Istanbul at Night

I haven't touched my camera since I've been back in Korea, so I'm trying to do double time on the blog and the editing.  I'm almost finished with everything I took over break, so it'll be time to get out into the cold and start taking pictures again.  

Istanbul's a beautiful city during the day and it just gets better at night.  A lot of the mosques sitting on the hills are lit, Galata Tower is lit, and the area by the water turns into a purple and red and green dreamscape of restaurants and floating boats.  It's a great city to walk around in at night, it's just one of those places that's alive with a million people moving and shopping and coming and going.  As always, here's 10 pictures and some foolish comments.

All those boats are selling fish sandwiches, which in Istanbul is like the most literal idea of that ever.  A six-inch piece of bread cut open and a fish filet slapped inside, bones and all.  Tasty, but a battle when trying to eat and walk and spit bones out at the same time.  

The guy's in the markets are always up for a picture.  This guy caught me from about fifty feet away and gave me a wave.  

More graffiti on Istiklal.

The sun going down over the city.  Beautiful sunsets abound in this hilly city.  If you can get to the top of one of these hill's, you get a great view.

A close up of the fish boats.  They rock up and down violently, and you get the sense that if forced to stand on one, vomit would ensue.  These guys have got to feel it when they lay down at night, that constant sense of rocking that comes from spending time on the water.

Sara's expression in this picture is priceless.  It really sums up our lives.  Olives, just olives and it's the greatest thing ever.  We can get one type of olive in a can, and here are twenty different varieties.  We bought more than we thought we could possibly eat, and then we ate them all.

You can sit and eat under the bridge, a lot of fresh fish and some hookah bars.  If you walk down here, it's non-stop restaurant tauts trying to get you to sit down and spend some money.  It's worth it to get rained on on the upper level to avoid these guys.

Another graffiti shot close to Galata Tower.

Shops, shops, shops.  How much money can you spend?  How many souvenirs do you need?  Don't worry, every thirty feet you can buy something.

Where's Mario?