It is a man’s world here.. When it gets sticky and sweaty in summer, sadly it is only the boys who plunge into the cold, refreshing waters of the Bosphorus. Though surrounded by the water, the city unfortunately suffers from a lack of public (and private) beaches. Only a few private ones on the Black Sea coast and a few public ones along the Marmara coast. When you look at the picture, you see boys having fun, splashing water all around the pavements. And a dark skin at the end of the season:)

When I look at the picture, I remember my dad’s stories of crossing the strait as a young man. Any quintessentially Istanbul thing, whether be it a landmark or a regional breeze (or sometimes the absence of something), is loaded with multiple layers of stories interwoven into my storyline. Some would call it a luggage, but not necessarily a bad thing, huh?