We went to Istanbul and Antalya in 1998. Aitch kept a diary. I have posted some pages. Sometimes I’m the villain in the diary! Sometimes I’m a correspondent.
One day the two of us meandered off on a trip up the western side, or right bank, of the Golden Horn, reaching the Pierre Loti cafe up on a hill by land, then returning by water taxi.
Pierre Loti Cafe –
Aziyadé (also known as Constantinople) is a novel by author Pierre Loti. Semi-autobiographical, it is based on a diary Loti kept during a three-month period as a French Naval officer in Greece and Constantinople (now Istanbul) in the fall and winter of 1876. It tells the story of the 27-year-old Loti’s illicit love affair with an 18-year-old “Circassian” harem girl named Aziyadé. Although Aziyadé was one of many conquests in the exotic romantic’s life, she was his greatest love, and he would wear a gold ring with her name on it for the rest of his life. The book also describes Loti’s “friendship” with a Spanish manservant named Samuel, suggesting a love triangle. Most critics believe, based on Loti’s diary entries, that some sort of homosexual affair occurred (indeed some believe Aziyadé never existed and the entire work is a cover for a homosexual love story). It also describes Loti’s love affair with Turkish culture which became a central part of his “exotica” persona.
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Sailing ship trip along the Antalya Mediterranean coast line:
Turkey fun:
Ancient places:
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Map by Kaidor – thank you
Bewilderbeast Droppings 
