T R A V E L
MEET JANE !
That evening we went to dine at an Indian restaurant in Sultanahmet and decided to sit outside to enjoy the fine evening and the weather . The restaurants vicinity was filled with as many cats as there were tourists . A variety of breeds and colours ran around town almost like they owned it .
Then we met Jane . Yes , Jane . He was the restaurant owner ’ s pet cat and by far the cutest one I had ever seen . He was unusually big for a cat ’ s size and
also the friendliest one that I had come across . Jane was a well-fed cat who spent most of his time at the restaurant .
Even during our tour of the Topkapi Palace and its one-of-a-kind collection of antiques , we managed to spot a few cats in the courtyards . From regular breed cats to the rare Turkish Angora and the Turkish Van , I felt as though I had seen them all . Every cat was beautiful and every cat appeared to be as rare and special as the other .
THE CAT LANGUAGE
On several occasions throughout the week , as we sat down at a fine restaurant to dine , we spent half our meal time staring out the window taking pictures of the copious number of cats outside . The interesting fact throughout Istanbul and our encounters was that the cats had their own language . It was easy to notice the communication .
The other strange thing that I observed was that the cats seemed to gather around the graveyard in Sultanahmet a lot . On an average , at least six cats sat on the window or loitered around in the courtyard of the graveyard .
CAT IMAGERY
As common as cats were on the streets of Turkey , they were equally common in the bazars . Every souvenir gift shop was flooded with Turkish jewellery , decoration and in between all that , there sat a range of feline inspired pieces . Cat shaped sculptures were a common item in the bazar .
I felt that the Turkish people loved cats like no other because every cat I had seen in that one week was well fed , looked after by someone or the other , and most importantly , was loved by the people . Cats seemed to be a part of the culture of Turkey . Every palace , every street was home to the cats and that , for me , was an unusual attraction in Istanbul . Not only was I able to enjoy the culture and heritage , but I was also able to enjoy my love for animals .
Alongside the beautiful Turkish Angora , Turkey is also home to another rare breed of cats ; the Turkish Van , nicknamed the swimming cat . The Turkish Van is a longhaired breed of domestic feline that is descended from the landrace of Van cats found near Lake Van in modern Turkey . The breed is rare , and is distinguished by the van colour pattern , where the colour is restricted to the head and the tail , and the rest of the cat is white ; this is due to the expression of the piebald white spotting gene . A Van may have blue or amber eyes , or one eye of each colour . The Turkish Van is also called the swimming cat because it is known to have an unusual love for water .
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