Sunday, April 26, 2009

ISTANBUL FOR WOMEN ALONE

In a word: EASY. All it takes is a little reaching out and people are quick to reach back. Turks who don't speak English are still generous with time and attention; those that do are a moment away from becoming friends. And though I'm psyched to begin the botanical tour tomorrow -- yes, the one that YOU'RE missing -- I admit I will miss Istanbul terribly and the flexibility of being on my own.

Here's a few pix and a very few words about the last few days in Istanbul, starting with the heady phenomenon of looking straight up in the Aya Sofya.

Now meet the two friends I made while on line for tickets, Anel (right) and Zaure from Kazakhastan.

Here's a couple of other cuties I spied in the city's ancient underground cistern (I only know Medusa by name, right)...

And here's a flock of friends who made the nearby tulips pale.

Jonesing for a look at the first of the native plants? Check out the redbudCercis siliquastrum, as it reaches peak bloom along the Bosporus and near a fortification that dates to when Instanbul was still Constantinope.
Gotta sign off and get some sleep now. The journey begins anew, tomorrow...
at 12:44 PM

5 comments:

  1. What a treat. Thanks for posting the great pics and updates on your travels Ketzel. I just got back from a fun but much less exotic trip to the U.S. Southeast. I would have loved to keep going right on to Turkey. I'll look forward to your reports.

    İyi günler! (Have a nice day in Turkish... I think.)
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  2. Thanks from me, too. am enjoying your trip vicariously since I couldn't be there! Love the colors and comments!
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  3. And perfect Turkish, Jay! Masallah, as we say...

    Terrific shots, Ketzel, particularly the first one, a dizzying look up the column of Haghia Sophia!

    Anyone who would like to go along for the ride can follow you're daily progress along the western shores of Asia Minor---

    http://hollychase.com/ketzel-levines-botanical-toursketzel-levines-botanical-tours/

    This is the page I originally set up to announce your tour. It will now have each day's program ( and a local weather report) at the top of the page. Obviously, what you and your merry band actually end up doing, may be very different from what's in our published itinerary as we can never anticipate all the roadside stops and pleasurable detours.

    If you, our Turkish guide (Ceylan), and/or any of your tour members want to send me some photos ( in addition to what you post here on your own blog), I'll get them up online for you and put a link back to Ketzel Uprooted.

    Iyi yolculuklar! Happy travels!

    Holly (at) hollychase (dot) com
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  4. CORRECTION:

    The URL above should read:

    http://hollychase.com/ketzel-levines-botanical-tours

    Sorry for the typo.

    Holly (at) hollychase (dot) com
    ReplyDelete
  5. We have western redbud in bloom here in LA. Somehow, it doesn't look as beautiful as your picture.

    Thanks for taking the time to post!
    ReplyDelete

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