Dive, jump or simply swim in the cool waters of the Bosphorus strait - the large waterway that divides Europe from Asia.
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| This Turkish teenager perfectly posed for me as we walked by along the Bosphorus. |
The water certainly looks tempting enough as temperatures hover daily around 32 C/90 F. But I fear the jelly fish, the pollution and the strong currents.
Despite those worries, from as early as 6 a.m. to at least as late as 11 p.m., I've observed young and old men, trying to keep cool in the Bosphorus. Yesterday, we actually saw several older women and a couple young girls in the water too as we walked along the shore.
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| A nice dive into the Bosphorus. |
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| Families, such as this one, watch as their children cool off in the Bosphorus. |
Swimming in the Bosphorus definitely is a man's sport as indicated by the photos I took. At least, several hundred women competed in the 2012 Intercontinental Bosphorus Race we watched recently.
To that tune, I keep ribbing my husband to join the locals in the Bosphorus. "Look, that guy is probably in his 60s and he's swimming out there. You should do it too," I tell him.
I figure he should do it at least once while we live in Istanbul just to say he did it. There's no harm in that, right?
If you want to enjoy a long walk along the Bosphorus, I'd recommend walking from Ortak�yto Bebek; or from Bebek to the Rumeli Hisari area. We've even walked farther all the way to Emirgan Korusu (Emirgan Park), but you need to be ambitious.
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| You'll also see plenty of fishermen along the Bosphorus. |
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| A fishing line filled with the day's catch of small anchovy-like fish. |
You'll find plenty of cafes, restaurants and stores to pop into as well as a couple of green areas where you can relax. Be sure to pop into TAPS Brewery like we always do in Bebek for a decent malt beer.
Just maybe you'll be tempted to jump into the Bosphorus like the locals too.
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| And if you get hungry on your Bosphorus stroll, you'll find plenty of street food carts selling corn on the cob, Turkish tea, sandwiches and sometimes even pop corn. |