It was a great birthday in Istanbul. We started the day at our favorite breakfast restaurant, a place that puts out a huge spread of dips, meats, sauces, eggs and things I’ve never seen. It was all great, and of course Ariel and I had our share of Turkish tea to go along with it. We then walked around town, came home and chilled and went out to dinner at a place with live music, which of course had more amazing Turkish food.
As seen on the way to breakfast, one of the amazing men who collect recyclables and lug them up and down the Istanbul streets to the recycling center for their day’s pay.
One of the ubiquitous cats in Istanbul taking its rightful place at a table.
This was only part of the breakfast spread, if you can believe it.
Cat sheltered from the rain. People here build these little shelters for the stray cats.
Our local fruit and vegetable vendor. He drives to this spot everyday. You can see Cora and Bobby in the bottom (look for the pink jacket).
Cora with her Happy Birthday sign for Dad.
Entertainment at dinner
Birthday sparklers!
The electricity goes out in this gigantic city? No worries. Grab some candles, eat, drink and be merry.