Rainbow City

Istanbul was a great city to visit for so many reasons - such an interesting blend of Eastern (mosques, the call to prayer, some headscarves) , Western (cafe culture,jeans, MacDonalds, young people snogging in the street), and other elements that seem to be pure Istanbul. And of course we've already touched upon the food ...

But one of the things that struck me most was the riot of colour everywhere, probably even more prominent to me after Amman where the buildings are all various shades of white and the clothing various shades of dull ...

So here is a little medley of the multi-coloured feast for the eyes that is Istanbul ...

Two of the things that Turkey is perhaps most famous for - spices and belly dancing - made for some of the brightest colours around - peach jangly skirt anyone?


Even on a cloudy, the mutli-coloured housing on the banks of the river weere such a contrast for me to white white Amman ...


I don't think these colour lamp globes are as 'authentic' as the bronze ones, but they look amazing nonetheless ...


Coloured and painted tiles, on the other hand, are something that you see everywhere, from the walls of the most sacred mosque to the kitchen of a normal home ...


And the ubiquitous bowls ... again, don't how authentic they are (some reminded us of Bulgarian pottery?), but so easy to fall for the riot of colour ...