another night, another rooftop bar

The rooftop bars really encapsulate Istanbul for me. Perhaps this is because I've spent more time sipping dirty martinis on rooftop bars than doing anything else. Last night's bar - one we have been trying, and failing, to get into for a week, until Shazz's friend came up with the brilliant idea of booking a table in advance - was spectacular, if only for the view of the Blue Mosque. My favourite rooftop bar has an expansive view of Old Istanbul, with the palace and the Aya Sofia and a better view of the Blue Mosque; but last night's rooftop bar, whose view was more pedestrian, allowed one to appreciate the gentle curves of the city. The city washes over the land like waves, each hill smaller as it creeps towards the Bosphorus. The city-scapes is dotted with mosques, usually the tallest structures. (In the distance, a few skyscrapers - not New-York-sized skyscrapers, but, relative skyscrapers - challenge the mosques for height.) That far up, with the music blaring behind me, the city - despite it's 14 million people - seems almost peaceful.