Visit to Princes Islands

We took the boat to Princes Islands to visit with our friends. They had invited us for dinner at a special place, which proved to be a very accurate description. The boat took off from Bostanci and we arrived at the Grand Island, the largest of the Princes Islands. The only mode of public transportation on the island is by horse-drawn carriages. They take off from a central location, sort of grand central for the carriages. The strong smell dissipates as you leave the gathering area.

The island has very interesting buildings, many are quite old with strong architectural character. Many are in excellent shape but some are in need of at least a good coat of paint.  The carriage ride was about 15 minutes to “Sinek Kafe”. opearated by three siblings, one male and two female, the “restaurant” is essentially a private dining experience at their house and garden. They live in the large house behind the patio area where they serve dinner. The table was very nicely set up, and they started with a small set of appetizers. Several rounds later, they served a shrimp dish in very fine pasta, perhaps vermicelli. It was very tasty but a little too much MSG from the soy sauce.

The background music, piped from the Internet was also very nice. I asked if it was Carlos Gardel, and the owner was impressed as he checked it at the computer. Gardel played for quite a while. There was a very interesting pine tree in the garden as well as many more in the surrounding estates. A little later I noticed the moon rising and regretted not having a longer lens and my tripod. I managed to take a few shots. You will see one of them. After dinner, the dessert was very nicely made “muhallebi” with mastic falvored gum, topped with fresh strawberries. I had a double espresso to top it all.

We took another carriage back to the boat around 10:30 pm. At the pier, I saw a display window with various toppings they put on waffles and returned to Bostanci by a large motorboat. Below are the photographs from this outing.