Turkey in pictures

I arrived in Turkey on June 2nd, 2001.

• My very good friends Zekiye and Elif, made this trip unforgettable
• House (left) on the Bosporus with sunlight trailing in

It was Elif's birthday so we went to Cafe de Levant for dinner

• Zekiye
• Elif and her father Melih

Rumeli Hisari is simply called the Fortress of Europe and is a very short walk from the Selvili home

• Fortress
• Steps in the fortress
• A view from the fortress
• Entrance to the university from the fortress walls
• Me on the fortress wall
• Inside view of the fortress

Elif and her mom, Selma, on a walk to Bebek

The Orient Express made its first run from Paris to Istanbul in 1889

• The train station
• Me at the station

Topkapi Palace was built between 1459 and 1465. Elif took me there. The Treasury is probably the most famous exhibit, but it was closed so we took a tour of the Harem instead

• Harem
• Palace grounds
• View from the palace

A tour of the Bosporus on a fully restored steam yacht

• Elif on the rail
• Elif and Selma with Herve
• Zekiya on the rail
• Melih, Ferda, and Selma
• Elif with guests
• Selma and guest
• The engine

• Inside the Blue Mosque
• Another view inside the Blue Mosque
• Aya Sofya
• Cieling in Aya Sofya

• Aya Sofya from the Terrace
• The Blue Mosque from the Terrace
• Me on the Terrace in front of Aya Sofya

On the way back to Bebek from Sultanahmet a cab driver felt it his duty to take me to out of the way places for pictures

• Summar Palace Gate and Guards
• The Palace Hotel - the cab driver talked his way into the parking lot from the guards

• Elif and Zekiye
• Selma and Melih dancing
• Ilene dancing
• Ilene and Selma

• Fortress of Europe - The Selvili house is among the trees up the hill to the left
• Fortress of Asia - built earlier and the base for unsuccessful attack on the city
• This old house
• A walk down the Bosporus took my by the steam yacht, see above
• Elif and Zekiye ready to go out - notice the fortress in the background
• Zekiye dancing at a wedding

• Museum of Calligraphy

The Basilica Cistern is an underground cistern build during Justinian rule in 532. The Byzantines used material from earlier periods for the construction.

• Basilica Cistern
• Another of the Basilica Cistern
• Dancing Lights

• Me at the Pera Palace - at the end of the Orient Express, where Mata Hari, Greta Garbo, Jackie Onassis, Sarah Bernhardt, Josephine Baker, Agatha Christie, and Ataturk visited
• Tree and fence are one
• Tree growing from the sidewalk
• Water front houses

• Zanip, Ebru, and Zekiye over coffee
• Weird candle picture
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• Chora Fresco