Today Robert, Kathy and Luc are flying to Antalya for a mini holiday before returning Saturday to Istanbul. There is a lot to do before they leave at 2:30 p.m. to get their flight.
Robert and I siliconed the sushi bar glass panels. All the glass panels had been placed yesterday, so we just needed to tape all the glass and wood bar, then caulk in the silicone, then clean it up with a razor blade. Kathy, Robert and Kenji, the Japanese sushi chef, cleaned the glass with toothbrushes and cleaner.
Kenji cleaning the glass . . .
I had to stand on the sushi prep area of the bar, to caulk the back edge of the glass against the metal plate.
How many Turkish electricians does it take to put up one pendant light ? ? ?
Eight?
Well, really only two . . . I do not know what the others were doing?
They have decided to wrap the very dirty and dusty red chandeliers in the lobby, to keep them a surprise for the soft opening in August! So much for everyone seeing them through the windows for the last two weeks since they were completed . . . The chandeliers are totally covered in dust, as they have been sanding the floors, and everything else.
The plastic cocoon going up around the first of three chandeliers . . .
I stayed at work until around 5:00 p.m., having completed the sushi bar, and showed the electricians where to hang the various lights that are ready. I spoke to the Levent about shipping three of the glass panels to The Glass Factory to have them polished, and showed him the many boxes of lamps for the suites, extra glass spears from the glass sculptures, and restaurant lamps that can be stored. The end is in sight . . . as we are down to about only 10 boxes, and most of these are for storage until the hotel is ready to put them up or use them when the furniture arrives.
After leaving the Divan Taksim, I walked down to the Bosphorus, and past Dolmabace Palace, which is right on the Bosphorus. I did not go in the palace, but the sidewalk goes right along one side of it.
A guard shouted at me as I walked up to the gate to take this photo of the Bosphorus . . . I did not know that I was not allowed to look through the gate. As I was leaving, he was shouting at the next group of tourists doing the same thing . . .
I took a bus along the Bosphorus up to Bebek, a town on the European side north of Istanbul, which is a very chic town, filled with fancy cars, lots of big boats, a beautiful park, and a shopping area nestled between the steep hillside town and the Bosphorus. This whole area is very hilly, including Istanbul, and the hills are very steep rising up from the water. This area is so beautiful and felt very much like the riviera or some posh resort. I would love to go all the way up the Bosphorus to the Black Sea, but I don't think there will be time this trip.
Huge tankers are headed up the narrow Bosphorus to the Black Sea. They must head north for a period of time, as the water way is not very wide, and then reverse the traffic pattern for the ships to head south to the Sea of Marmara and then the Aegean.
A grape vine growing up the side of this building, and covering the outdoor area up on the roof.
Look at the size of these artichokes from the street vendor. They have had a special artichoke menu at the hotel. Although I love artichokes, we have tried all the dishes on this special menu, and we are a little tired of them. I had not seen them in the market or for sale, and it makes the ones I buy in the states positively minute.
All the dogs in the park. There are many stray dogs and cats in Turkey. If the dogs have a tag in their ear, they are stray dogs, that wander the streets, but they have had all their shots by the animal control.
The light was lovely, as the sun began to get low in the sky. I had a hamburger at the restaurant that Simge said had the "best hamburgers." It tasted very good, and it nice to sit and watch the passers by.
On the bus back from Bebek to Ortakoy, where I would change buses to get back to the hotel, this nice lady offered me her seat as she was getting off in Ortakoy. I said I was too . . . and when we got off the bus, she grabbed my arm and held me in an arm-lock to take me to my bus when I asked her in English if she knew where the stop was. We had no words in common, and there was lots of miming. She was insistent about showing me to the bus stop, and I am not sure that I could have freed myself if I had wanted to! After delivering me to my stop, I took her photo in front of the flower stall; she was so cute fixing her scarf and striking a pose, and only too pleased to have helped. She kissed me on both cheeks as she left to go on her business . . . The Turkish people are so very friendly and helpful . . .
Here she is crossing the street, having left me to head back to Sisle and the hotel . . .
I did some shopping at the mall near the hotel. I must say it is very up market, and more modern than anything in Vermont! The advertisements are very revealing, and the stores are very posh. There does not seem to be any recession here, at least not in the areas that I have visited. There have been only a hand full of beggers or seemingly poor people or children asking for money in the streets.
It was nice to be a tourist, even if only for a few hours . . . When I arrived at the hotel, I had some fresh melon in the dining room. I said that everyone else had left, and now I was all alone. The head waiter seated me at "our table" anyway, and said I was not alone, and they (the waitstaff) were all there! It was nice to be accepted as being "home." A week today I will be back in Vermont . . . It has been a great time, but we have only had one full day doing the sights of Istanbul (as two of our three Sundays were on a boat to the Prince's Islands), so tomorrow I will try to fit in Hagis Sophia, the Museum of Calligraphy, the Istanbul Handicrafts Center, and the Basilica Cistern! So much to see . . . and I want to get to Bozcaada, one of two Turkish islands in the Agean, the rest of the islands being Greek!
P.S.
Just go an e-mail from Robert saying that they have arrived in Antalya, and it is very beautiful . . .
but that the panels are not as beautiful, as they did not arrive in one piece to The Glass Factory for polishing! Ugh . . . I did not see them leave, nor know how they packed or stacked, or what vehicle they were transported in? One step forward and two steps backward . . . All six pieces were in one piece . . . What a shame! Totally Divan's fault . . .
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