I am not going to write anything at all about my feelings about Atatürk here except that if I HAD to pick a favourite statue of him out of the thousands available for me to pick from, the one near the jetties in Kadiköy would be an easy winner. It's just so fantastically interactive. If you need an hours free entertainment (we were there for more than two hours on Monday!) sit yourself on the steps and just watch. People come in a steady flow to pose next to Atatürk, holding his hand which has been rubbed to golden as a result. Some stand so that he has his arm around them or encourage their kids to stand with his hand on their heads. I loved the two cheeky boys who thought it was hilarious to touch his bum and ran off giggling when they saw me and my camera. The other great thing about this statue is that it is surrounded by slides. I am not sure what the envisaged purpose of these black chutes was, maybe channels for water, but they are perfect slides for the local kids and anyone who wants to join in the fun. Anton loves these slides so much more than any built for the purpose and on this visit quickly gathered a gang of a dozen kids to play with. Which meant that I was sat around with four other mothers who were quite happy to indulge me in a bit of Turkish practice. Good free entertainment!