Every traveller to Istanbul will always advise new visitors to walk on the centuries old Galata Bridge. The bridge is located on the mouth of the Golden Horn in the European side bringing together Fatih, the historical district and Beyoglu, the modern part of Istanbul.
The bridge could have been the same bridge mentioned in the 6th century by Justinian the Great.
I have walked on this bridge a few times actually. I tend to walk a lot when I am travelling on my own, because you discover and truly experience a place when you walk on its streets. You get to see the nooks and crannies normal tourists do not see and you get to cross the paths of the locals and witness how they live and go about in their daily lives. Most of all, I get to admire beautiful native architecture and the most mundane things in life whilst travelling, the local street scenes.
Having said that, the best time to walk on the Galata Bridge is after 17:00 when local fishing enthusiasts gather in hordes and fish together. It almost seemed like a fishing club of some sort there. The men know each other. I am sure some do this as a hobby, but there were also other people there who were fishing seriously. They come early and stay late catching lots of fishes. I do wonder if they cook and eat their catch? Perhaps they do.
As I was walking here, I met a group of middle aged to 60ish local men. They gladly posed for the camera and I got into a short discussion with them. They do not speak English very well so we did a combination of popular English nouns and verbs plus a pantomime of sorts, some hands slash facial expression act. Isn’t meeting the locals while travelling just grand? Haha.
One of the guys however had a not-quite-what-I-have-expected-fetish. He took out his camera quickly and spoke with excitement in the Turkish language. I did not understand a bit and for a second I thought he wanted to film me. Then he shyly pointed to my little black sling bag. Yes, my little bag. He gestured with his camera. Apparently, he wants to video it? I was a little bit perplexed as to why but told him to go ahead.
I tell you, it was so strange having this guy videoing my little sling bag. It was only for a minute or less, but the way he video’d it (he literally just video’d the bag!) had me blushing in silly awkwardness.
Nevertheless, I went ahead and thanked the men, flashing the biggest smile to one who had the bag fetish and said goodbye. This was one weird encounter, haha.
Underneath the bridge you will find fish restaurants. I didn’t eat here as I was more drawn to the Balik Ekmek traditional boats selling one of the most simplest fast food in the city: Fish Sandwich (Balik Ekmek).
The Galata Bridge is part of Eminonu in Fatih and Karakoy in Beyoglu.
Travel Period: May 2015
Destination: Fatih and Beyoglu, Istanbul (Marmara), Turkey
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