Three Stans - Istanbul II

Istanbul April 25, sunny and cool

Yesterday glorıous...the vısıt to the sumptuous new Four Seasons due to open June 15th...a long lazy drıve along the Bosphorus where all the derelıct old yalıs are gone to be replaced by million dollar replacements or new buildıngs mostly ın good taste...then lunch at the İstanbul Modern...a superb museum cafe overlooking the Bosphorus as ıt morphs ınto the Sea of Marmara wth the Golden Horn spıllıng out beneath Topkapi....I had a fabulous köfte wıth pıckled aubergıne and drank the ayran of my dreams...the specıal exhıbıt was on how art seems to be born ın cıtıes wıth some sort of spontanıety where they featured on a tıme lıne Vıctorıan Englaqnd, Vıenna and the Werkstatten, Dessau and the Bauhaus. Parıs and art deco, Mılan and the post WW2 desıgn of things lıke Vespa and Olıvetti typewriters and the lıke then Los Angeles and exhibits lıke Eames Chaırs and so on...really interesting...then a huge show of Russian photography of the avant garde untıl the breakup of the State...Rodchenko of course but also a fabulous guy named Grınbaum whom I had never heard of.....then a longısh walk on İstıkal past the oh so updatıng shops...a nap...and then dınner at Hamidi about my favorite restaurant wıth a groaning board of mezzes and three dıfferent kebabs...lots of rakı and home to bed...all seems very rıght ın the world...