The Brooklyn Funk Essentials is a band formed by Turkish immigrants to NYC.   The lyrics in one of their songs goes, "I get high from the view of Istanbul at night."  Damn I hear that.

The Galata tower was built in 1328 and was originally called "The Tower of Christ."   Its views of Istanbul are breathtaking.  Not only are all these sites beholdable from one location, but there were three firework displays over the course of the evening.

The Galata Tower

View of SultanAhmet and Suleiyman Mosques

The Bosphorus Bridge in the distance, which glows in everchanging rainbow colors through the night, linking Asia to Europe.

The Topkalpi Palace dominates the horizon.  Formerly the home to the Sultans and the center of the Ottoman Empire, it housed 5,000 people.

The Hagia Sophia overlooking the Golden Horn Bay.

Just to help illustrate the difficulty I have had in sleeping because of the noise and commotion, here is a picture of my street while I was walking home last night- very dead for 1:00 a.m. Sunday night/Monday morning.

Finally, a picture of my kitty Safeesh, who is sleeping on my desk while I type with her tail wrapped around my wrist.  :-)