Rumelihısarı

One way to get to Asia

Old fort, new mosque

 A patient friend waiting in the shade

Fig trees can grow anywhere!

After three trips to Turkey, I hadn't yet been to Rumelihısarı, until yesterday! I guess it's better late than never, but it would have been nice to see it before they started building a mosque smack in the middle of the historical site--not only that, but it's a squat, square-ish building which fights with the semicircular shape of the amphitheater.

Good Morning!

A prelude to another super-steamy summer day

Balık Rakı / Fish and Raki

One more delightful, delicious meal in Turkey... 

only 11 days to go!

Iced Coffee, Turkish style

At my favorite coffee shop, Cherrybean Coffee, for one last visit...

Col. Mustard, in the salon, with the plaque

What am I going to do with this?

How Things Have Changed

All the buildings in this photo are new since 2013

 

Living up on the hill in Sarıyer has sure changed a lot since August 2013. When we arrived, about half of the area was in various stages of construction--from fenced in fields to open pits ready for foundations to skeletons of apartment blocks. There was one small, dingy grocery store. It felt like we lived just outside of the border to civilization. Here are some things that have changed in the area in just the last few months.

1. Five newly completed apartment complexes, only one field left to build on
2. Two decent grocery stores, both selling alcohol (!)
3. A coffee shop whose wifi reaches the bus stop
4. A pub with Guinness on tap (!!)
5. A "Subway" (not that I really want their sandwiches, but there they are)

I mean, really, we're leaving just as this place is turning into a liveable neighborhood... sigh.