Mini adventure to Kadiköy, Istanbul

One free night in Istanbul I was fortunate to have a colleague who (a) had lived in Istanbul and was therefore familiar with navigating around the city and where to go, and (2) game to head out for a couple hours to show me how to get over to the Asian side, specifically Kadiköy.
It started with grabbing the ferry from the Karaköy terminal.

And stopping by Fatih before continuing on to our destination.

Once on the ground we wandered, taking it all in. A busy, interesting area full of cafés and restaurants with outdoor seating full of customers not deterred by temps in the low 50s.

We grabbed dinner at, Güneşin Sofrası Meyhane, a place she knew through Turkish friends. Solid food and hospitality. Not a ton of English spoken. But with her Turkish food basics we got some essentials, including Raki.

All in all a very cool experience I'm grateful to have had.