Istanbul

Well that was quite a day! 

Lunchtime-ish,  I made my way by bus and taxi to the Pera Museum in Beyoğlu. I wanted to check out the current exhibition with a view to taking my students there on Wednesday. Got to say I was underwhelmed with both the content and the curation and decided I need to find an alternative venue for the kids. 

Disappointed, I strolled the entire length of Istiklal caddesi, and did a little personal shopping as well as take today's photo.  I also spent a little reflective time in St Antoine's church after briefly visiting the current display at Salt - a cross between an art installation and a geological exhbition focussing on the catastrophic earthquake last February. Effective and disturbing. Dreadful days with a lasting effect that still reverberates around Turkey.

By the time I reached Taksim square,  I was exhausted. It's the humidity and heat in Istanbul - makes everything really hard work and I'm really not used to it.  Home to Ulus by metro, brief supermarket dash and thankfully, a colleague met me at the school gates to give me a ride down the hill and back to the apartment.

The next hour or so was a lovely one - joining friends and ex colleagues on the terrace to celebrate the wedding of a friend's daughter. A joyous time. the marriage was actually two years ago, but in the States and during Covid - so this is the first time the family could really get to celebrate here in Turkey. I am very happy to have been part of that celebration. I wish the young couple many, many years of health and happiness together.

From the wedding party I walked to Bizim Tepe to meet Marshall for dinner and catch up and then finally, rounded off this exceptional day, by joining my dearest friend Deniz and friends who were also at Bizim Tape celebrating a birthday. 

Exhausted.