In the first of a series of chapbooks, Angie and Joy continue to explore one of the world's most fascinating countries where the bonds of friendship run deep; and for all its complexity, a country that remains embedded in their hearts.

A year and a half after the publication of their acclaimed memoir, "Anatolian Days & Nights: A Love Affair with Turkey, Land of Dervishes, Goddesses and Saints", Joy Stocke and Angie Brenner are back in Istanbul. Angie is traveling with her nephew Jackson; and later, Joy with her husband Fred.

The Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea still radiate a steely light illuminating silvery Ottoman domes and bronze-colored Byzantine walls and churches. But, much has changed. The city is in the midst of a construction boom unseen since the heydey of the Ottoman Empire. Traffic has grown heavier. New bridges, tunnels, and one of the world's largest airports are under construction.

Their friends' lives have changed, too, and the country has been galvanized by protests in a park called Gezi in one of the city's great hubs, Istiklal Square. Yet, along the Galata bridge vendors still grill pilaf-stuffed mussels and sell chewy corn on the cob, while girls in slim jeans–many in headscarves–and boys in black leather jackets lean against the railing overlooking the Golden Horn and flirt with and tease each other.

Angie and Jackson visit friend Kate in Assos on the Aegean; Joy and Fred wander up Istiklal to Gezi Park. Years before, when Angie and Joy were browsing among the antique shops in the neighborhood of Cukurcuma, they came upon Orhan Pamuk's Museum of Innocence, then under construction. They both return and find that the museum triggers memories of their earlierst visits.