Our final evening in Istanbul capped a bountiful excursion, for sure. After I spent a second day in
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bed with total body-breakdown, Ayhan and I were invited to accompany Turkey's most popular singer Sertab (see posts below, for background blah blah) and her partner Demir, to a private birthday party for world-acclaimed pianist
Fazil Say.
After Sertab participated in the "European Capital of Culture" festivities Sunday night (see
below post), we took a cab to meet with them at Beymen Café in the
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Nisantasi nabe, had a drink and catch-up, before their driver took us to the fabulous age-old Zihni Bar, which used to be the home of an architect and for more than 50 years (see left), has been considered one of Istanbul’s premier upscale destinations.
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This joint was like stepping inside F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," with women adorned in elbow-length gloves, dressed in their best black, and men outfitted in their finest nighttime garb. While smoking indoors is illegal in Turkey, there was an old-school civility, as people lit their cigarettes—again, like a different era—as if above the (often silly) laws that pervade modern world culture.
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Our host played grand piano, and was accompanied throughout the night by his talented guests: a violinist here, a belly dancer there...
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And yes, Sertab sang. She offered one of her hits "Lal," which the pair performed together a few years ago at New York's Carnegie Hall.
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Ayhan tells me the room was filled with Turkish celebs: singers, actors, comedians, who of course were faceless to me (Ayhan finally was forgiven for not knowing Mary Tyler Moore, when I met her years ago and had a near breakdown, to his shrug).
Talk about a grand finale... A night to remember amid a week I shall never forget.
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