Kadikoy

The first thing you realize as you walk on the streets in Kadikoy is that it hasn't lost its authenticity. The streets are much narrower and lined with cafes, restaurants, butchers and vegetable shops. Stray cats, with discerning tastes, wander the streets looking for the best scraps of meat and fish. They snub their little noses when you throw a piece of bread their way. Shop owners sit outside on small wooden stools, crouched together in a circle, sipping tea and smoking cigarettes, as they read the daily paper or talk about the economy, inflation and football. Every corner has a salon or barber, offering the same services for about the same prices, all of which are flashing in neon lights.

At every turn you can smell the richness of meat being slowly cooked on vertical rotisseries, or the sweetness of freshly baked bread and sumptuous doughy delights. Ever so rarely though will you walk past a woman hunched over a large domed black stove top, rolling out pastry filled with cheese, spinach, potatoes or minced meat. If you come across one of these, take 20 minutes out of your day and enjoy what is known as 'Gozleme', prepared to your liking with a glass of tea. Pure bliss!

The beauty of Kadikoy is that you don't have to walk aimlessly to find what you're looking for. There are streets where you can buy beautifully crafted silver jewelry and tableware with ornate carvings. Alleys where one can spend hours strolling in and out of musty shops selling antiques. Along the main strip is where you find windows glimmering with opulent gold jewelry. The side streets offer a variety of clothes and shoes for sale, meeting every need and trend. Interspersed are markets selling durable cotton sheets and towels, all for the lowest prices.

In the evenings, young gypsy girls and boys walk around playing the 'Darbuka' (a goblet drum) with such fervor that before you know it, your hips and shoulders are moving to the rhythm of the beat. But their sincerity to music goes as far as your willingness to indulge their performance and pay up. Musicians play their instruments in the squares as passersby stop to join in or enjoy the melodious sounds flowing from beautifully crafted Turkish instruments. All the same, what you come across most is people leisurely sitting at cafes at wooden tables with burgundy, yellow and green floral cushioned chairs, enjoying freshly brewed tea or Turkish coffee prepared over coal fire in copper pots.