istanbul, not constantinople

margot's visit came to an end yesterday morning when we parted ways at the airport, she enroute to dc, and me returning home to ankara. it was a perfect visit with so much seen and done, and non-stop laughter the entire time. we spent our time in istanbul walking the city so she could see as much as possible... here are some pictures:

our first day was quite gray, but they were calling for rain the following day so i thought it best to do the bosphorus walk while we could (turned out the rest of our time there was sunny and warm, go figure):

margot, facing asia:
the bridge almost blended in with the clouds that day. while it wasn't a sunny day, the blue hues made the bosphorus look like a watercolor painting, in my opinion just as beautiful as the most brilliant of days:
we took a 30 minute ferry boat ride to kadikoy on the asian side and back, just enough for margot to get to see istanbul from another perspective. here you can see topkapi palace (giant walled estate on the right), with hagia sophia in the middle and blue mosque on the left- not a bad view!
maiden's tower
after a stop in ortakoy for lunch (kumpir & efes- yum!) we started our long trek along the bosphorus to bebek. i love this walk, and, as always, it presented plenty of interesting sites along the way.

the bosphorus bridge, looking even more dramatic in the fog
nananananananana-batmobile! the grocer (on the left) really wanted to take my picture in front of the car... but i employed my usual tactic of playing dumb & walking away:
dolphins! margot spotted this school of dolphins... i would have guessed this is very unusual on the bosphorus, as there are so many ships and boats it must be a hazardous place for them, but then i read this article. apparently there are dolphins that live in the bosphorus, despite the dangers it presents.
there were fewer fisherman out than usual, but these guys looked like true professionals! just check out their catch in the two giant bowls:
that night we got fancified and headed to 360, a very trendy spot at the top of a building in beyoglu. while the service was lacking and food underwhelming, the cocktails were fun and the conversation, as always, stimulating.
after dinner we stepped out on their balcony to take in the views of the city before heading up the bustling istiklal boulevard on a hunt for the best turkish delight in town (which we found!):
the next day we did more walking, this time to the spice bazaar and grand bazaar, then to sultan ahmet for dessert & tea. at the spice bazaar, margot took advantage of the free samples of nuts & dried fruit while i tried to get her a discount on the spices-- ending up with, i think, 1 lira off her total purchase, and the guy asking if i'd like his phone number. gross. we had better luck when we rounded the corner and found (and purchased!) decorations for my wedding. success!
back at the hotel, we relaxed with a glass of wine and laid out the wedding decorations so we could see again how pretty they are. then, margot tallied her purchases with her handy dandy calculator watch- she never leaves home without it! nor should she.
on our last night we stayed near the hotel in the posh neighborhood of nishantashi, where we befriended the owner of a very fun bar and later enjoyed pizza at my favorite italian restaurant, mezzaluna.

as always, good times were had, and i am already missing her. more visitors, please!