Istanbul or Constantinople?

We arrived at the Istanbul airport around 2 am Turkish time. We had some trouble getting visas, since it was so late they only took cash and we didn't have enough to cover the cost of a visa for each of us (I, stupidly, was only carrying Canadian). Fortunately for us, there was a kind man in line right behind us who lent us the money we needed and we'll mail him the rest, so we were able to walk into the country.

All of our bags made it, which was quite handy, and Hakan was there to meet us at the door! We were so happy to see him after so much time in travel mode. He got us a taxi ("taksi"), seatbelts optional, and we roared off into the Mediterranean night.

Hakan's apartment is in Levent on the European side of Istanbul, and his mother Nur came up from Izmir to be our host for a few days. We woke her up when we walked in at 3 am, but that didn't stop her from having a feast ready for us.