Istanbul is in the Air! Europe's cultural capital for 2010 is getting ready for its biggest season yet and everything is almost ready. More bars, architecture, exotic fashions and major food stuffs plus Galleries & Museums are awaiting your cultural taste buds. The people here are basically  all shined & polished and ready to share their city. A few are worried  because who wouldn't be a little apprehensive about their city holding up to the opinionated  standards from major travel writers around the world descending on the city ? Me not included .

  So.... I'm telling you.... they are ready for the challenge to satisfy and never has the city been more alive than I can remember. Basically the city is just blossoming all over again with promise and real flowers. My first visit being in 1977.

Yes, sexy is in and the modern haircuts of the day grace many a head. Quaint streets with spectacular architecture are decorated with every kind of night-time establishment imaginable and it's all awaiting your approval with friendly service and a charming attitude, something not felt for years in many other overly touristed cities. Plus the music of the city is something that will charm just about anyone from Frank S. to Paris H. Check out Erol Evgin as a Famous Istanbul Musician / Actor.

Erol Evgin's  music can be heard here along with the making of Turkeys favorite veggy snack Gözleme in the video below . Play while looking at the images for a further sensation.

So if your ready to marvel at an old established culture gone wildly modern, sexy and fashionable then Istanbul is the place to hang your hat this summer. Perched over seven hilltops with views and boulevards to make you think, New York, Paris, Barcelona or Rome. So, Look Out!!! Turkey is not just a bird for the winter holidays.

So if you get the travelers itch from seeing these images, call your friends

and tell them to  come and have the chance to remember or experience this  formidable city thats just plain fun and exciting. It's also a very reasonably priced city and does not lack the small or big details of a major locations. 

               Taking the trolley from Taxsim Square down Istiklal                                Avenue through Beyoglu  is a must.

   To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is    research. 

         Over 30 kinds of fresh and packaged Turkish Delight @ Ali Baba's 

"The trouble with eating Istanbul food is that five or six days later you're hungry again."

                     Love is the moment that lasts forever.  

See Byron Ayanoglu's Nostalgia Blog for his muse on Istanbul and his journey to return to his birthplace. 

              Some people have no respect for age unless it's bottled. 

It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up, because by that time I was too famous. 

    The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.

             Love is blind - but marraige is a real eye-opener .

 My psychiatrist told me I was crazy so I said I wanted a second opinion. He said okay, you're ugly too. Rodney Dangerfield

         I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best. 

           Oscar Wilde 

                The Olive Restaurant serves Fish with Blackened Butter 

                 MMMMMMmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMmmmmm!!!

       Young and old alike, all are welcome!  Istanbul has few peers and is generous to all who wish to share in their good fortune. Plus it's set inside a Historical Tapestry of Excellence. 

I'm at the age where I want two girls. In case I fall asleep they will have someone to talk to. Rodney Dangerfield

Things are the way things are only to the people who see them that way. 

            Image from an Istanbul Photography Show. Artist      unknown @ this time.          

     I found there was only one way to look thin, hang out with fat people. RD

                  I am a vegetarian because I hate plants. 

My wife only has sex with me for a purpose. Last night it was to time a soft boiled egg. Rodney Dangerfield

                No Reservations.....funny thats Anthony Bourdains    line!

 My problem is that I appeal to everyone that can do me absolutely no good.

              One more payment and the Shirt, Jacket and Tie are    mine. 

             The weatherman. 

I had plenty of pimples as a kid. One day I fell asleep in the library. When I woke up, a blind man was reading my face. Rodney Dangerfield.

   When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found    them. 

 Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.

                                                       All photographs by Algis Kemezys

                              Painting of Istanbul in a gallery window. 

Photographs inside the 300 year old Cagaloglu Hamam Turkish bathhouse. One of the 1000 things one must do in a lifetime. I spent 3 hours here and whistled all the Ennio Morricone tunes I could remember because the echo was so superb.