Rubi is the mischievous little mouse of the “Istanbul Stories” blog — a shadow in the palace, a whisper in the wall, a secret between stones.

He doesn’t fly like Alek or walk freely like Misi.
He hides — and that’s where his strength lies.

Rubi may not see the whole city at once, but he hears things others miss:
the forgotten conversations in empty chambers, the scent of a feast long gone, the private tears of a Sultan behind a silk curtain.

He’s not interested in being wise.
He doesn’t care to impress.
But he sees the truth hidden beneath velvet, behind marble, under centuries of silence — and he tells it all, in his own playful, ironic tone.

When I imagined Istanbul as a living tale, I knew a mouse had to be part of it.
Rubi is the city’s hidden narrator.
He crawls where no one dares, and emerges with the kind of stories no history book can offer.

Now, let’s hear from Rubi himself.
But be warned — he’s cheeky, curious, and always two steps ahead.

Rubi the Mouse of Istanbul Stories

I’m Rubi. A mouse.
Not the cheese-loving cartoon kind.
I’m the palace-hopping, secret-sniffing, gossip-collecting Istanbul kind.

You’d be surprised how much a mouse can hear
when no one thinks he’s listening.

While Alek circles in the sky
and Misi stretches in the sunlight,
I scurry under carpets, behind curtains,
through tunnels that haven’t been walked in centuries.

I’ve tiptoed past Ottoman shadows,
peeked into Byzantine kitchens,
and eavesdropped on the whispers of emperors and eunuchs alike.

Do I have a grand view like Alek?
Nope.
Do I wax poetic like Misi?
Please.

But I have my own gift:
curiosity with no leash,
ears that never sleep,
and a sense of humor sharp enough to slice through marble.

Here on this blog, I’ll tell you what history leaves out.
The awkward, the absurd, the strangely human.

Because sometimes,
the truest tales don’t echo through towers.
They squeak between floorboards.

So pull up a chair,
lean in close — and let this mouse tell you
what the palace walls remember.

Epilogue

If you’d like to experience Rubi the Mouse’s narrative style, you can check out our article on the Obelisk of Theodosius in Sultanahmet Square. At the end of this article, Rubi describes a monument brought from Egypt and erected in Constantinople by order of the Roman emperor.