Art in Taksim

A long but enjoyable day, having been woken in the small hours by tremendous thunder, lightening and torrential rain, a dramatic performance that was equalled  by the rugby that followed later in the morning. Nice win for England against Argentina, but the game that really held my attention was the one that followed - Japan v Samoa - as the first time I've watched Japan play and was amazed.

Post rugby, with the rain having finally stopped, Caitlin and I took the bus to Taksim where I wanted to visit the Belediye Art gallery and was delighted to find a new exhibition of students' work from twelve Istanbul schools. Wandering around,  the only visitors at five o'clock, we caught the attention of the curator who introduced himself and offered to give us a guided tour.  For the next 30 minutes we learned about the work and the students - many with special needs.  Although my Turkish isn't that great, it was good enough for this and I particularly liked the installation that's my blip today - a powerful comment on the loss of habitat for migratory birds in Turkey with each bird painted on a plastic lid from takeaway food containers forming a curtain that you have to walk through to move on.   An effective non verbal statement on the "progress" v environment dialogue,  especially since the completion of the new third airport in Istanbul.

After satiating ourselves artistically, we set off down Istiklal Caddesi, strolling with the early evening Saturday throng, finally landing in Midpoint for a leisurely dinner before taking the metro, getting home at 10pm.