Iسtaنbuل

Minarets extend beyond the city
Cheese and olives for breakfast
Free coffee at any time of the day
Up and down cobbled alleyways
Give way to large avenues and the Sea of Marmara

I sit by the sea,
I watch the ships roll in and then I watch them roll away
On another day, the sea offers you the sighting of dolphins

A cat is scared of its tail

At the Sultanahmet courtyard,
A cat sits on my lap
While,
Off Istiklal avenue,
A cat comes, opens my bag and pees on it

The sea cuts the city
It is Europe, and yet it is Asia

Vendors of carpets, spices and shisha call out in Turkish
After every few hours, the sounds of prayers resonate across the city mosques

A poor man dances to the clarinet and shows what a true smile should look like
Çiçek pasaji, balo sokak and Otentik
Boy, do the Turks love to dance and sing!

Dolores brings me to tears
A ride in the ferry brings me a smile
And a çay quenches my thirst

You sit at a roadside café,
Or on the benches by the blue mosque,
And sip in the delirium within you
Telling you how lucky you are to have walked the streets of Istanbul

“In Istanbul, you see the traces everywhere of a sumptuous culture that had been influenced by the West without having lost its originality or vitality” – Orhan Pamuk

Link to the pics