Miko Russell Photography

Thought I’d try and counteract some of the negativity in the news about the Taksim Square protests by posting up some pictures of a more peaceful time. These are from 2007, when I visited Istanbul for a few days en route to the Turkish coast. The people, food, drinks, architecture, culture, were awesome and it was definitely one of my favorite places I’ve ever been. This is where I started drinking ultra-potent coffee and got the hang (uhh kinda) of licorice-flavored alcohol (raki, it’s like ouzo, but Turkish!). Also my love of flat-leafed parsley started here.

Yes, that last picture is of a turtle just chillin’ on the roof of the neighbor’s house.

These are really the only photos I have of Taksim Square, which we didn’t hang out around very much (we stuck mostly around the Cihangir neighborhood.) But I have great memories of the place, and these little wet hamburgers pictured were hands-down incredible—especially after a night out. Not to get super political on ya’ll but the PM needs to stop being a diiiick. Anyways.