9/27/07
Istanbul, Turkey
I am fully enjoying the large and busy city of Istanbul. Yesterday, James and I went to the spice bazaar because he was leaving that night and wanted to get presents. It was amazing, one of my favorite places in the city because of all the smells. The colors and things to look at are overwhelming. After the spice bazaar, we walked along some side streets, and fed some pigeons. A couple dad’s were catching them, so they were flying away in these masses. It was pretty neat to watch. We went into an underground mall, which was just like the mission in San Francisco, but compacted into one mall. By the time we got back for lunch it was already 5 pm or so. I napped and later we all went out to eat for James’s last night in Istanbul. We also stopped by a Lamda meeting and talked a bit to some Turkish queers. Later, after dinner of hot plate type food at Sinan’s favorite restaurant, Aga, we went out to the best gelato- yum! Sinan’s friend then took us up to this tall roof for a really good view of the city at night, and we watch the lights and the full moon. Wow! We then stayed up with James and looked at photos from our trip until we had to walk him to the bus stop for a sad goodbye.

This morning, I made pancakes for the gang, and then we went to Istanbul Modern for the day. I saw some really inspirational and cool art, but have been feeling sick to my stomach, so I spent most the rest of the day inside, recovering.