Today I thought that I would start with my travel journey through Istanbul. I have a few posts lined up, not too many because I don’t want to blabber on but I thought that I would start off with a lighthearted post that tugs at my heartstrings as a true cat lady. If you want to read my first post about my accommodation in Istanbul, give it a read and if not and you’re just here because you read the word “CAT”… keep on reading.From day one when I arrived in Turkey, I have been wandering the cobbled stone roads of Istanbul – either sightseeing or doing some shopping, when I instantly noticed the cats all around me. From walking out of the hotel foyer to taking the tram and ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul – we saw cats! Every once in a while I would stop by a cat just lounging in the many different souks or even the steps of the beautifully architecture Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque). They were so well behaved and were always down for a cuddle or pat. At one point, I am pretty sure my siblings got tired of me wanting to befriend all of the cats around Istanbul but I was most certainly in my element.

I am so grateful that I got to experience a Jummah at the Blue Mosque and while listening to the Khutbah (خطبة‎Turkish: hutbe – English: sermon) that I did not understand one word of, we would witness a random cat just come and walk between us and lay next to us. I have witnessed how the animals coexist with the people of Istanbul and it warmed my heart. It was one of the things that made me fall in love with the Turkish people and their culture. Some of the restaurants around the city has tip boxes that go towards the veterinary bills for the cats as well as putting out plates of food for them.If you thought that the Turkish couldn’t love their cats even more – there are kitty hotels for the homeless cats be still my beating heart. There were also random shelters built around the city so that cats would have a place to sleep at night. Everywhere you walked you would see little piles of food and small containers of water that people would put out for the cats that doesn’t have homes. THIS IS THE REASON WHY I WANTED TO BRING ALL OF THE CATS HOME WITH ME!Now while I thought that the whole cat thing was just in my imagination and that it was just my cat radar going crazy, I decided to google “Cats of Istanbul” and saw that there is a whole 1.5 hour documentary named ‘Kedi’, dedicated to it. This is the type of content that I want to see! Or maybe I am just a crazy cat lady that wants to write a whole blog post about the beautiful cats of Istanbul.