Terry’s niece Alison Brown works for the United States State Department and was stationed in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul is an exciting highly populated city that straddles Europe and Asia across
the Bosphorus Strait. The Old City reflects cultural influences of the
many empires that once ruled here. In the Sultanahmet district, the
open-air, Roman-era Hippodrome was for centuries the site of chariot
races, and Egyptian obelisks remain. This is a city I would love to live in. There is so much history and culture that needs to be sketched.
Just getting from the airport, to Alison’s high rise apartment was an adventure. Once the taxi got off the highways, which were lavishly decorated with thousands of Daffodils, the side streets started snaking up hills. The streets get very narrow with cars are parked on both besides of the street . Every block becomes a game of dare as drivers face off for the narrow passage in opposite directions. Alison’s apartment building had guards at the driveway entrance with steel stanchions that could lower into the pavement when a car is cleared. One window of Alison’s apartment looked like it had been hit by a bullet causing a hairline crack. Alison didn’t think much of it.
Terry played with Louie, Allison’s French Bulldog, as I did this sketch. Afterward, we explored the area to find a restaurant. Not knowing the language, we just pointed at item on the menu. Turkey never let us down, the food was always delicious. The hole in the wall restaurant we found turned out to be a place we returned to time time again.