istanbul 2

Istanbul 2

Life is good when you can spend a lazy afternoon in Asia and get back

to Europe in ten minutes on a ferry. How can you resist unplanned

lethargy?

I went to sleep last night under a nearly full moon over Istanbul -

nearly full is good enough in this city - and woke up to the most

melodic call to prayer. It starts off in the distance, like one of

those alarm clocks that gets progressively louder. E ventually, it's

broadcast from a minaret in the little mosque outside our hotel

window.

Breakfast didn't start until 8 am, so I spent a few hours painting

eyes (and Hat's, by the way, look pretty good. I was delighted by

watercolor at first, but since I use it just like a liquid crayon -

you know, coloring inside the lines - it's not exactly art work. I'll

keep telling myself they're studies because that sounds very artist

like.)

We like our breakfast companions so much. Bill is a nearly permanent

resident at the hotel. If you've read any post war literature - you

know, featuring Left Bank Henry Miller-ish characters, then you've met

Bill. He is a delicious 83 years and as conversation winds its way

around, all it takes is asking, and it's fairly guaranteed that he met

or knew. Peggy Guggenheim? Oh yes. His eyes twinkle and you get a

story of how he stayed in a bedroom at her piazza decorated her

earrings. Anais Nin was a friend and he chuckles that a mention in one

of her diaries is a claim to fame. Claresse Crosby was his godmother

and the fantastic stories go on.

I wish you could all meet him. You'd enjoy each other very much. I'd

ply you all with turkish coffee to keep the conversation going.

Oh. Things we've done, things we've seen. My mother bought me a

beautiful carpet at a charming little shop. Above is Carpet, the house

kitten. A. told me to go back and suggest they get another cat and

name it Rug. Then the two could shag.

The next picture is a lounge room for the princes in the Harem at

Topkapi Palace.

And below is one little glimpse of the Aya Sophia. Haiga Sophia. Take

your pick. This is the mosque that was first a Christian spectacular

and quickly converted when the Turks conquered Constantinople.

Perhaps you've wondered why so many would have sacrificed so many to

rule this city. No? Well, I have. A little. I'm a little clearer.