Last Stop Istanbul

Istanbul, once again. I can't get enough of this city. In 2010 I heard there were twelve million people living here. This time I heard fifteen million and can't imagine that it happened so fast. Maybe it's just a rumor, but I believe it. Istanbul is packed with people, cars and stray cats. It verges on madness but its a madness I love.

I saw most of the tourist sights on a previous trip but missed the Chora, a church with beginnings around 500 AD. A ressuration in the 12th century is when the mosaics were added and those are what Chora is best known for now, though they are considerably worse for wear. I found my way by city bus only to find that the main part of the church is closed for repairs.I was not happy about missing so much but I really admired the stone used it its interior walls, granite, I think, cut into thin slabs and placed side by side to produce patterns.

 There was a time when most of the buildings in Istanbul were of wood.but time and the elements took their toll and few of the originals remain. There were many in this neighborhood near Chora, not genuine ancient artifacts; still they are old and built in the old style. I found them interesting enough to sketch with an audience of curious young boys looking over my shoulder. My favorite is the one near my hostel with corners that jut out from the upper stories.

One can't go to Istanbul without visiting the Grand Bazaar. It isn't far from my hostel so I went more than once. I am a firm believer in never leaving by the same entrance or following the same streets home two times in a row. This bazaar is so big that finding the same entrance to leave by is tricky anyway. As for the streets, I never know where I might wind up but that's half the adventure.

Back to the fountain in Sultanhamet my last evening, the one before that, and even before that. I was spending down my money at that point, buying tissue packs I don't need and dropping coins in the boxes of the very young buskers with their plastic recorders. Roasted corn and fresh squeezed juice vendors, perfect night temperatures, tourists with their cameras, women in headscarves, all are part of the picture. A prefect ending, I say. Tomorrow the long flight home.