Three Summers: Turkish delight....ful!

After an early morning bliss visit to our favourite hamam, today was a day for unplanned adventures. In the morning we jumped on a tram heading away from Sultanahmet to... we didn't know where; and in the afternoon we stepped on a ferry on the Bosphorus going to... well, we didn't know where it was going either. We just swiped our Instanbulkart and hopped on the first tram and then later the only ferry sitting at the wharf.

Both journeys proved the point that sometimes the best destinations are the ones that are stumbled upon.

From the tram we wandered through the alleys and streets of the very un-touristy Vefa neighbourhood, and were rewarded with a stop at Vefa Bozacisi. A cafe since 1870s, it sells...... Boza. For 3TL take a glass of cinnamon-sprinkled Boza from the bar. We sat at one of the few seats in the cafe so we could savor our Boza experience, but most Turks just pop in, down their Boza, drop their coins on the old marble bar and leave with a friendly, 'teşekkürler'. It reminded me of that very Italian pastime of standing at a bar and taking an espresso in two mouthfuls, dropping a euro on the counter and leaving.

Boza is a traditional drink, made by fermenting bulgur. It's a little like custard in consistency, and tastes something like a probiotic yoghurt drink. First taste and I'm unsure, but by the end of the glass we agee.... delicious! Sitting in Vefa Bozacisi is like a being in a little time warp. On the wall behind us is a silver cup in a glass case; apparently Attaturk himself drank boza here from that very cup.

Istanbulians, and Attaturk, have been drinking
Boza here since 1876

Prepared, poured, and waiting on the bar.
Cinnamon optional.

Tucked away in Vefa is this little gem

Like being in a cafe timewarp

As we walk back through Vefa we pass through Istanbul University. There are students and buildings just like you expect in a university precinct, the thing that distinguished this one is the armed police presence, armoured vehicle and water canon. It's election time in Turkey. Tomorrow the country votes, and everywhere we travel there are flags, banners and noisy and feverish electioneering. The locals that we have spoken with don't think Erdogan will survive. Not long until we find out.

Our ferry boat journey delivered us to Asia..... to Üsküdar on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.

The views looking back to Sultanahmet, the Galata bridge, Eminonu, Dolmabahce palace were worth the trip. Despite the busy waterfront, Üsküdar seems a little quieter than the frenetic Sultanahmet or Taksim areas. There's a distinct lack of tourists. There were small tea-houses, restaurants and a number of mosques. From this Asian shore it's easy to get a feel of the enormous scale of this fifth most populous city in the world.

The blue Bosphorus and the magnificent Suleymaniye Mosque

Turkish pide in Asia... in Uskudar. Deliciously good.

Istanbulians love their cafes, and love their kahve. Turkish coffee is thick, rich and strong. Each cup indivdually boiled in a long handled copper pot. It's difficult to choose which cafe to stop at, and we usually choose by decor, or by how traditional the cafe looks. I love the old Ottoman style of cafe, all tiled and traditional, and we had a couple of visits to the beautiful old Hafiz Mustafa cafe, where they have been making coffee since 1864!

Turkish coffee is rich and full flavoured and always
served with a small sweet morsel ... lokum or baklava

I can almost smell it right now!

Hazif Mustafa's selection in one section of
his cafe!

Hazif Mustafa's 150 year old cafe

Turkish delight-ful

During our wanderings we found the elegant Cafe Mitara, owned by Nazam. Cafe Mitara is a cafe and art studio/gallery by day, and by night Nazem cooks delicious, mostly organic,food. She will also entertain you with her stories of living in Istanbul, renovating her old building and her travel stories to the 'Stans'. If you go to Istanbul, call in and have dinner at Cafe Mitara.