Istanbul

B and I have spent the last several days in Istanbul.  We have put in full days--walking over a dozen miles each day and covering all three parts of the city (the 2 European sections, old and new, and the Asian side).  As we've moved through a couple thousand years of history and across the conquests of 3 different empires, we've talked much about how mistaken is the old proverb about all roads leading to Rome; it is this place, at the crossroads of cultures and continents, that has endured as a kind of epochal omphalos.  

Basilica Cistern

B next to the aqueduct whose construction

Constantine initiated

It's also very easy to be a vegetarian here.  B and I would be happy eating only Turkish food for the rest of our lives.  Here's our dessert from last night's dinner, at the venerable Ciya Sofrasi (sorry, can't figure out Turkish characters on my keyboard): Cheese with pistachio, candied baby eggplant, candied bitter orange, candied and spiced unripe walnut, candied pumpkin, goat cheese baklava.