23 October, Istanbul
Haci Mimi Apartment 53TL

We finally plucked up the courage to cycle 5km to a bike shop in Beşkitaş north of our apartment hoping they could service our bikes before we depart for Southeast Asia next week. Their mechanic was about to go on leave and suggested we try another shop in the pretty suburb of Ortaköy where we have left the bikes. Ortaköy is a delight. It sits on the Bosphorus at the base of the first suspension bridge and there tempts your palate and purse with enormous baked potatoes and sticky Turkish ice cream and walnut and caramel halva. With brightly hued jewellery and porcelain ornaments. In addition the small Ortaköy mosque (Büyük Mecidiye Camii) is definitely worth a visit. Wikipedia: “The current mosque ... was ordered by the Ottoman sultan Abdülmecid and built between 1854 and 1856. Its architects were Armenian father and son Garabet Amira Balyan and Nigoğayos Balyan (who also designed the nearby Dolmabahçe Palace and the Dolmabahçe Mosque), who designed it in the Neo-Baroque style. Within the mosque hang several examples of Islamic calligraphy executed by Sultan Abdülmecid himself, who was also a hattat (master calligrapher).”

Beşkitaş

Beşkitaş

Beşkitaş

Bike shop cat

Ortaköy

Ortaköy

Ortaköy - halva

Ortaköy

Ortaköy

Ortaköy

Ortaköy mosque

Ortaköy mosque

Ortaköy mosque

Ortaköy mosque

Ortaköy mosque

Ortaköy mosque

Ortaköy mosque

Ortaköy mosque