Istanbul's Asian Side: Check

      Even though we went to Levent and Caroline's wedding and saw a glimpse of the "Asian side" we wouldn't have done the justice if we didn't see the Princess Islands and Bagdat caddesi. taking care of visa papers first from the embassy first was great and made me relaxed about my entry to U.S.

Beautiful houses at Buyukada

A classic horsecart ride

Our first trip was to Buyukada (Big Island of Princess Islands). This unique island was home to many minorities of Turkey, mostly the Greek ones. We grabbed a famous ice cream of Buyukada as we landed and found a horse cart(Fayton) that gave us the grand tour of the island. Beautiful houses seeing the views of the Asian side, little quaint neighborhoods and street kitty's everywhere. Enjoying the nice breeze at the Fayton we pretty uh saw everything except for the Aya Yorgi Monastry. The steep hill that takes to the Monastry is known for making wishes on the way and in the temple itself. If it wasn't the fact that sweat was dropping from my face I would have tried it but rather we went to a cute little beach where our driver paused for half hour. It's been a while that I didn't get into the water in Isanbul and it was quite nostalgic. We walked around the village of the island checking out some local stores as we were waiting for our ferry back to the Asian side.





We had a nice doner kebab dinner at Bagdat Caddesi which is pretty much like a row of famous name brand stores. I got my shirt from Mavi, a ritual that I always do. Our last stop of the Asian side was the little town of Moda.
Famous Turkish musicians and artists lived here in the past and I always wanted to see it. My friend Chris recommended a coffeehouse in Moda but as we were running out we couldn't find the place and had a quick Cay moment as we were watching the sunset. Unfortunately I am not able to post any pics at this moment since I only brought my iPad and I can't upload the pics yet. Blog will be updated with the pics from trip once I get back. Asian side didn't offer as much history as the European side but still had some spectacular views of the Bosphorus. Couldn't have skipped this part of IST. Can't believe how fast the days are going by. 2 more days in Istanbul and we'll start the road trip. Saturday night @ Taverna in Asmali with my old time friends. Looking forward to it!!