rebecca soble

Entering NYC from NJ on the PATH train, you come to the World Trade Center site.  Finally, things are being built!

Dünya Tıcaret Merkezi yerinde nihayet yeni yapılıyor!

A typical downtown street scene – narrow streets, tall buildings, both modern and older.  Also some remnants from times past with shorter historical buildings (look to the very end of the street, low down.)

Tipik cadde manzarası – dar caddeler, uzun binalar, tarihsel ve çağdaş.

Into the subway!  The platforms are dirty and hot but I love them.  And then getting onto the cool and relatively clean train is so nice, especially traveling off-peak times so you get a seat easily.

Metro’ye bindim!  Tramvay sahanlığında her yerde kirli ve sıcak ama her şeye rağmen onu seviyorum.

Some nice SoHo buildings.

Güzel binalar, SoHo’de.  (SoHo bir mahalledir.)

A hazy view of the Statue of Liberty.

Özgürlük Heykeli, puslu bir manzara.

Chinatown.  I ate lunch here.

Çin Mahallesi.  Burada oğle yemeğı yedim.

And a couple blocks north, Little Italy, with the Empire State Building in the distance.

Ve Çin mahallesiınden az kavşak kuzey, küçük İtalya mahallesi.  Uzaklıkta Empire Eyalet Binası görebilirsin.

People take their noise pollution seriously in this city!

Bu şehirde, gürültü kirliliğı çok ciddi bir konu.  [KORNU ÖTTÜRMEYİN $350 CEZA]

Back at the WTC PATH station, heading home at the same time as many commuters.

İşten sonra, herkes trenle eve gidiyor.

The NYTimes puzzle for Sunday May 16 was not suitable for the computer-solvable Across Lite format due to the constructor’s clever wordplay concept, but it was available in PDF.  Being printerless at home, and not remembering to print from elsewhere for a couple days…

I read the clues from the PDF on screen and filled in my handmade puzzle on paper, and it was very enjoyable.  I occasionally also do this with the diagramless puzzles.

I’ve lived in Istanbul for four years, and never expected that I’d go to not one, but two, new places in the city on the same weekend.

Taking advantage of a half-day of work, I visited the Atatürk Arboretum on Friday afternoon.  This facility is only open to the public on weekdays, so the timing was perfect.  The arboretum is a bit of a ways out of the city in Bahçeköy, but there is the convenient 42M bus from 4.Levent that goes right there (or nearly).  Get off the bus at the Kemerburgaz Yolu stop, and then take the road to the left about 3oom to the entrance to the Arboretum.  Entrance fee is 2 lira, 1 for students.  The Arboretum has two distinct feelings inside it – there is a well-groomed area with lots of lovely plantings near a couple of small lakes, and walking paths around them.  There are also some other paths that basically lead into the meadows and woods, for a more natural experience. I wandered there for almost two hours without even noticing the time pass.

I fell in love with the fern undergrowth.

This sky blue and leaf green combination is my favorite.  I once painted my bedroom these colors (blue walls, green trim).

Japanese maple in the wind.

The next evening, Saturday, I met Claire for dinner and she took me to new place #2, a casual fish restaurant in Karaköy, on the inland side of the Golden Horn.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn about this little corner, I had never wandered far enough to find it.   To get there, walk through the fish market on the right side of the Galata bridge and at the other end there are a bunch of outdoor tables.  The view is of the bridge and the Suleymaniye mosque across the Golden Horn.   The fish was as fresh as can be, the hamsi (anchovies) was 5tl for a plateful and the barbunya (red mullet) was 15tl, but in my opinion worth the jump in price.  Accompanied by a salad (5tl) it was a lovely meal with a great view.  Sorry, I didn’t take any pictures as I didn’t have my camera with me.   That should teach me not to leave the camera at home even when I don’t expect to be going anywhere photo-worthy. Here’s someone else’s description of eating fish there, along with pictures.

All in all, these two excursions made me feel happy about being in Istanbul. And the lovely spring weather is a help too.

As I’m writing, she’s still with us, but the vet will come in a short time to help her along to a more peaceful and painless place.  She was a spring baby, born May 1, 1995, to a street-walking mother and a disinterested father, the smallest in a litter of kittens taken in by my boyfriend’s grandmother and adopted out to friends and family.  It’s possible she has outlived all her brothers and sisters, 15 years being a nice long life for a cat.

She was always strong-willed and vocal about her desires, never one to restrain herself.  She traveled with me from NY to AL to PA and back to NY.  She was a well-seasoned traveler and accustomed to the car, even on visits to the vet.  But she wasn’t particularly crazy about other cats, and they all kept a good distance at mom’s house.  This photo of three cats all in close yet peaceful proximity is a rarity.

I remember early mornings she would hop on the bed and wake me up, but the only thing she wanted was to crawl under the covers and curl up next to me.  She had the softest fur and a sweet white patch on the bottom of her chin.  I remember her as a tiny kitten crawling under the dresser and then years later goggling at the possibility that she actually once fit under there.   I remember how well she took care of the indoor mice when I lived in rural PA – I had to walk carefully around the house for a few weeks.

It’s sad that I can’t be home for her, to stroke her and talk to her in the final moments.  It’s such a short few weeks until I’m back but it would be cruel to make her wait for me.  Mom has been Sasha’s diligent and attentive caretaker for the years I’ve been in Turkey and I trust her decision that this is the right time.  My sadness is strong now, but the good memories will remain.

April has been a busy month, in a mostly positive way.  Nevermind the broken waterheater and the visits to the Emniyet, here are some images of the fun moments…

Ilkbahar tatilinda, Emrah ile bir gün Eminönü’de dolaştık.  Arkasindaki cami “Suleymaniye Camii”. Önünde balıkcı tekneleri, orada taze balık ekmek falan yenir. Ortasinda otobüs durağı.

Over spring break, spent an afternoon wandering in Eminönü with Emrah.  In the background is the Suleymaniye Mosque and in the front are the boats where people can eat freshly caught and cooked fish.  In the middle is a bus depot.

İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi kampüsünde evim yakında küçük bir göldür. Emrah’in yardımıyla, sonunda yaya yollarını keşfettik.

Near my home on the Istanbul Technical University campus there is a small lake.  With Emrah’s help, I finally discovered the footpaths that lead to and around it.

Gölet yaninda güneş batmasıyı seyretmekten zevk aldık, ve mahalli arkadaşlarla ziyaret ettik.  Onlara kurabiyeyi verdik.  Emrah’in gölgesi görebilirsin…

We enjoyed watching the setting sun by the lake, and visited with some local friends.  We gave them our cookies.  You can see Emrah’s shadow…

Yeniköy’den Beykoz’a vapura bindik.

We took a ferry from Yeniköy to Beykoz.

Nisan Türkiye’de lale mevsimidir.  Beykoz Korusunda pek çok güzel çeşitleri vardı.

April is tulip season in Turkey.  In the Beykoz park there were many lovely varieties.

Ayrıca, biraz örgü yaptım, bebek battaniyeleri (Nasıl Türkçe ile örme açıklamaya bilmiyorum.)

I’ve also done some knitting this month, baby blankets.  All in garter stitch, but some Entrelac and some Log Cabin.

Doğum günüm bulutlu başladı….

My birthday started out cloudy…

…ama çok nefis sona erdi!  Kadıköy’deki  Çiya Lokantada Alinazik kebabı yedım.  Altındaki patlican+sarımsak ezmesi en iyi parça.

…but ended yummy!  I had Alinazik Kebab at Çiya in Kadıköy.  The best part is the eggplant+garlic paste underneath…

Çocuk Bayramında, Büyükada’da kalabalığa dayanıp yukarı manastıra tırmandık.

On Children’s Day we faced the crowds at Büyükada and climbed up to the monastery.

Insanlar bütün yolu iplik çekiyor, iyi şans için (zannedersem).

People were stringing thread the whole way, for good luck (I think).

Günün sonunda  vapurla eve geri döndüm.  Vapurlardan çok hoşlanıyorum.

At the end of the day I rode the ferry back home.  I love the ferries.