Istanbul by Ferry, Twice Across a Continent

Breakfast in Asia, lunch in Europe, tea on the water in between.

I was born in Kadıköy and I will tell you a secret: the best tour of Istanbul costs about the price of a simit. You simply get on the ferry. You cross from Asia to Europe, drink a glass of tea, feed the gulls, arrive. Then you do it again.

But first, breakfast. Kahvaltı Sarı Kapı in Moda serves the full Turkish spread: white cheese, olives, honey with kaymak, tomatoes, cucumbers, menemen, and bread you tear with your hands. It takes two hours. It is supposed to take two hours.

Walk along the Moda seafront afterwards to settle it: old men fishing, couples on the rocks, a cat on every bench. Then the ferry from Kadıköy to Karaköy, standing at the back with a tulip glass of tea while the gulls chase simit crumbs at eye level. In Europe I climbed up through Galata, past the tower, and down again across the Galata Bridge, where the fishermen stand shoulder to shoulder with their lines dangling over the restaurants underneath.

Lunch was balık ekmek at Köprüaltı Balıkçısı by the bridge: mackerel, onion, a squeeze of lemon. Then the Üsküdar ferry at sunset back to Asia, and tea at Çay Bahçesi Martı on the shore at Salacak, facing the Maiden's Tower, which glowed like a candle in the middle of the water.

Lived May 24, 2025.