The Stencil Art of Istanbul

During my short stint in glorious Istanbul last week, I will confess to being lost more often than I knew where I was. That is no complaint. It's the best city to not know where you are because (human, architectural, kitten, retail) microwonders lurk everywhere. The neighborhoods seem nested within one another like Russian dolls. And on the tiniest doll, just a few blocks, we'd find these pieces of stencil art adorning a few walls. They became one way we marked where we stood. "Oh, we're back in the tiny rabbit couple place," I'd say to Sarah, and we'd figure out how to get back to our hotel from there.

All of these little pieces of stencil art were shot in the last week in the streets of BeyoÄŸlu, which must be one of the best city regions in the world. Made you want to go bohemian and start creating miniature art out of antique watch parts. Or something. Enjoy this little tour. And this panorama, shot from the top of our hotel on Sunday morning. That's the Bosphorous in the middle of the photo and the Sea of Marmara beyond Sultanahamet. (Click on it for the full size version.)