When you wake up in Istanbul, you might hear the 5:00 call to prayer, maybe a honking car horn, and what sounds like a sadistic child, laughing maniacally and torturing another child who wails in pain. Those would be the seagulls. They enact their tragicomic dramas daily, hourly, and for free—except for the times you pay with your FLESH. Yes, according to the waiter on our rooftop hotel restaurant, these seagulls are Africanized (!! Like killer bees?) and suffer loss of habitat/food from human encroachment. So they cannibalize each other, attack other waterfowl (like ducks), and sometimes the sweet, fleshy eyes of tourists. Yum! No one on our tour was accosted; this is where the characteristic American loudness that got us thrown out of the rooftop restaurant one night probably worked in our favor.
Ahhhh! The Birds!
Disclaimer: this all could be completely inaccurate, because it was late, the waiter’s English was choppy, there was Raki involved, and I was cowering in fear from the two seagulls directly above who seemed to be choosing the weakest of our pack to peck. Sue me, seagulls (but don’t eat me, please).
Speaking of unchecked animal prowess, Turkey is the Land of Cats. I wonder why? I bet Wikipedia knows. Anyway, they’re everywhere, prancing around like little sultans of the street:
Morning Patrol at Hagia Sophia
I’m really more of a dog person, but I enjoyed the cat presence—like the ubiquitous evil eye, they’re just part of the décor.
1 comment:
Beautiful pic of the seagull and the mosque
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