings and balls and whatnot, I was feeling pretty good about things when the newscaster started screaming "it's... TANAKA TIME." It was all very exciting. I think in that moment I decided that there would probably be very little better than being an announcer who got to scream fun slogans at an audience going crazy.

The craziness ended pretty abruptly when absolutely nothing happened in the first... I forget exactly how many but it was a lot... innings. You could feel the audience starting to get a little restless. Two hours in, with zero home runs and another sluggish outfield to infield change, the audience started murmuring and jostling about something.

It was a bird. I kid you not, a hawk on some pole on our side of the field was garnering more attention than the game was. People started taking out their phones and getting excited about this bird.

And then, as if it couldn't get worse, the entire big screen which had been previously focused on the players missing another ball or making some attempt at the bases started filming the bird. I couldn't believe it. As the audience ooh-ed and ah-ed I was trying to sort out how I felt about all this.

See, I had thought that these people had paid money to be entertained by baseball for hours on end, but as it turns out they can be entertained by anything for hours on end. They were entertained by random people kissing (quickly). They were entertained by random people dancing (badly). They were entertained by little kids (looking bored) on their parents' shoulders. And they were entertained by a BIRD. On a POLE. Shouldn't a sport be interesting enough to watch in its entirety if you're going to pay to see it live?? What I couldn't see was: why is baseball this boring??

Near the end of the game, when people started making home runs, it got a little more exciting. But by the time hour four was rolling around and we were approaching the last inning, the game was tied up.

Please. I thought. Please, someone do a home run so I can go home.

Behind me, The Worst Kid in The World was whining to his parents, who had just dropped the bomb on him that they were going to leave before the game ended to make the next train back and avoid the rush. I would have tried to convince bf to do the same, but it seemed like his second cousin once removed was interested to stay through the end. Bad form to up and leave.

"No!" TWKITW screamed. "I don't want to go home! I want to watch the rest of the game! You can't make me!"

I slumped in my seat and tried to cover my ears. Please. I thought. Someone hit the ball.

"I hope nobody hits the ball and it goes overtime! I hope we miss our train!"

Stupid kid. I thought. God, please listen to me instead. Please put me out of my misery.

Nobody was hitting the ball. TWKITW screamed in triumph when the inning ended and the game was still tied up. I would have cried, but I was as dehydrated as a camel's tongue. We had finished our water bottle long ago and I wasn't willing to spend $10 on more. The guy across the row had been methodically shelling peanuts and depositing them around his feet for all four hours, and the sound of the peanuts being cracked was now gunfire to my brain. He looked like he was sitting in kitty litter.

Please, please let anyone win. It can be the orange team. Let's go home. 

Finally, the Yankees (TANAKA TIME) hit a home run. The game was over.

The stadium was well-designed enough to handle the hoard of people going to the subways, and if you stuck out your elbows and kept your cool, then it was bearable to reach the subways, which had a couple of empty trains lined up back to back to take the hoard back to Manhattan.

Bf and I got to the train when it was still empty and watch it quickly fill up with navy and white stripes.

"WE WON!!! NEW YOOOORK! YAASS!" One guy who had clearly indulged in too many $17 beers was celebrating the Yankee victory. It was hard not to be enthusiastic, but I was bone tired. It was near midnight, and past my bedtime.

But we won!

We join the masses at the game.

Long-term Budapest Bucket List

For those who don't know, I'm officially back in the States after a wonderful semester abroad in Budapest. Throughout the semester, I collected some experiences that I didn't get to write full posts about and decided to make them into a Long-Term Budapest Bucket List.

Lots of people travel to Budapest for a couple of days on the way to some more glitzy locations (BIG mistake, but whatever) and if that's your situation then by all means do the big stuff, (Buda Castle, Fisherman's Bastion, Buda Caves, bowl of goulash, ruin bars, etc., etc.) But if you find yourself with a week or more in this beautiful city, then you have the opportunity to do some of these more off-the-beaten-tracks activities. Here we go!

1) Dance to traditional folk music at Szimpla Kert.
That's right, this foreigner hotspot actually hosts folk music nights every Monday night with live music. Dance with a bunch of drunk foreigners and a few Hungarians who have been folk dancing since they were five. If you're lucky, one of them (maybe a sprightly old gentlemen in bell-bottoms) will take pity on all of you and start teaching everyone to dance! Spinning in circles, holding hands, doing mini can-cans-- this is not to be missed! Even if it's not at Szimpla, it's definitely worth trying to learn some Hungarian traditional dancing. Ladies, being spun around at high-speed velocities is an incredible experience!

2) If you're in Buda, go to Pest. If you're in Pest, go to Buda.
I was based in Pest during my five months in Budapest, but there are pros and cons to both sides of the city. In general, my friends and I agreed that Pest is where the fun stuff is, but Buda is where the nice stuff is. If you're a young twenty-something-year-old, Pest is probably a slightly better fit (with the Jewish quarter, all the bars/clubs/parties, lots of restaurants/cafés, more shopping, etc.) But when I took the effort to go to Buda, I was rewarded with lush green parks (ahem, Buda hills), beautifully paved paths by the Danube (the Danube walk is much better on the Buda side than the Pest side), and just a quieter, more pleasant experience. The upshot is this: no matter where you're based in the city, try to see as much of it as possible.

3) Visit (lots of) cucraszdas. 
I love these little sweetshops dotted all over the city. In particular, though, I'd recommend a tiny, independent bakery called Hatcuki tucked into a corner of Buda. Not only do they make the Best Cheesecake I Have Ever Tasted (and deliver it to my favorite café, Magvető) it's rare that you find a place where everything tastes as divine as it does there (the chocolate cake is also good). It may be a trek if you live in Pest, but see Point #2.

4) Visit places in Hungary outside of Budapest.
I've been pretty good about documenting the places I've been in Hungary: check out my posts about Eger, Szentendre, and Mohács (scary sheepmen!), among others. Places like the Danube Bend are so accessible from Budapest by train or by ferry that it would be crazy not to go. If you need inspiration, try taking the train to Visegrád and getting off at the wrong stop! I also wrote about a failed bike trip around Balaton. But, not to worry, a successful bike trip does exist within my semester! A few weeks ago some friends and I biked to Szentendre, proving that it is possible for me not to mess up a bike trip :)

Back at Szentendre: it's warm this time! 

5) Go to Király Thermal Baths
Forget Szechenyi or Rudas. The award for best baths in the city in my opinion belongs to Király, tucked away next to Margaret Island on the Buda side. It's the least touristy, most local bathhouse that I've been to. Don't be fooled by its relatively worn-down appearance: it has all the same functionality and features as the bigger baths, just with fewer actual tubs (and people). It's still got the chamomile steam room though, which is honestly the best part of the any bathhouse.

6) Café hop A LOT
If you haven't already, check out the big list of cafés I published earlier this year. One café that I only found out about after publishing the list: Dorado, an amazing café for doing work in. I tried my first cappuccino there, which was a magical experience in itself, and having had a few more at other places since then can affirm that it compares very, very favorably to other cafés. Another good cafe to check out is Rengeteg Romkafe, where you can try the best hot chocolate you've ever had. A word of warning though: go to Romkafe for the vibe, not so much to do work.

Me with my first cappuccino, which means my first basic Insta-esque coffee photo. Also, throwback to the Original Lonely Nut Club. You are missed. 

A sour-cherry/caramel/rum hot chocolate at Romkafe.

7) Go to Lehel Market
My FAVORITE market in the city. Cheap, fresh, local produce. Also it's enormous. You can pretty much find anything you're looking for here in the way of food. Walnuts are pretty expensive everywhere, but here I can get a half-kilo bag of huge, delicious walnuts fresh off the tree for about $5.

8) Explore the parks in Budapest.
Budapest is a remarkably, wonderfully green city. I've posted about nice spring things to do in the city before, which include the ELTE Botanical Gardens, City Park (obviously), the banks of Danube (Pest statues), and Normafa. I have one more addition to that list: the Garden of Philosophy in Buda is absolutely breathtaking on a sunny day and features some of the best statues I've seen in the city.

This uber-cool statue was a model of Budapest with King István, the first king of Hungary, standing over Buda and his wife standing over Pest.

Why can't Manhattan have greenery like this?? 

9) Admire a spice wall and find Asian cooking ingredients
My first few weeks in the city I thought I would be okay without my usual Asian cuisine. I was wrong. With my pantry bare of even soy sauce, after a few weeks I was craving something with tofu, bean sprouts, and spicy sauce. After an extensive search of some of the "Asian markets," I'm convinced I have found the best Asian grocery store in the city which will fulfill all your Asian cooking needs (also, everything from canned goods to tofu is cheaper here, trust me). Go to Asia Bt.!! In addition to every kind of ingredient your heart desires, they also have the biggest most extensive variety of spices I have ever seen, all stacked neatly on their spice wall. It's truly an experience for anyone who likes to cook (or eat).

10) Be spontaneous
The city is beautiful, and public transportation is imminently accessible. You'll never get lost enough to be seriously in trouble. If there's anything I've learned from my time abroad, it's that it's worth taking chances even if you're not guaranteed a perfect or even predictable experience. So say yes to an impulse and get lost!

Balaton Part II: Return of the Balaton

A mere two weeks after a rough weekend at Balaton, the largest lake in Hungary, I experienced a profound sense of deja-vu as I embarked on yet another train to the lake. This time, it would be different. I didn't have a bike, and I was heading down (with friend Eric) to meet some (other) friends at a lakeside town called Révfülöp.

Nothing was going to go wrong!

Well, when the conductor came down the aisle and checked our ticket, his face scrunched up in the way I was so familiar. We were supposed to have transferred at Székesfehérvár, and now we were stuck on a train bound for the south of the lake instead of the north.

Well, no matter. Eric and I reasoned it would be easy enough to take the ferry across the lake to Tihany, and from there find another train heading to Révfülöp.

I won't bore you with the details, but we ended up taking a ferry, hitchhiking on a hillside trolley, taking a bus to Balatonfüred, then finally the train to Révfülöp. But but BUT the weather was absolutely beautiful, and, honestly, I was happy to get to see Tihany and ferry across the lake (I really really like ferries).

Me before the ferry.

Honestly it's fine to get lost when your surroundings look like this.

Anyway, the weekend only got better after that slight mishap. On Saturday (after a brief icy dip in Balaton), we took a trip to an underwater cave river where we got to paddle a metal boat through the narrow rocky tunnels. It was sufficiently sunny and warm that I assume not a lot of people were interested in cave paddling, so we had the teal-clear waters and echoey rock faces all to ourselves.

Teal-clear water and echoey rocks

When we felt that we were nearing the end of the tunnel-loop, too exhilarated by our nautical independence, we tried to navigate backwards by pushing off on the rock walls. It was going well until the loudspeaker crackled to life-- "no going backwards please."

One friend, in utter disbelief, said "they can hear us?" only to receive a tinny reply: "yes, we can."

So we paddled forward.

Rocky caves

 That evening was a lovely one back at the country house. The seven of us answered the age-old question, 'how many mathematicians does it take to keep a fire burning?' Answer: seven and a lot of hard work. We roasted mushrooms, potatoes, and bacon-wrapped sausages well into the night and feasted while passing around a bottle of pálinka.

Embers of the seven mathematicians' triumph

The next morning, while everything was soft and green, we walked to the bus stop to travel to Héviz, a town by Balaton (but not on Balaton) famous for its thermal lake.

A beautiful morning, passing fields and vineyards

The town profits on the masses of old people who flock to the thermal lake for its supposed healing powers and year-round tepidly warm water. The lake was murky and green and smelled of sulphur, and had a temperature like cooling bathwater. We swam around among lilypads and flitting black birds and rested on old, slimy wooden "benches" built just under the water. I wasn't able to take any photos (my iPhone is sadly as non-waterproof as you can get), but here's one aerial view of the lake courtesy of Wikipedia.

Héviz from the sky. You have free range to swim anywhere in the lake if you pay the 2000 Forint fee. (Source)  

It's kind of incredible the kind of freedom you can buy in Hungary for just a few dollars. Some overprotective mother would have sued an American landmark years ago for allowing people to canoe in a cramped underground tunnel, or swim in a huge sulfurous lake. It's one of the many things that I will miss about living here.

Speaking of which, my time in Budapest draws to a close, and my last day is this Friday. I have a few more posts lined up about my time here, but they will probably be published after I leave the country. I'm sad, and I'll have to think more about exactly what I'll want to say.

Anyway, to sum all this up: I have officially redeemed myself of the bad luck of Balaton. It was a lovely weekend.

Bringing in Spring: Some outdoorsy places to go

I definitely had this conception that spring in Budapest would be a dull affair. Partly because in New York, the idea of a slow and steady rise in temperature to summer is nonexistent. It will be eighty on a day in February before snowing in April. And just when the weather seems like it's getting nice... BAM it's summer and every day is an exercise in avoiding heat strokes in muggy ninety degree weather.

So it's been nice to experience something like what I imagine spring SHOULD be: warm, sunny, maybe a little rainy, with steady temperatures ranging from 50-70 degrees. Spring in Budapest is BEAUTIFUL.

Ah, who am I kidding? Budapest is always beautiful :)

It's hard to stay inside when the weather is so nice. Studying outside may be a little counterproductive, but you gotta maximize your time in the sun somehow.

So I've been walking more instead of taking public transport, going to parks, etc.

City park: it was okay in the winter but now it is GREEN. A good place to study if you don’t need a table.

Also, the statues scattered throughout the city look more regal cloaked in green (or whatever...)

On the Pest side of the Danube, there are tons of statues scattered in interesting places/poses. My FAVORITE kind of park is a statue park.

Queen Erzsébet looking regal (in the Buda side, by the citadel)

In terms of some concrete recs, I have three, ranging from easiest to hardest to get to. First: go to the ELTE botanical gardens! The gardens are in Pest, an easy tram ride away, and the student price is only 600 forints. If you go on a weekday morning the gardens will be relatively empty and you can study/read/chill/admire the greenery to your heart's content. One caveat though: weekdays are also the days school kids take field trips to the gardens, so be cognizant of that!

Fragrant wisteria grows everywhere in the spring and might be one of my favorite things about spring at this point...

And here we have the requisite Asian garden.

Second: head to the Buda Hills! Some friends and I went to Normafa for Labor Day and picnicked there before hiking around the hills. It was honestly kind of shocking how beautiful it was given how easily accessible the hills are from downtown. Also, picnic food is the best food (proof: all things are better outside in 60-70 degree and sunny weather, therefore, food is better in nice weather outside).

It’s really too bad I couldn’t get a picture of the food. We ate on a grassy hill that made me feel like I was in a Monet painting

Walk around enough in the hills and you will stumble across this cool tower with sick views.

Sick views! Also the Hungarian flag.

Finally, I can see why everyone raves about Pécs. With wide plazas, a Mediterranean feel (must've been those occasional palm trees), and tons of art and history scattered through the city (also Roman ruins) it's just a cool place to walk around. We took a day trip to the city and had a lovely (albeit also sweaty- should not have worn jeans) time taking in the sites, views, sun.

I don’t think photos do this building justice. It was VERY impressive in real life.

It's weird to know that the semester is wrapping up, and weird to think about the fact that I'll soon be leaving Budapest with no idea if/when I'll be back.

We won't think about that for now!!

Happy Spring!

Istanbul Part 3: A Love Letter to Istanbul (+ Cats)

This is the third part of a three-part post about spring break in Istanbul. Check out Part I (where to go, what to see) and Part II (food) as well!

Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish best-selling writer and Nobel laureate, wrote the book that sat in my backpack on the flight to Istanbul. It was my so-called "spring break reading," and despite the fact that I had tried to start reading it a number of times before the break, all the italicized words and places meant so little to me that it was hard to stay invested. I was dreading opening it again.

Anyway, fast-forward ten days. For the most part, I explored Istanbul alone. I was lucky enough to be staying with some incredible hosts (who took me to their country home for the first few days of my stay and who I could speak to about my adventures in the evening) but for the majority of the time I was by myself.

What surprised me most about traveling alone was the fact that it was hard to get lonely. Part of the reason for this is the sheer wonderful frenzy of the city. Often in between trudging up the winding, cobbled roads inclining what felt like perpendicularly (Istanbul is a hilly city), or figuring out where lunch was going to be, or desperately hoping that the dolmuş, or mini-bus, was going in the direction I needed it to (a mini-bus is a strange cross between a bus and a taxi which picks up around ten people going in the same general direction and drops them off... whenever they feel like getting off), I didn't have the time or energy to feel lonely.

The first day in the city, amid figuring out how mosque etiquette worked, I found this lovely scarf for only about $2 at a local market. Ladies, either bring a good scarf with you or buy one there (there are innumerable places to get a scarf in Istanbul) for mosque entry.

I interacted with people more than I thought as well, in small moments scattered throughout the week. At the Basilica Cisterns, I met an old Korean couple who proclaimed Istanbul the "best city in the world" and told me where the best place to get kimchi would be. In transit on a ferry back to the European side, a couple with a young nine-month old son asked me to hold their baby, who apparently would not stop fussing until I did.

Taken by the lovey Korean couple at the Basilica Cisterns.

Hectic as the city was, I also came across a few invaluable quiet moments. Istanbul is not in general a quiet city. Easy counterexample: there are lots of cars and the drivers tend to be very free with the horn. But taking the ferry to the Kadiköy neighborhood on my last day in Istanbul was one such moment to myself. Away from the Historic Peninsula, the tourists are few and far between, and that cloudy morning I was alone on top of the ferry, sipping çay (Turkish black tea) and listening to the call to prayer echo over the indigo Bosphorus.

A quiet tea on the water.

I loved Kadiköy. One of the few places I went on the Asian side, the neighborhood felt deeply authentic with both an honest-to-goodness market (with actually cheap and good produce/dried goods/sweets unlike the more touristy markets) and cafes that were unabashedly cool. When the morning showers came, I hunkered in one of these cafes and finished the Mediations while sipping another cup of çay-- one of my fondest memories in the city.

The market early in the morning, before it got busier.

Beautiful produce later in the morning.

Undoubtedly just walking around the neighborhoods of Istanbul and taking in the atmosphere was a highlight of the trip. I averaged about 10 miles a day of walking, and finished the week with just over sixty miles under my belt. Besides Kadiköy, my favorite walks included the route from Galata Tower across Galata Bridge (and through Karaköy, another cool neighborhood) to get to Eminönü; the park and glitzy neighborhoods of Nişantaşı; and the beautiful neighborhood of Bebek. Bebek was one of the few places I went to in the city where I could walk by the Bosphorus (along a beautiful boardwalk) without feeling like I was in the way of cars on a major thoroughfare or trespassing in cafes hogging up all the waterfront.

Taken in Karaköy near Galata Tower.

A view from Galata Bridge.

The beautiful view by Bebek.

More Bebek! I honestly was very lucky the day was so beautiful.

Walking around, it's impossible not to notice all the cats. I was confused at first about how such masses of stray cats could be so well-fed and groomed before my hosts informed me that the municipality vaccinates them and the locals in Istanbul all do their parts to take care of the cats, leaving cat food, opened cans of tuna, and little cardboard shelters on the side of the road for any passing cat to use. If you've ever seen the documentary Kedi... well, it's exactly like that.

Without further ado, a slideshow of all my best kedi shots (there are plenty more than this on my phone; pruning through them is my gift to you).




If I had to sum up the trip, the glorious, long, lovely, hectic, amazing trip in one word, it would be this: lucky. I was lucky to have had the opportunity and resources to go, lucky that the weather was so good for most of the trip, lucky to have stumbled across the people, restaurants, cats, streets, etc. that I did. But most of all, lucky to have had the opportunity to stay with my fantastic hosts, to get a good sense of Istanbul as a city and not as a tourist destination. I really can't thank them enough for their hospitality.

My last day in Istanbul was Easter Monday, and after shopping for traditional Greek Easter bread, bittersweet and aromatic from the mastic and mahleb herbs, we died eggs in vinegar and had a last dinner of meze.

An Easter shot. The eggs and tsoureki are in the background.

On the plane ride back, I took out the Orhan Pamuk book again. I had been too busy (um... exploring) to give it much thought over break, but the seat in front of me had no monitor, and my backpack with laptop was stowed away in the overhead bin, so I had no choice but to try to start the book again. In the first two pages, I read: "... the rumble of a passing car, the clatter of an old bus, the rattle of the copper kettles that the salep maker shared with the pastry cook, the whistle of the parking attendant at the dolmuş stop..." Suddenly, it felt somewhat familiar.

I smiled, and kept reading.

Istanbul Part 1: Where to Go, What to Do

A (spring) break of ten whole days from math requires drastic measures: and for me, that meant spending the entire time in Istanbul, the allure of the Bosphorus too compelling to ignore. Not to mention, I had the good fortune of having some incredible hosts who let me stay with them for the week in their home!

Istanbul is a trip too big to contain in one post, so I'm breaking the tale into three exciting parts:

Part 1 (you are here): my review of major activities + things you MUST do + things I thought were overrated

Part 2: FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD oh my goodness

Part 3: My love letter to Istanbul: thoughts + CATS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WELCOME TO PART 1:

Istanbul is what some would call a "world-class city" and as such, there's plenty to do. Even with ten days I had to prioritize what I wanted to spend my time on and what I thought I could skip. Below you'll find the top three things I did while in Istanbul, a few other great things to do, and a few attractions I thought were slightly overrated.

TOP THREE ACTIVITIES IN ISTANBUL

1. Staying in a country house

Okay, ironic, the first thing on this list is not technically in Istanbul and not technically something available for everyone. But I do want to flex a little that I had the incredible experience of staying in my hosts' beautiful country home outside of the city to soak in the nature and have some incredible meals.

This is the house: it overlooks some beautiful rolling hills- and that field right there? Lavender!

It was absolutely wonderful to hear nothing but the birds and breathe in some fresh air, and the countryside around Istanbul-- rolling hills, lots of wheat fields and fruit trees-- was absolutely beautiful in the spring.

I had the experience of helping to make pide (failing miserably to roll out the dough). You can see the finished product here

2. Topkapı Palace**

It's one of the major destinations in Istanbul, and probably the most expensive place in terms of entrance fees (95 lira for the palace + harem), but I thought it was by far the coolest tourist attraction on the Historic Peninsula.

Notice I starred the name: I'll use this to denote a place that you want to visit as soon as it opens in the mornings to minimize tourist overflow. The historic peninsula (as I quickly discovered) becomes saturated with tourists starting from mid-morning all the way until the attractions close around four or five, which is a huge headache and (at least for me) ruins lots of the appeal of the attractions themselves. Every day I was in the city, I got up early to try to get to a single tourist attraction before it opened to be one of the first in the building. Then, I could leave the historic peninsula right as it got busiest around mid-morning. This worked really well for me and as a result I had a few precious moments to myself in these beautiful attractions.

Anyway, Topkapi was the residence of the Ottoman sultans (as well as some Biblical relics- you can see the alleged staff of Moses and sword of David, as well as various body parts of the prophet Muhammad, e.g., his beard and a box containing his tooth!). Not to mention the palace is filled with examples of beautiful, intricate Islamic art and architecture, for example, in the sultan's primary residence:

Or in one of the many pavilions in the third or fourth courtyard:

It was also super fascinating to see relics of the lives of the harem (women in the royal circle) and of the many servants in the palace (there is an entire wing devoted to the cooking staff, including an entire confectionary-- sultans like their sweets!).

Tile on the royal hamamı (bath-house). I loved walking through these old baths. The rooms formed a brightly-lit labyrinth that I managed to sneak into before the tourist hoard and for a good half hour had all to myself to wander around.

What I have to assume is an old toilet for the servants. Little things like this about daily life hundreds of years ago I think are the coolest things to see in the palace.

3. Şehir Hatları Tour of the Bosphorus

I pinned a day of the week when the weather portended to be beautiful and spent the entire day on a ferry on the Bosphorus headed straight for the Black Sea. That's right, for only 25 lira you can board a municipal ferry that takes you on a six-hour cruise (2 hours sailing there, 2 hours break, 2 hours coming back) to Anadolukavağı, a small, remote neighborhood of Istanbul right by the Black Sea.

Charmed by the old-timiness of the tickets. WARNING: don't be fooled, make sure you get the tickets for Şehir Hatları and not for some more expensive touristy ferry. The ferries all leave from Eminönü by Galata Bridge. Make sure you find the right pier!

Pretty cloud

When we arrived at our destination, all of us disembarked and pretty much immediately did two things in an order that depended on how hungry we were: 1) Hike up a small hill to Yoros Castle and 2) get seafood at one of the many restaurants by the pier. I did Yoros first.

The walk up is short and pretty easy.

Spring was in full swing, and beautiful wildflowers abounded. There's a good-sized highway that goes directly to Yoros, and on the way down I took an alternate route through town which got me some beautiful photos:

This wall had a bunch of Evil Eyes embedded in it. All staring into your SOUL

After a lovely lunch by the sea, we returned home. A beautiful day, highly recommend!!


OTHER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ACTIVITIES

Aya Sofya** 

This is an obvious must-see, and the most popular tourist location in Istanbul. And it's spectacular-- a melding of Byzantine Christian mosaics and Islamic art unlike anything I have ever seen before. And Viking graffiti! Just make sure to go in the morning, right when it opens. I showed up an hour early and there was still a bit of a line!

When I first arrived in the mosque, a lone black cat was there to greet us early-morning arrivals.

It is a BEAUTIFUL building.

Galata Tower** 

I actually love the neighborhood around Galata, but the tower itself has some great views of the city. Make sure to go when the weather is nice (and in the morning, so it's not so crowded).

Dolmabahçe Mosque

Okay, so technically Dolmabahçe PALACE is the attraction that people want to visit. But every single time I was there, the line was too long for me to even think about going in. However, adjacent to the Palace is a tiny mosque on the banks of the Bosphorus. When I was there, this mosque was absolutely empty and quiet, which immediately made it one of the best mosques that I saw while in Istanbul (and I saw quite a few mosques). Highly recommend for some peace amid the hectic tourist attractions.

Suleymaniye Mosque

This was another of my favorite mosques in Istanbul (probably because it was the first one I visited). Overlooking the Bosphorus, the mosque also features several mausoleums with the graves of Sultan Suleiman I and his family, which I thought were beautiful. It was also slightly less crowded than its sisters the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya.

SLIGHTLY OVERRATED PLACES

Okay, you should still visit these places. But due to high tourist activity and general tourist-trappiness, I was not super impressed.

Grand Bazaar/ Spice Market

So in general I DO NOT appreciate when people heckle me to come into their restaurant/ buy their wares and I WILL NOT engage if someone tries to heckle me in this way. Unfortunately, in these markets (and in the historic peninsula in general) this sort of heckling was really aggressive, which really put me off.

The spice market in particular was kind of disappointing. It's in a very new building, which though decorated nicely has lost the kind of historic charm that the Grand Bazaar, at least, has. The shops (which are all pretty much identical) are pretty overpriced and cater exclusively to tourists, which kind of got on my nerves.

Later I had the opportunity to go to what I considered a "real" market and enjoyed that much more.

Basilica Cisterns**

This place SHOULD HAVE been cool, but unfortunately I went at a bad time and it was absolutely chock-full of other people, which made the entire experience kind of awful (save for a few friends I made along the way). Would definitely recommend going when it's not as crowded.

 All right! That's the end of Part 1! Check out Part 2 (FOOD) and Part 3 (love letter/cats) for more about Istanbul!