The Cats of Constantinople

I spent a few glorious days in Istanbul last year, and was amazed at the sheer number of healthy, shiny-coated cats in the streets. In other places I've lived and visited, the cats are the most pathetic creatures wandering the streets, all skin and bones, but not in Istanbul.

My wonderful travel buddy and I both marveled over these gorgeous felines, parading down little alleys, sitting on discarded armchairs, or investigating large potted plants. On this particular day we'd set out to find some funky boutiques and antique stores but alas, being a Sunday, everything was closed. We found ourselves in a maze of tiny streets, with shuttered windows, washing hanging on lines, and cats. Endless cats.

These two black cats were hanging out in an empty lot beside an antique store, and I wish I had a panorama view to share, because to the left there was another beautiful cat curled up on an armchair (which may make an appearance here at a later stage) and more to the right. There's definitely a calendar to be made of the cats of Istanbul!

Dignified geese

Barcelona is a fantastic city, full of surreal architecture (mostly thanks to Mr. Gaudi), great food and the best coffe I've ever tasted (try a cortado sometime). The structure that is La Sagrada Familia is mind blowing, but when I visited, there was still a lot of work underway (as I'm sure there is now), so it didn't have that quiet serenity that cathedrals normally do.

There was another cathedral however, that had a beautiful courtyard where I could have stayed for quite some time. Even these geese seemed to understand the nature of the place and though they strutted around, flapping their plumage, they remained quiet.

I remember sitting outside the cathedral on a bench afterwards, next to a young man who was playing guitar. He pointed out some gypsy kids and gave the instruction to watch as they picked out a target to pickpocket. Everyone knows about the risk of pickpocketing in Barcelona (indeed anywhere really), but it was nice to be warned by a local. I don't think I have any other travel tails from Spain, but this one brings back memories of a country I long to visit again.