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| More of My Buyukada |
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| If you walk straight ahead after you disembark from the ferry, you'll walk through the main area of Buyukada's cafe's and restaurants. This is the clock tower - the flowers weren't quite in bloom then (late April). This is a pretty area. Note: use the loo here before hiking out onto the Island. Bathroom report: clean but expensive. To the left, close to horse & buggy central. Pleasant tree-lined streets, helpful locals. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| After getting off the ferry, if you veer to the rigth and follow the sea-side, you will eventually come to the statue of Ataturk, adn a number of really nice homes and hotels. If you walk past the Sea Bus area, you come to a dead-end. There is a staircase leading straight up to a road which if you keep right, you'll walk past some remarkable homes (including Tolstoy's) before you end up at the picnic area. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Trying to locate Tolstoy's home was more difficult than I had thought! It's on Cankaya. This is a picture of the address given by Lonely Planet. Considering the wealth and beauty of the homes on this Island, I was somewhat disappointed. But, then I thought about it. Tolstoy stayed here. He walked down these same streets. He hung out at the peer, went to the cafe's, swam in the water, wrote, lost his daughter. There's a connection to him here. And you can see why he came here to write. I would. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Horse drawn buggies are all over the island. But for a few emergency vehicles, they are the only allowed mode of transportation. You will inevitably get asked to take a horse ride. I never have. I may, eventually, but when I was by myself it seemed too indulgent. The drivers were not pushy. One told me how big the Island was and that it would take me a long time to walk it, I shrugged and told him I had all day anyway, plus I could use the exercise. And that was it. He bid me "gunaydin" and off he trotted. I did come across their dwellings at the far end of the Island once. I felt bad for not at least giving him some money until I learned that he probably lived on the mainland the rest of the year, and came here for the summer to ply the tourist trade. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| To the right, one of the many amazing homes on the Island. I wish I had more pictures, but they were stored on my computer. Then the computer crashed. These ones survived only because I had already posted them to my blog site and I was able to re-load them. If you walk along the main tourist drag, Cankaya, you pass by some incredible homes. Some very wealthy people live here. I wouldn't mind being here, it would be worth the ferry into Istanbul twice a day. But I doubt I will ever get the millions that it would cost to do so! The Island is a big breath of fresh air. I love being there. Especially after being in the middle of Kanarya for days, weeks, even months on end. There are many other places of historical value in Istanbul - for sure - but this place is a calming oasis after the hustle and bustle of the big city. |
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