A Day Away From Istanbul
When you visit Istanbul you should set one day aside to visit the Princes’ Islands. About 20 kilometers away by ferry in the Sea of Marmara, lie this small group of islands also known as the Kızıl Adalar. These nine islands are very popular tourist spots in the summer.
During the Byzantine times, the Princes’ Islands were the place of exile for princes, priests and nobles. Personally, I can’t think of a lovelier place to be exiled to, as long as I could bring a laptop.
The islands became a holiday destination for the rich in the 19th Century where they built lovely wooden villas which have been faithfully maintained and restored. The population of the island consists of a multi-cultural blend of Jewish, Armenian, Greek and Turkish people. No traffic is permitted on the island of Büyükada so your mode of transportation is limited to walking, biking, donkey or horse drawn carriage.
I arrived in Büyükada with a friend and we decided to hike up the mountain to the Ayia Yorgi Monastery and Church built in the 6th century. We could have gone up the mountain by donkey but I could never let the poor donkey endure such slavery. It was a steep hike. Along the way, people had tied ribbons of rag cloth to the branches of bushes. It is said if you hike up the mountain, and tie ribbons representing your troubles to the branches all your troubles will be banished. If only life was this simple and troubles could be rid of so easily, I would hike up that mountain weekly.
After reaching the top of the mountain and looking around and taking photographs, we descended the mountain for an early lunch along the pier. I can’t quite remember what we ate, but I remember the dessert. It was sweet quince accompanied by the most lovely dollop of fresh cream I had ever tasted. I took a photograph of the dessert so I could remember the dish forever.
For the rest of the day, we hired a young driver with his brightly colored horse drawn carriage to take us the full circumference of the island. It was a remarkable tour, full of views of rocky coastal shores and pristine villas with exquisite gardens. Such wealth and beauty!
But at the end of the journey I saw, set off from the road along a sheltered beach, a collection of corrugated iron shacks where people had formed a small community. Laundry was blowing in the wind. I never took a photograph but wondered who these people might be that live in such devastating poverty in such a gorgeous place, surrounded by wealth and beauty.
The daylight was slowly beginning to fade. The air was beginning to chill because this was October. We had coffee while waiting to catch the ferry back to Istanbul. In the horizon, but not far from our café, stood a little building set out in the water. It was not a fancy place, its name Esinti Café was clearly painted on its wall. I photographed the little café and vowed the next time I find myself on Büyükada Island, I will sit myself down at the Esinti Café and watch the magnificent sunset.
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Pingback from Imagine the Horse Drawn Carriage | Imagine Istanbul
Time: April 23, 2008, 7:47 am
[...] I thought I would share with you this photograph of the colorful horse drawn carriage I had rented to cover the whole distance of the island of Büyükada. Just to publish a small photograph of this would not have done you justice in the article I wrote on a day trip away from Istanbul. [...]
Pingback from Imagine the Esinti Café | Imagine Istanbul
Time: April 21, 2008, 8:44 am
[...] April, 2008 (08:21) | Photographs, istanbul Following my previous article about a day trip away from Istanbul, I thought I’d publish a photograph of the Esinti Café. I saw the Esinti Café at the end of [...]