The ferry, the Bosphorus and an old Istanbul neighbourhood

Departing on the ferry to Üsküdar

  just opposite my local fish market

I find a seat on one of the slatted wooden benches. Stewards offer çai (tea) to this mostly empty boat.

We trundle across the haliç to Eminönü, 

race off and onto another ferry heading towards the Bosphorus, but first must duck under the famous double decker Galata Bridge.

It does seem very low!

En route it's time for some big ships: cruise ships,

fast transport,

very distant cargo vessels on the horizon looking towards the Sea of Marmara,

and a massive cargo vessel in the Bosphorus, whose central deep currents are swift and treacherous.

Arriving at Üsküdar I catch a dolmaş, a hybrid public/private mini-mass transit vehicle in the form of a mini-bus with seats and standing room for perhaps a total of 20 passengers, only TL 1.50 for this 10 min coastal ride to Kuzguncuk.

On this leafy tree-lined street multitudinous small cafes full of people casually sitting and drinking tea, talking, playing backgammon, chatting border the pavement.

What may be a synagogue is closely followed by a Greek Orthodox church.

And then the Ottoman-style wood architecture follows. Gaily painted homes

sit on steep hills that recall San Francisco to mind.

These renovated buildings are unusual as I've been told that so much of the derelict property in Istanbul is tied up due to multiple ownership. Not to mention the impediments to modernizing ancient structures. This one looks like it would scrub up very nicely.

But these Painted Ladies also remind me of  Chicago's Bucktown: