MB wrapped his cold hands ’round a cup of hot coffee. In a cozy coffee shop overlooking Taksim Square.

He munched on a slice Turkish cake sitting by a window on the upper floor. There are so many Turkish cakes. And Turkish goodies of so many sorts they are like the stars in the heavens. MB finished his cake and wandered outside, cup in hand. He stood on the narrow balcony to view the sights below. The square spread out from MB’s coffee-drinking vantage point where visitors and locals alike enjoyed the open spaces of the famous square.

An elderly lady sells bird seed for peanuts to those who might like to fed the pigeons. In Taksim there are so many pigeons. More pigeons than people. The pigeons enjoy the free food. It’s far better that scavenging for a living like pigeons in other parts of Istanbul. If MB was a Turkish pigeon he would like to live in Taksim. He would not like to live in low pigeon-income locations having to scrimp and scrape day in day out.

MB likes to take pics. He didn’t have his camera at Taksim. But he had his iPad-mini gadget and gave it a go.

Next week MB will be taking himself to Panjim on the Mandovi river estuary. He will say hello to Vasco De Gama and also get to meet St Francis Xavier in the flesh. Even though SFX died in December 1552. No kidding.

But in the interim here’s a few of MB’s iPad shots from Taksim: