I’ve been traveling through Turkey the last few weeks and so haven’t been able to answer any of your messages, but now that I’m back home I’ll get caught back up with everyone as soon as I get over the nasty case of jet lag I’ve got going.
I started my trip through Turkey in Istanbul, a truly amazing city that current population estimates put at 17 million souls. While I was in Istanbul the staff of the Sumengen Hotel made my visit a delight, and all I can say is the final night at the Sumengen Hotel was a delight beyond description! Many thanks to Ibrahim and all the staff for helping make my final night in Istanbul something I will cherish forever! Click on the photos for larger versions.
Below is the street down from the Sumengen Hotel where I stayed, going towards the Apex Hotel, in the Old City part of Istanbul, a place that I shall never forget.
I highly recommend a walk along the square between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia (pictured below) in the evening with your significant other, it will be a moment etched into your heart forever.
To unwind after getting home I put on some nice mellow jazz LPs, Bill Evans at Town Hall, a must get for Bill Evans fans, and Rickie Lee Jones’s Pop Pop which had arrived in the mail just before I left. Pop Pop is a great album with old standards like My One and Only Love, Second Time Around, I’ll Be Seeing You, The Ballad of the Sad Young Men, and Coming Back to Me.
For travel junkies: I’ll tell you about some great travel clothes that make life easy on the road, and a few things to avoid.
For camera junkies: wait until you see some of the photos I took, Turkey is truly an amazing place! The Leica M9 performed flawlessly and was easy to haul around because of its small size. The M9′s medium format-like photo quality, due to its huge full-frame sensor, placed in a compact camera body, makes it a joy for travel.
Thanks to everyone who posted while I was gone!
Best,
Jeff
Hello there! You’ve gotten a lot accomplished considering you haven’t been home but 12 hours I’m guessing!
I need to run to meet my mom at Starbucks. More later!
Hi Rebecca!
I’m so glad you posted! It turns out I lost the contact information for everyone on the way home, so I’ve been wondering what to do. Also, I have something fun to tell you about.
I just left Starbucks after having a pumpkin spice latte and oatmeal for breakfast, which was so good.
Meghin sent me a message this morning to check in and see how the trip went, and she asked about you. I told her we all had a great trip and asked her to fill me in on her adventures.
Enjoy the trip to Starbucks with your Mom!
Are you all caught up on sleep/errands/laundry,etc. before you head back to work? I just went through my 734 e-mails,most of which were junk (thankfully),finished laundry,took a nap,walked the pooch,and sorted my mail at Starbucks. Much to my favorite barista’s surprise,I arrived at Starbucks at 7,having awoken at 5!! That’s jet lag for you. Probably shouldn’t have napped since I now won’t sleep tonight.
I also facebooked (can you believe that’s actually a verb now?) Meghin,who promises to fill me in on her Turkey exploits.
What is your “something fun”?
It sounds like you had a full day! I almost caught up … I could still use a little sleep, but it’s all good. I was so glad to have real coffee this morning! I wrote a couple of quick posts for the blog, worked on an audio review, played backgammon with Chad this afternoon, played the guitar for a while, went through photos of Turkey, and am now thinking of dinner. I think I’m going to grill a little salmon, some veggies, and have some red wine with it – a 2006 bottle of Serendipity (really!) to be exact.
My ‘something fun’ will require an offline conversation, but will delight you I suspect.
Wow! Awesome Pics and must’ve been a great trip! Good to have you back…
Hey Neil Young,
Thanks amigo, I appreciate the kind words. It is good to be back. I’ve got the Leben and Westminster combo going and am working at knocking out the review of the Sablon Audio power cord, which is really something special.
Best
Jeff
lovely shots