We are now in our final week in Istanbul, and are starting to explore places that have been on our “would like to see if we had time” list.  Today, that brought us to the Sea Life Aquarium.  Because our first two businesses back in the early 1970’s related to tropical fish (a long story for a different time), we often visit aquariums in cities around the world, whenever we have time.  We have seen some of the best in the world, so didn’t really have particularly high expectations today.

As we got off the metro, there were a couple of kids (OK, at this point, anyone under 40 is a “kid” to us…) handing out discount coupons for the aquarium. That was a bonus, not only for saving 10TL per ticket, but also because we had no idea where to go.  Signage for the aquarium was non-existent, so I asked the kids where to go.  In very acceptable English, he gave me directions (“turn right, then left, then go 100 meters, then turn left, then go 20 meters, then turn right” — yeah, not very obvious is it?).

We approached the front door, and found a small entrance like you would see for a tienda. I almost suggested we skip it, but we had traveled over an hour to get here, so we went in.  The hallway leading to the ticket counter was lined with cartoons of fish. It looked like we were entering a tacky roller coaster ride from the 60s era. My expectations fell still further.  At the counter, we presented our coupons, and then Evelyn asked if there was a senior discount (I’m not accustomed to asking for that yet!).  Sure enough.  That brought the 45TL ticket down to 32TL (about $10 for both of us).  Off we went on our “dive” as they called it.

We turned the corner… and almost immediately our expectations rose.  Very nice displays of a wide variety of tropical fish, both small and large.  Healthy tanks with healthy fish, and every time you thought you were done and turned another corner, there were still more tanks.  The longer we were there, the more impressed we became.

Yes, there were cartoons along the way, plus puzzles, for the school kids.  The images of crabs, eels, and other aquatic animals were annotated with “fun facts” and descriptions of the various parts — both in Turkish and English.  This place was geared as much to kids as to adults, with enough to keep both entranced.

There were tunnels for kids to crawl through (upper left), diving bell domes to get an inside look (Evelyn in the upper center), massive displays to surround you (lower left), and of course lots of opportunities for selfies (lower right).

After wandering along the path of display tanks for more than an hour, we came across the tunnel shown in the block of images starting this blog.  This wound along for another 100 yards or so, with the fish (including at least a dozen varieties of sharks and another dozen varieties of manta and sting rays) swimming around and over the top of us.  This last section kept the attention of most people for at least another half hour.

We fortunately chose an early afternoon weekday to come.  Crowds were quite small, with only a couple dozen people wandering the displays.  Afterwards, we went across the street to CookShop.  The restaurant was nearly full when we went into the aquarium, and still nearly full when we left.  Good sign, so we tried it.  The food was delicious (we will probably go back).  Their motto was “ordinary things done in extraordinary ways”

As we ate, a horde of 50 or more young kids piled into the Sea Life Aquarium as part of a school field trip. We smiled as we finished our ice cream dessert, a Swiss ice cream that is only sold this time of year, and were glad we had come earlier in the day…