The Plaza Hotel Istanbul

... together.<br><br>I went to Bebek, the town down the hill, for breakfast with a Professor of Classics here named Oya Basak. She knew James Baldwin and I gave her my copy of the biography to give to Engin Cezzar, Baldwin's friend. She has promised me copies of Baldwin's letters to Engin when she comes to New York in November. I hope she will bring them because I want to know more about Baldwin here. She drove me back up the very steep hill to the campus and showed me ...

... itinerary on the fly.<br>We went directly to Topkapi Palace. It was built around 1500AD by the<br>Ottoman's and is a bit of a different Palace. There is no mansion,<br>but many little buildings within a large walled area. It's now a<br>museum and we were able to see silk man-dresses that are 600 years<br>old, gifts received from Iraqi, Indian, and Chinese royalty, and a<br>diamond the size of a raquetball (82 carats; I'm told its the 4th<br>largest in the world). We also saw the Topkapi ...

... to him than his later time as a<br>mafiouso and criminal...or at least that's what I tell<br>myself...kidding.... <br><br><br>Two incidents or vignettes in those pages that I read on the fl&#305;ght<br>to Istanbul were incredibly poignant, and made me look up from my book<br>and grin with familiarity.<br><br><br><br>When Lin first arrives in Bombay, he stays at a guesthouse on the 7th floor of a ramshackle building. His description of the walk up the stairs to the ...

A big bus ride, an overnight sleeper train and a ferry ride awaited us to get us back to Istanbul for some final photo happy-snaps to round off the tour. Arrived in town quite early and headed to our hotel for much needed showers and breaky, where we all said our goodbyes. General thoughts on Turkey: - very interesting male-male relationships, very affectionate yet masculine - strong family values - very friendly pople, especially to Aussies - fantasic food - tulips ...

Today was V-day. Deb and Tamara got up for breakfast and I acted like I was going to stay in bed. When they went down I waited and snuck outside. I found a flower shop. I also got some chocolates. And found them eating and surprised Deborah and she loved it. The Chinese put gold glitter on all the roses. I picked some without the glitter but as soon as I said that I wanted them, the lady started sprinkling away. After the flowers ...

... 25900242/n25900242_ 34150845_2877.jpg Hagia Sophia, right outside our hostel door here in Istanbul: http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos- ak-snc1/v317/111/56/25900242/n25900242_ 34150858_7282.jpg Great dinner on a rooftop terrace overlooking the Hagia Sophia (behind) and the Blue Mosque: http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos- ak-snc1/v317/111/56/25900242/n25900242_ 34150860_7964.jpg

... and after the meal. Politics, religion, entertainment were all discussed. The love and mutual respect within this family is so evident in their relations with each other. The meal was a banquet and as we squeezed into their kitchen-dining room we ate lamb, bread, tomatoes, 2 kinds of beans, a wonderful tomato soup, melon, watermelon, potatoes and a delicious dessert. I then had a ...

... It was packed with people and expensive stores but made for a pleasant stroll. At Taksim Square I caught the old trolley back to where I started and then took the funicular down the hill to the tram back to the beginning of all this. There are obviously a lot of different ways to get around but the one you want to avoid is a car! Traffic is horrendous and the tour busses are pretty slow too even though they often have special lanes. Needless to say I was ...

... the city. It took us a while to get out of the hotel. The rather old, very deaf, and likely crazy doorman (who took a liking to my dad because he tipped him well for helping us with the luggage) couldn't figure out why we were leaving, and insisted on a conversation with each of us. Throughout our stay, he would randomly appear inside our apartment to announce something or offer us sliced apples and things like that...he was a delightful guy, but it was ...

Well, we did Istanbul today (actually yesterday). We went to the Blue Mosque, St Sophia and Topkapi Palace (Palace of the Sultans). The Mosque was interesting as was St Sophia but the Palace was the best. We did not get to see the costumes (they were on loan to somewhere) but we did get to see all the jewels, porcelain, swords, armour, etc... The grounds (gardens) were very nice, mostly just trees and grass but much more ...