Istanbul is a city of cats. In fact, Cielo decided (1) to rename it "Kitty City", and (2) it is her second choice as to what city to live in, in the world (more on that from Madrid).
Cats are pets in Istanbul, but they are also the universal scavenger. The only places we ever saw pigeons in Istanbul was in large plazas where tourists buy seed from local vendors to feed them. Under the tables, roaming the sidewalks and near picnic areas it was always cats.
Every store seemed to have at least one cat, too. This one had a mom and a baby guarding the store.
The guy has an awfully cushy job.
There were some indoor cats, too. This guy in the window is clearly lording it over the one on the street.
Each restaurant had at least one cat patrolling under the tables, too. Here's one that was begging at a rooftop restaurant.
Sometimes there was more than one cat.
Some were more aggressive than others.
The wait staff was not always happy to see them, although we did see one waiter drop a whole fish skeleton on the ground for a begging cat. At this restaurant at Topkapi Palace they were less welcoming.
At first we would admire the cats, but not allow the kids to pet them. Then we'd allow it, but only for cats with collars or that were obviously well taken care of. Later we gave in and let them pet anything that purred.
The best cat position in all of Istanbul is the resident feline of Hagia Sophia. For the most part he would stay back behind the "Do Not Enter" ropes, just out of reach, while dozens of tourists snapped his picture. Cielo was very patient and finally got him to come over for a scritch. He still didn't make a big deal about it.
Cielo gave names to every cat we saw (occasionally she would allow Eero to name one, if there was a group). The Hagia Sophia cat was "Egipt" (pronounced eh-JIPT). Cielo took this picture of him. There were quite a few tourists taking photos of the cat, and probably an equal number taking photos of our kids with the cat.
