I’m come to realize more and more that the “Life on the Streets” cultures are some of the most appealing to me. Places where the social interaction is outside, in the open air, a source of color and noise to the rest of the world. Perhaps, then, this is one of the reasons I continue to find Istanbul so appealing.

These guys, as I was walking aimlessly through Karakoy looking for photo opportunities, invited me over for a tea and a trans-lingual chat.

As we went on about Obama and Turkey and some sort of invective against President Bush, we sit and sipped that strong Turkish tea as fishermen pulled in their lines and pedestrians strolled past and the world continued to go round.

Somehow, those interactions which are the least notable end up being the ones that leave the strongest impressions. Just a word, a shared look, or a warm cup of tea on a cold day. Yet these situations often end up being the face of a city in my memory, the human touch that completes an enjoyable but otherwise impersonal idea of place.

Which is why life on the street pulls me so strongly, because of the incredible variety of opportunities for interaction and engagement in an otherwise anonymous context.

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If you’re not comfortable with this ‘man on the street’ mentality, consider an organized Dinner with a local Turkish family instead.