![Istanbul](_derived/istanbul.htm_cmp_rmnsque110_bnr.gif)
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Begin the day on the right foot
![](../images/istanbul/IMG_1006.JPG)
Here are my traveling companions: Bob Denison,
Don Fischer, Lavona Grow, and Wendy Fischer. Don is the fellow I
worked with at the Department of Education 1995-96, and we've remained
in touch since. This whole thing was his idea. I think.
We'd just sat through Mete's orientation session for
the trip, complete with a complimentary glass of cherry juice, courtesy
of Trafalgar. Mete recommended we take a taxi up the hill from the
hotel to a restaurant named "Saray." You will never miss it.
![](../images/istanbul/IMG_1009.JPG)
So we all piled into an itsy bitsy TAKSi, me in the
front and the other four in the back. The poor driver couldn't
speak English and he was very nice, but clearly he wanted us out.
So he appealed to the hotel doorman for help getting rid of the
Americans. Don and Wendy and I eventually took this TAKSi to the
restaurant, while Bob and Lavona followed in another.
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Here's the restaurant. Our first exposure to Turkish cuisine.
Mmmmmmm.....
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See what I mean? Desserts, desserts, desserts.
Good stuff.
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This was our hotel in Istanbul -- the ParkSA. We
stayed here later too, when we returned to Istanbul at the end of our
trip. Turns out the SA in the blue circles showed up everywhere in
Turkey. Mete explained that SA was the richest man in Turkey, when
he was still alive, and his family owns everything from banks to auto
dealerships to, well, Hilton Hotels. I think Mete doesn't buy
anything with SA on it. Why give more money to the rich guy?
![](../images/istanbul/IMG_1011.JPG)
Early the next morning I was up at the crack of dawn.
Jetlag, I guess. Anyway, I was the first person upstairs at the
Hilton for breakfast. This slightly blurry photo out the window of
the hotel shows shipping activity in the Bosphorus mixed with an
interior view of the hotel restaurant.
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Here's a better view of the sun coming up over the
Bosphorus. The hotel is in Europe, and over there in the
background, across the water, that's Asia. Lots of history has
passed between these two points of land.
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See that tower on a tiny island in the Bosphorus?
That's Kiz Kulesi, better known as "Leander's Tower." It has
served as a quarantine center, lighthouse, a customs control point, and
a maritime toll gate. Now it's a restaurant and disco. They
still have discos in Turkey.
![](../images/istanbul/IMG_1015.JPG)
Those lights in the sky are either UFOs or reflections
from the restaurant. I'm not sure.
![](../images/istanbul/IMG_1016.JPG)
Probably UFOs. Yeah, that's it.
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Istanbul skyline.
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More Istanbul skyline, and a bridge.
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There was a nice patio on the roof of the hotel.
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We're off on our sightseeing tour! First stop
was an old Roman wall in Istanbul. The locals use the grounds for
vegetable gardens.
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Big vegetable gardens.
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We acted like these old walls and the vegetable
gardens were interesting sights. Little did we know what lay in
store in the days to come.
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