Istanbul ~ Saturday June 4, 2011

Saturday work - is to clean the chandeliers so they can be wrapped in plastic to keep the dust and dirt off while the construction continues, and the get the sushi bar in. Kathy and Juliana cleaned the two red ones prior to wrapping . . .

They have started moving in various furniture . . .

 Sushi bar metal frame is poorly built. Nothing is level, or square or to the specs. We are having to shim the glass so that it sets at the proper height, and it took all day just to put in half of the glass panels . . .

The metal is being ground off on one side so that the pieces do not overlap. Then it had to be painted, and then we put the panels in . . .

Luc is the first customer at the sushi bar . . .

Around five, we left the hotel and went up by Taksim Square and the side roads . . .

Young boy playing kick the bottle outisde the launderette . . .

There are so many old buildings that are neglected and empty. I am sure they are going to tear down parts of the city and rebuild new buildings. You can see this happening in many parts. These two men are sitting in a cafe in front of an old foundation that is covered in blue mosaic tile.

 Many empty buildings . . .

Men playing cards . . .

Vendor selling rice, chickpeas and chicken from his cart . . .

We stopped in a bakery and bought some cookies for tomorrow's boat ride. They are a delicious sort of shortbread cookie with various chopped nuts ~ buttery and sweet. Kathy is missing cookies . . . Luc is missing Apple, Flowie, his trampoline, his house, his friends, his TV, school . . . . . . .

We stopped at a cafe and went up to their roof terrace. It was a good idea, but the restaurant we went to was marginal, and the pizza was not up to Luc's standards, or ours either. It was fun to see Nevizade Street, and it busy and bustling cafes . . . and we should have sat below and watch folks go by . . .

Back the hotel for dinner. Juliana requested that they make a chocolate fondu from the white chocolate with pistachios and orange peel, to dip fruit in. They did, and we all gobbled it up . . . even through it was extremely rich! Up to bed, and watched the BBC before falling asleep . . .