From the Lap of Luxury to a Slum

Cafe Turing light Elaine and oncoming coffee Jetty shadows Peter and Elaine on the ferry back to Istanbul Cemil and Peter Fishstall Florence Nightingale hotel spotted in passing Graffito Washing Bust in Adam Mickiewicz Museum Children in the street outside Policemen Galata Tower View from Galata Tower New Mosque minarets Final view of Haghia Sophia

Day begins with trip back by ferry to Istanbul. Then, among other things, a visit to the Adam Mickiewicz Museum in the slum area of Beyoglu. As we arrived outside the museum, what looked like a virtual riot was going on among the residents, though it later seemed to resolved itself in one way or another – and the children in the street were charm itself when we emerged into the sunlight. The views from the Galata Tower were mind-blowing, though had to wrestle with an intense sense of vertigo on occasion. Later in the evening, almost inevitably, Elaine and I found our feet wending their way back uphill to the Haghia Sophia area, for a light supper of baklava, milk pudding, raki and Turkish coffee. And tomorrow back to London, to process all we have seen and experienced.