On Galata Bridge

Wonderful lunch..on Galata Bridge across the Golden Horn, on the lower level in one of the little restaurants. A spicy, creamy dip, an aubergine dip, beer, tea and a water pipe. Views over the sparkling water, busy with boats and ferries, the Galata Tower on the one-time Genoese side, the Suleyman mosque and the Yeni mosque, cupolas, domes and minarets, the breeze, a thousand scurrying clouds, ten thousand scurrying people, all along the upper level of the bridge they are fishing, sardines and bigger catches..the lines shine past us into the water, pulled up with a chain of three, four, six flapping silver fish..every now and again one falls loose and lies gasping on the walkway where we're sitting - Rico nudges it gently into the water, or the waiter, shaking his head, happens every day...puffing clouds of gentle apple shisha amid so much bright beauty..Read more