Istanbul has long conjured images of the exotic east; hookahs, veiled women and men in funny little red hats. Todays Istanbul is all that but so much more. It is not the city I first visited 35 years ago. Today Istanbul is more Europe than Asia. The once squalid streets are now clean and cobbled. Run down ancient houses have been repurposed into guesthouses to accommodate the millions that visit each year. Modern shops replace the once cobbled together shops of the rug merchants, goldsmiths and souvenir stands. Sidewalk cafes with immaculate linens line quiet side streets. The city is clean, safe, and easy to navigate yet I miss the old Istanbul.
The beam from a lighthouse strobes over the Bosporus as coastal freighters pass beneath my window. Lightning flashes in the towering nimbus above while thunder rolls across the amber lit city below.
The beam from a lighthouse strobes over the Bosporus as coastal freighters pass beneath my window. Lightning flashes in the towering nimbus above while thunder rolls across the amber lit city below.
View from the window of our paysione
The mussein’s call to prayer reverberates off
ancient stone buildings. A pushcart
vendor hawks his wares near a dancing fountain illuminated by multi-colored lights.
Corn anyone?
The massive walls and
domes of the Blue Mosque rise high above the square flanked by conical hatted minarets
piercing the sky.
Blue Mosque
Blue Mosque
Kate and Richard in Topkapi Palace harem
Kate admires the Palace
Across the square, lofty red stonewalls
of Aja Sophia are punctuated by glowing stain glass windows.
Aja Sophia
Aja Sophia
Music blares from
a disco up a nearby street. Turks stroll by in swirls of cigarette smoke and
strong cologne. Women in the latest
European fashion walk arm in arm with others in full headscarf and long flowing
dress. A trolley rumbles by on steel
ribbons as pedestrians dodge and weave between scooters, cars and buses. Tall trees shift in the evening breeze.
The "Sunken Palace" underground cistern
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