journal

İstanbul not قسطنطينيه

I am hoping to catch up to historic events along our trajectory from KSA to Oman, before the war, even Egypt, a post about which I have started, after months . . . to current events. Today is International Women's Day in İstanbul. The police are out in force bearing arms and shields, expecting something to kick off in Taksim. . . perhaps? which is the area, Beyoğlu, we're in now, having left the artificial luxus for the fluxus of the streets, well, an air bnb, and spent the first two nights 4 hours' flight from Riyadh at the Hilton on the hilltop in Bomonti, an area just above Beyoğlu. . . which, if you're reading this in your head, or even to those close to you, is pronounced with a silent g, a ğ elongating the vowel. The bazaar yesterday, a storekeeper explained how to say thank you in Turkish for English-speakers: Tea-sugar-a-dream fast giving teşekkür ederim. Nothing to do with the silent g but fun. The ğ explaining how to think-speak the current president's name Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (also, c pronounced j) who visited the Hilton where we were last night. Creating action visible from the 16th floor where our room was, as you will see from the photos.

- accommodation Hilton Bomonti with buffet breakfast jam bar courtesy, including evacuation, of [under NDA]

Our first morning. Heading to the Grand Bazaar we were accosted by a Syrian shopkeeper, who, hearing we'd been in Riyadh, was desperate to speak Arabic. . . Metro. . .

. . . on foot to the Blue Mosque, the Serpentine Column:

by tram down to the Golden Horn, and across the bridge. . .

through hardware heaven the return route:

out at Osmanbey Metro Station:

0:00

/0:29

the view from the 16th floor as the sun went down . . . and the Hilton prepared for the presidential visit:

Here's when I rang reception. There's a man with a gun on the roof of the building opposite. Yes. The Pr... the Prime...

The President?

Yes. The President is visiting.

Yes. I am ringing to check that the man with gun is ... well, we are not used to seeing men with guns on neighbouring rooves. Is it OK?

I don't know, said reception.

Our room became a pre-dinner meeting point, with outside drama unfolding in realtime.

The motorcade took at least 10 minutes to file through the narrow streets around the Hilton. Helicopters came and went. We left the building for The Ordinary, an Italian restaurant nearby.