Everyday Things

Here are some pictures taken around Istanbul, to give you the flavor of daily life here.

This first picture shows a classic outfit style worn by conservative women here-- black underclothing (fully length pants or skirt) with shoes, long overcoat, and headscarf:

Here's one of what must be hundreds of these little food shops found around Istanbul.
They sell simple sandwiches, drinks, and chips (and ice cream in the summer!).

A classic grandma type here in Istanbul
(in front of a Starbucks, which are also fairly plentiful here):

She's less conservative (see the pants? and the hair showing?).

Fishermen are plentiful here:

I may have mentioned this before, but cats are everywhere here. And I mean everywhere. To people who are new to the city, it takes some getting used to... but I can tell you-- I'd much rather have cats than rats. And though I've seen plenty of the former, I've never even seen one of the latter. :) So give me cats anyday!

And this last picture is of the gypsy class here... they often carry around these big trash bags (you really can't get the scale of it from this picture- it's very large when full) and dig through the smaller dumpsters in each neighborhood/alley to find recyclables. We sort our recyclables separately so they won't have to dig for ours. So virtually nothing goes to waste in this city that can in any way be reused or recycled!