Went with friends to see an apartment which a friend of theirs is renting... way beyond my budget but oh what a fabulous view!
To the left of the balcony, Dolmabahce Palace, Ciragan Palace and Ortakoy Mosque and the First bridge (of the two bridges that cross the Bosphorus and join Asia with Europe) and lit in colours, changing the lighting design and colour every few minutes.
In front the Bosphorus, serene, graceful, mysterious and alluring with the lights of the city shimmering reflections to the Asian side, night boats chugging gently through.
To the right, Topkapi, the Blue Mosque and Agia Sophia over in Sultanahmet and the old city district of Fatih.
It is a view to kill for with a long balcony perfect for the comfortable chairs small tables and tomato plants that live on it. A small barbecue in the cornet just big enough to sit and grill a few fish, sardines maybe or a tsipoura (or sea bream)....
And there is a fireplace inside in the sitting room for winter and a cosy seating area. All in all a wonderful place, but too expensive unfortunately for the kind of use I would have for it and too big for one person's "pied a terre"...
Tomorrow I will take my breakfast in one of the cafes by the street markets in the lanes of Ortakoy and watch the ferry boats cross to Asia and then I will go and look at a place in Bebek near the Bosphorus University... I have a feeling this might be the place for me.
I have a great affinity with this neighbourhood and there are superb walks to be had along the Bosphorus watching the fishermen. This is a place I could come to and sit and write songs, read books, stroll aimlessly, listen to music and enjoy a glass of wine in the terrace bar of the Bebek hotel or eat fish and drink raki by the sea.
But tonight I sat on a wonderful Istanbul balcony, ate fresh juicy cherries, drank red wine, indulged in gentle good humoured conversation and watched the night boats pass through the Bosphorus.
And that was perfect.
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