Last day in Istanbul

Miles: 5.0 Steps:13306
Flights stairs: 10

We headed over to the Asia side of Istanbul today!! Took a tram across the river and a funicular up the hill to wander a bit. It was so different on that side! Much less chaotic, more friendly, less sales pressure … much more enjoyable time wandering the streets.

We tried to do some shopping - I’m not prepared to head into Egypt in a few weeks as i guess I can’t wear shorts anywhere. 😩 so I’m looking for capris, or long shorts or something and just can’t find anything. All the stores are obsessed with selling denim here, which is way too hot. May have to break down and buy a wrap around skirt to put over my shorts …

We went to dinner and I finally was able to see a whirling dervish. And then we headed over to the Hagia Sophia mosque at night - wasn’t prepared. Women have to cover their heads, shoulders and knees. 🤷. So we made up an outfit for me so we didn’t have to go back to our hostel to change. We couldn’t enjoy any of the mosques for long, as they require you to take off your shoes. The stench is REALLY bad at the entrance, and then in the entire mosque. Hard to describe, but it definitely effected our enjoyment of the visit.

So stray cats are EVERYWHERE in Istanbul. Like EVERYWHERE. They estimate there could be anywhere from 200,000 to a million! They don’t really consider them strays as much as “community owned”. There is food and water left out on every corner, as well as little “dog houses” - and they are the friendliest, least scared, healthiest looking cats I’ve seen.

Apparently cats are protected by law here. They view them as living beings, not commodities. They have a blanket no kill, no capture, zero tolerance on abuse policy punishable with severe jail time.

The Turkish have a long history with cats dating back centuries. Muhammed was the first to bless the cat and prohibit all abuse of it in 600 ad and ever since it has been revered by Islam. Kind of fascinating.Read more