On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Winter Wren
Our apartment was conveniently located a short walk to the Kabataş ferry terminal (which also served as the terminus of the tramway to the old city and the lower stop for the funicular up to Taksim Square). The ferry is a great way to get to the Asia side and the produce market. Plus, I love ferry rides!

The ferries run pretty regularly to different destinations, but we just missed the previous ferry to Kadıköy. So we waited with a few other people along with this cat doing what cats mostly do.

The ferries have to dodge the big container ships plying the strait. Our ferry operator sensibly went around this one, letting it pass through ahead of us.
I was reminded of the opening chase sequence of one of the seasons of Slow Horses where they are dodging the Bosphorus traffic to get to the other side of the strait

On the way, I was excited to see a few flocks of Yelkouan shearwaters like this group! I love shearwaters.

We also passed close by the Maiden’s Tower and I was able to capture this shot of the famous bridge also behind.

The ferry ride also offered some great vistas of the Yeni Mosque and Galata Bridge.

There was a set of 2 large breakwaters to create the harbor on the Asian side. Along the breakwater were lots of Yellow-legged gulls and European shags. There were also pygmy cormorants, black-headed gulls, Eurasian coots and a Grey Heron mixed in. Here are a couple of shags and a possible Caspian gull (I have difficulty ID’ing gulls in different plumages).

The produce market had many different shops within an area of a few blocks which was only a short walk from the ferry terminal. This shop had many different kinds of colorful olives for sale.

A fruit vendor’s shop. Outside most shops, one of the vendors would be regularly calling out (I presume) what was being sold.

We ate a nice lunch in a restaurant across from one of the fish vendors. This cat was able to make away with a small fish the fish shop for its lunch.

On the ride back, my wife spotted this pod of dolphins going up the strait toward the Black Sea.
KSinMA
Thanks for the photos. I love ferry rides too, and that one looks just about perfect!
sab
Once in my life I went on Spring break. That time was to the late lamented New College.
I grew up in Florida. We were out on a tiny sailboat in Sarasota Bay. Some porpoises came by and my Ohio companion freaked. Sharks!!
Just looking at their fins I could see they were porpoises. Companion didn’t believe me. Needless to say we survived. Tourists!
sab
I love pictures of Istanbul. What an amazing city.
Winter Wren
One mistake on the captions here: the captions of the produce stalls are reversed – the first is fruit while the second is the colorful olives.
sab
@Winter Wren: Thank you. Hopefully we figured that out.
I am too old to want to travel until I saw these photos. Every one I talk to who has been to Turkey ( sorry about spelling. I am old) says it is amazing.
Geminid
Turkish journalst Ragip Soylu has a picture of the view from a Bosphorus ferry as the header picture for his social media* account. It’s taken at dusk, and I like to imagine Jason and the Argonauts sailing in the distance, on their way to the gold fields of Colchis. That would have been maybe 3,000 years ago.
* I have been slowly learning the Turkish language by following Turkish Twitter, including words like “sosyal medya” and “troll.”
sab
@Geminid: Learning Turkish. Wow. I am mad at my own lawn guy because he wants to mow my lawn but won’t plow my drive. Ecoconomics make sense but my feelings are hurt. A one year relationship should mean more!//
ETA : satby rescue kitty is back in my lap, thrashing her tail for breakfast. I m holding up for sunrise before food. Otherwise they will be banging at me at 3 am.
Geminid
@sab: Turks borrow words from English very liberally. They’re proud to be Turks, but they’re not stuck up about their language. I saw one post this bit of comparative linguistics:
I saw a funny Turkish video taken by someone from their Istanbul balcony, of a road rage incident. It showed a shiny sedan stopped in the near lane, 20 feet in front of a semi truck it was blocking. A well dressed middle aged man got out of the car and walked towards the truck while yelling at the truck driver.
When he got even with cab, the woman truck driver started shaking her fist and cursing him out. They shouted at each other for 10 seconds or so, and then the man threw a hand up in disgust, stalked back to his car and drove off.
MCat
Never knew how beautiful Istanbul is. And thanks for the photos of the cats!
Winter Wren
@MCat: Photos of cats are a requirement to get a proper sense of the place!
Queen of Lurkers
@Winter Wren: Loved, loved the photos. Went to Istanbul about a dozen years ago when Taksim Square was full of Gezi Park protests. We actually stayed in Burgaz Ada, one of the islands just off shore. Taking the public ferry into the city for touristing purposes was one of the joys of that week.
Geminid
@MCat: If you like cats and like Istanbul, you might like the documentary film Kedi (2016). Kedi is Turkish for cat.
From the trailer intro:
The film focuses on seven cats including the laid back “Deniz” and the fierce “Psikopat.” Much of it was filmed at cat level but there are plenty of shots of the city.
Director Ceyda Torun grew to love and respect the cats of Istanbul during her childhood. Later, she attended Boston University and earned a degree in Anthropology before studying film making in Europe.
Torun won the Critics Choice award for Best First Decumentary for Kedi. The award fo Best Living Subjects of a Documentary went to the Cats of Istanbul.
@sab:
Winter Wren
@Geminid: That is so cool! Will have to check it out!