Working with Ilhan was a breeze. His first generous act of hospitality was to insist on lugging our heavy bags up the 3 flights of stairs leading to the apartment entrance from where the taxi dropped us. The neighborhood is quite hilly and steep, and the flat is just a couple of blocks up from the Bosphorus edge, a few blocks down from Taksim Square. The view from the flat made us gasp. It reminded us a bit of the Russian Hill neighborhood in San Francisco. Maritime traffic in the Bosphorus is extrodinarily busy, every sort of vessel one can imagine is on display: ferries, cruise ships, fishing boats, oil tankers, warships, skiffs, sailboats, pleasure craft...it goes on for days. We were oriented to the apartment by our host, and were immediatly delighted by the space. It felt like home right away, so naturally I wanted to do some laundry. Decoding the Turkish washing machine instructions provided many chuckles, particularly from the person observing my struggle...sweet and salty breezes moved through the space from the water, and standing on the balcony during the evening call to prayer was a joyous moment. The neighborhood has 5 mosques, and the prayers are live. Ilhan suggested a local fish restaurant down the street, and we enjoyed our first meal there in a place run by a nice family. The dessert was halvah that had been baked in a little custard dish, a revelation of deliciousness. We were so very comfortable staying in Ilhan's 'Sea Tower'. It's not fancy, but it's clean, comfortable, and well laid out, and has everything one needs to feel at home. There is a good kitchen, nice bathroom, and two double beds, one of which has a Temperpedic mattress. Ilhan has a very nice collection of history books available, and there are charming pieces of art scattered throught he apartment. It was so easy to trip down the street to catch the excellent tram for excursions around town, our to walk up to Taksim Square, and then merge with all the locals perambulating down Iskital Street (the trick to flow with the crowd is to always look ahead toward your destination instead of down at your feet, or worse to gaze beseechingly into the eyes of those rushing toward you...). When it was time for us to leave, Ilhan graciously arranged to have a taxi pick us up at 5:30 am for the airport. He also very sweetly mailed our postcards for us so they would be actually sent from Istanbul. We were very sad to leave this lovely place, our homey-home in Istanbul. We hope to return sometime in the not-too-distant future.