Irma is delighted to be finally in the 'East' as she skitters along the Bosphorus in a speed boat to land on the banks of the Golden Horn. She pays a nostalgic visit to the Red Mosque of Haghia Sophia and goes to meet the Irish American writer and Istanbul historian John Freely (Inside the Seraglio). After sampling a Nargileh pipe, Irma drifts on to meet Buket Uzuner (The Sound of Fishsteps and Mediterranean Waltz), a thoroughly modern Istanbul woman and best-selling Turkish author. After a night of belly dancing and darkness in the famous Roman Cistern, the poet and travel writer John Ash (A Byzantine Journey), lightens Irma's mood with a shopping trip to the Spice Market and Grand Bazaar.