Galata and Around

The area behind the Galata Kulesi is one of my favourite parts of Istanbul. Right next to the tower there are, of course, a fair amount of souvenir/trinket shops and tourist restaurants, one of which is the excellent Kiva Han, which serves specialties from the South East like tomato sweets and walnut fig compote. Getting away from the souvenir tack is easy enough, though. The newly-installed but ancient-seeming cobbled street leading away from Galata to the famous Dogan apartments has been transforming quite quickly, and is now home to a photography school and various independent Turkish designers. The buildings are old and gorgeous, and aside from all the well dressed and in-the-know Istanbullu, you're definitely aware that something creative and amazing is happening in this place. The end of the street is full of ceramic studios and antique shops. Though I'm not a huge fan of jewelry, Aida Pekin's workshop on the corner of Serdar Ekrem Cikmaz has the most whimsical collection inspired by Istanbul. There are little necklaces moulded into ships, stray cats, and the Istanbul skyline. Next doors ceramic showpieces are designed in house - we were lucky enough to get a peek at the process. The neighborhood behind Galata on the hillside that leads down to Tophane is a buzzing residential area with a few grocery stores and kiraathanes, coffee/tea houses traditionally frequented only by men with Turk kasis (Turkish bellies!). We found some delicious bal kaymak here - a type of creamy yoghurt with honey. Yum! Apparently there is a really old and famous kaymakci in Besiktas, but unfortunately we haven't managed to find him yet.