Day 3 in Istanbul, and the city rallied. Or maybe I did. I loved it on Day 1, had major issues with it on Day 2, and on the third day …

Things went just fine. No touts threatened to kill me. That was an improvement. The weather was mild. The meals weren’t expensive. I had a nap.

Good times.

It was an odd day, however. A night unlike all others.

This was election day, in Turkey, which was fun for a visitor, because Istanbul was into it. The country voted for 550 members of the Grand National Assembly, and as we approach midnight here the Turkish members of staff at the hotel and the guests from within the country are sitting around the TV in the common room watching the results come in.

The incumbent pro-Muslim party won easily, with 21 million votes, or twice as many as the Republican Party, which is devoutly secularist. These are the guys who created the modern Turkey, which demands a separation of mosque and state. The incumbents? A bit into Israel bashing, and Erdogan and his guys like to remind voters that Turkey recognized Israel right from the start.

The elections didn’t get going as early as we did. Despite this being a Muslim city in a Muslim country, Sunday is the same day off it is in most of Europe, and the town was sleepy and slow to get started.

We found our way down to the tram,  a ground-level transport system that will take you all over the city for 67 cents a ride. Also, it runs every 90 seconds. Quite handy.

We exited near the Galata Bridge, which takes you from the old part of town to the business side of things, across the Golden Horn.

We caught a ferry that took us on a 90-minute ride up the Bosphorus, Asian Turkey on one side, European Turkey on the other.

This really is a great area for a city. Green and seaside, lots of prime real estate … the hills rising out of the water remind me of Seattle. Lots of areas for great views of the water and the shore, and the ferry ride brought all of that home.

When we were back on dry land, we walked below the Galata Bridge, to the other side of the Golden Horn (still in Europe), and took a look at the 50 or so little fish restaurants packed in there (street above, sea below), and were almost mugged by touts trying to get us into their shops. One brash/desperate guy actually stepped in front of us to insist we stare at his menu, and as always we kept moving, and I’d say it’s almost a certainty that he was cursing us as we moved along. Touts! The bane of the city.

We actually might have had lunch there, but everyone was so obnoxious …

Instead, we took the “Tunel” funicular up the seriously steep western slope of the Galata neighborhood, and it disgorged us at the end of Istaklal Cadessi, the most significant commercial/social area in the city. One long pedestrian-only area with hundreds and hundreds of shops and, eventually, tens of thousands of people ambling along. Think the Champs in Paris or La Rambla in Barcelona … and that is what it is. Hip and arty but also consumerist and often downmarket. Street vendors, street musicians; an interesting scene.

It is not dull. We had doner kebab about half way up the street, then regretted it when we happened on the seafood district of the city only about a block further along. Hate when that happens.

We walked the length of Istaklal  (photo, above), which is at least two miles, and we climbed steadily up hill till we reached Taksim Square (which actually is almost perfectly round), just south of Taksim Park. I had my picture taken in front of a monument to Kemal Ataturk, who led the secular “revolution” after World War I that produced the modern Turkey.

We then headed back down the street, by now teeming with people, past the Adidias store and the kebab shops and the Burger Kings and the cinemas and upscale department stores and the candy stores, and instead of waiting for the funicular we stumbled down stunningly steep streets and alleys before we were back near the water, and then just cabbed it back.

It never did rain, though it had been forecast, and at 7:30 we returned to the top of the six-story hotel up the street to have a drink and watch the sun go down. The rooftop bar/restaurant was packed with people, Germans mostly, and we were lucky to get a seat from which we could kill a bottle of Turkish white. Again, quite nice.

It was a bit too cool (on June 12; imagine!) to stay for dinner, so we went back to the street and to a fish restaurant a block away. Leah had the sea bass. I had shish kebab. Nicely done. The help was attentive and competent, which hasn’t always been the case here, and even did a decent job of waving away the dozen cats who were going mad with desire as all that fish kept appearing on plates on the sidewalk.

For dessert, we went back to the area across from the big three monuments (the Hagia Sophia, etc.) and found the “Pudding Restaurant” that had been preying on Leah’s mind for two days. (Pudding!)  and had a couple of bowls of shockingly chocolatey pudding. Near the door to the resto, and on the sidewalks was the usual kid selling ice cream cones, but this one had a shtick.

He did do tricks with ice cream. Turkish ice cream is beaten and beaten until it becomes almost rubbery, and the kids dressed up in a fez and vest do tricks with it to amuse the sidewalk patrons. This guy was able to flick ice cream onto a cone in your hand, then take it back, then take back the cone itself, as a crowd gathered and people cheered. It was part “knowing your rubbery ice cream” and part sleight of hand.

Back at the hotel, the electioneers were still in front of the TV. The results were pretty much toted up, but they weren’t done talking about it, and two of them are discussing it still, and another half dozen are out on the terrace drinking coffee and talking politics.

Again, this was a day when Istanbul seemed modern, efficient and competent. A city with nice weather, polite people (unless they are trying to sell you something), lots of culture and history, and fine dining and decent wine and pretty good beer — and cheap and close to lots of population centers, from London to Abu Dhabi.

Day 4 tomorrow.