A Taksim street musician.
One more photo of Emin's place, seen from our hotel balcony. I'll always wonder what the story is with Emin spray painting the wall of his steps. There's a cat in front of Emin's place. Very Istanbul.
Looking down the street from our hotel balcony.
Jay wanted to take us to this restaurant, but they had run out of food just before we got there. Some friends had introduced him to the place. They bring out big platters of food and the customers help themselves and eat all they want until the food is all gone, then the place closes for the day. I guess this will have to be another "Next Time" item.
Another photo from the Galata Tower of Istanbul across the Golden Horn.
The Galata Tower area.
Robin wanted Turkish food for lunch so Jay took us here. Very good. Loved it.
Jay has been saving this Istanbul newspaper for eight years to give to Robin. In 2004 he was reading the paper and stumbled upon this article about Robin's book Sweet Swan of Avon. The book is about the Authorship Question, and puts forth her theory that the works attributed to the man William Shakespeare were actually written by Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke.
From Galata Tower, a bridge that crosses the Golden Horn.
Our taxi driver gets out to discuss a traffic jam on a narrow street.
More photos from the Galata Tower.
A taxi ride.
Street musicians in Taksim. That looks like a homemade didgeridoo.
During one of our adventures in Istanbul, Jay took us to a cafe on the European side of the Bosphorous. His friend Buket met us there. We somehow drifted into a conversation about languages and we taught Buket a Southern phrase or two. Later, as we jumped in a taxi to go back to our hotel, Buket said "Y'all come back!"
It's hard to refuse an invitation like that. The next time we're here, we won't be surprised to hear "Y'all come back" being used all over Istanbul.
