The Invisible Cities

Few lives are so pleasant as that of a feline in Istanbul. Loved, cherished, revered by every citizen, if you are a tourist here by the first time you'll see immediately who's boss. I don't know what did this relationship so exclusive, it would be trivial to speak of an alliance of the type "I feed you and you give me free from rats." No, to the cats of Constantinople feeds a shared feeling of undue deference that nearly paradoxical. Maybe you think I'm exaggerating. Here, there are cats everywhere, all well fed, from the hair shiny, all optimistic and enterprising, because they know that humans have to expect hugs and food. The first time I remained surprised in observing the passersby who stopped to pet a cat, whispering gentle words and hunting from his pocket a little surprise. Just as I caught the municipal employees that early in the morning go to deposit croquettes and water in the corners of the streets. The cats here are interacting and talkative, they come at you meowing and seem to want to talk with you.
And if you are in Istanbul for a day of February, in those days when you think it will never stop raining, surely you will face in a scene: the glittering boutiques and trendy sull'Istiklal will open the door to encourage poor cat to get to shelter on the velvet sofa.
But after a series of endless days of rain, with the downhill roads that become muddy streams, spring istanbuliota arrives suddenly, the clear sky drawn by seagulls pushes you to open the window to breathe the air of the Bosphorus. So it's all a show of cats in love, you fall in love and it is obvious for a cat in Istanbul.
A completely different life is that of dogs, the pariahs in the social pyramid of Istanbul. If they see so few around that you almost forget their existence. Dogs Turks are all equal, yellow, with large heads, and unfailingly sad. They realized that the only salvation is to ignore it, hoping that no one notices them. Usually gather in groups in a garden, numb melancholy and hunger, with an eye-catching yellow earring on the lobe, which is actually a microchip. Sometimes I think the dogs in Istanbul are endangered.The dogs of Istanbul do not believe the myth that, in other corners of the world, there are relatives wagging showing the ball and receive a bone as a reward, or they do jogging early in the morning with your master. Dogs chasing a cat, then! They continue to dream, in their corner, and in the dream can imagine also a new era for the dogs in Istanbul.