Nate comes to Istanbul on Thursday June 19th.

We slept until noon on Thursday, returned to our fav self- service restaurant, and started to explore the neighborhood. Nephew Nate was due to arrive Thursday afternoon, so we had to get ready for him. Our neighborhood is called Beyoglu, adjacent to Taksim square. As I mentioned, we sit on top of one of Istanbul's 7 hills, and the neighborhood is filled with long steep staircases which facilitate a good deal of pedestrian traffic. Many of the staircases are brightly colored. Going up and down these staircases is a challenge. I frequently have to stop to catch my breath, yet Sam is managing on crutches. A delightful day of exploration....our neighborhood is vibrant and exciting, filled with cafes, tiny shops and quaint apartment buildings. All perched on these steep hills.

Round about 4pm it started to pour, which made Sam's travel on these hills somewhat treacherous. We headed back to the apartment to wait for Nate.

At the appointed time of 6pm, I headed out to find him. Nate had instructions to meet us in Taksim Square. When we made those arrangements, I had no idea how vast Taksim is:

So it's pouring rain, and I'm looking for Nate somewhere in Taxim Square. I just checked out every bus I could find, and on the 4th one, there he was! I handed him the extra umbrella I had and we zoomed back to the apartment. 

An hour later the rain stopped, and we headed out to dinner. After wandering for about an hour, we settled an an interesting looking seafood restaurant in a quaint back street. On walking in,  a Turkish man by the name of Yigit walked up to Sam and asked if he went to Tulane (Sam was wearing his Tulane Rowing T-shirt). Turns out this guy teaches history at Tulane, and comes home to Turkey during the summer. Here they are together. Here is his faculty bio at Tulane.

Yigit coached us through the ordering process and we had a fabulous meal, capped off by the fruit plate Yigit, his wife, and his sister-in-law sent over to us. A very nice evening indeed!