"If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should gaze on Istanbul." 
- Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869)

An afternoon with Caitlin spent walking the length of the architecturally magnificent, Istiklal Caddesi (extra) from Taksim to Şişhane, stopping for a meal at Midpoint with a spectacular balcony panoramic view of Istanbul and the Bosphorus, spanning, in just one eyeful,  more than fifteen hundred years - from the Byzantine Hagia Sophia (extreme right of photo) to the tower blocks of Levent. What a timely reminder of the (insert hyperbolic adjective that will still somehow be inadequate) city in which we live, on this glorious, warm, super sunshiny Saturday - the last before school reopens on Monday with a week of teachers' meetings and blah.