If you take a sharp left after crossing the Galata bridge to Beyoğlu, you will find the Fish Bazaar. The fish bazaar is a short street right next to the water, lined with fish merchants vocally advertising their wares as loud as they can in an almost musical fashion."Beş ye-te-le bir kilo! Beş ye-te-le bir kilo! Beş ye-te-le bir kilo!" ( 5 YTL/kilo) in a loud staccato erupts around you randomly, accompanied by "taze, abi! Abi! Taze, Abi!" (Fresh, brother!).
Some fish merchants will get carried away and break into quasi-hip hop, pitching their fish with a lyrical quality that makes you want to laugh/start nodding your head. Maybe they think that whoever out-vocalizes their competitors will win the customer (maybe they're right - got my attention).
Besides the aural pleasure of the fish bazaar, the sheer abundance and diversity of ichthyods is incredible. Illuminated by a multitude of hanging lightbulbs, the continually doused fish sparkle and gleam in a rainbow of colours.
Interspersed throughout the stalls are a number of small cafes where you can buy delicious fish fillet sandwiches for 3.5 YTl each. Sprinkled with salt and drizzled in fresh lemon juice, this inexpensive street food tastes better than anything on a cold winter day.
I shouldn't be surprised by now, but it's incredible how much culture and vibrancy can be packed into so small an area. Just another tile in the vast mosaic that is Istanbul....
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