at this point,
we were pretty much recovered
from our voyage & the time change;
from our voyage & the time change;
so on this third morning,
we decided to have a leisurely
Turkish breakfast at the nearby
oh my! yuuuuuuuum!
Lavender Latte (scrumptious!)
paired with a "mini" breakfast
(bread with different spreads/toppings,
a hardboiled egg, cheeses, olives, fruit, & veggies)
and chocolate coffee!
so delicious!
hubby with his Menemen & Turkish tea (called "çay" ~ pron. chai)
one happy guy!
i was pretty happy with my breakfast, too!
below is some graffiti near our place
that (i think) references the pandemic
(e.g., NYC, you may think you're tough -
but Istanbul is where it's really at)
i could probably count on my fingers
the number of people we saw
anywhere
who wore a mask
(for example,
no one - including us -
wore a mask on our crowded
Turkish Airlines flight or on the
long bus ride to/from the airport)
after our yummy & leisurely breakfast,
we stopped back by our place
before heading out on our itinerary
(main location today was the Cathedral
of St. George, the seat of the
Eastern Orthodox Church, & wandering nearby)
our airbnb was in a great location, overall -
but the block it was in was not picturesque.
there was an empty building on the corner
(being renovated slowly),
what appeared to be an apartment building
across the street, and the aforementioned
"autopark" next door.
so, basically, the street & all available
non-street space was filled with parked cars!
our little place was the lowest building around,
and - when you were inside -
it definitely seemed to be carved
out of another building, as it was
extremely shallow.
i could walk from the front door
to the back wall of that room
in about 4 strides.
it was a very "abbreviated" space.
honestly, just one room
(plus tiny bathroom)
that was slightly divided into
three spaces by partial walls.
but it was entirely adequate
& comfortable for us!
what was very unique
was the front yard - unheard of!
there was an exterior gate
(painted bright blue)
that opened into a paved courtyard!
there was a pergola with vines
(from which hung a swing!)
& even some struggling plants.
oh, and a cat or two that soon realized
we are not cat people
but still made themselves at home.
here we are outside our place
on another surprisingly sunny day!
p.s. our host did advise that we padlock the gate
so that we would not be disturbed
by anyone coming to the door seeking or selling things
a view with the gate
we set out afoot (per usual),
passing by the Galata Tower
& the abundance of "tourist" shops
selling freshly squeezed juice,
blue eye amulets, & various
Istanbul trinkets
Google Maps was (mainly) my friend,
but sometimes the route was somewhat
but sometimes the route was somewhat
less than ideal...
and while I was being loyal to Maps,
hubby would wonder quietly
why we weren't just going that way
when we could see the target
and a ready path that way
(in today's example, that target
would be the Sea of Marmara)
but, overall, Maps was absolutely crucial
(though it did mean i spent a lot of my time
looking down, up, down, up, repeat endlessly)
& occasionally our delightful path
took us through some slightly questionable areas
with a somewhat fretful journey
from the edge of the neighborhood to the waterfront
(dodging traffic & finding the elusive small ferry terminal),
we did arrive at what we hoped
was the correct ferry across!
it worked! we disembarked
in the Fener neighborhood,
just as planned!
there was a tiny spit of a beach
near the ferry dock, and many people
with the same destination as ours:
it was a glowing, golden space
which these photos likely don't capture
prior to the Ottoman conquest of
Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453,
Hagia Sophia was the Patriarchal Cathedral...
this church is TINY compared to Hagia Sophia!
in order to follow the new Islamic laws,
"all non-Islamic buildings were required to be
smaller and more humble than similar Islamic buildings."
in this case, it meant it needed to be smaller than
the nearby mosques.
i went in with little in the way of knowledge,
so i took pictures of those glowing items
that most appealed to me...
this silver casket may be that of Salomone,
mother of the Maccabees
- or more likely that of Mary Salome,
part of the gilded Iconostasis
a very few of the tourists
to St. George's appeared to be there
for religious pilgrimage -
most (like us) were simply there
due to the beauty & history
of the art & space
this glowing, gilded wall of icons
(the "iconostasis") was beautiful!
i did not realize that it, actually,
divides the space...
the altar is behind it!
this one (below) is the
Byzantine Icon of
much (if not all) of these religious icons
came to Istanbul from Greece
(and came to this area of Istanbul
after the Ottomans pushed the Greek Christians
out of the area near Hagia Sophia)
Christ Pantocrator
relic of the column
(a piece of the stone column
believe to be part of the post
Jesus was tied to prior to crucifixion)
(you can see another of those
six-winged angels
- the hexapterygon or seraph -
on the top part of the throne)
another view of the Iconostasis
(screen of icons covered in gold leaf)
***the door through to the altar
is in the center with the sun medallion
& the red carpeted steps***
here's a link to a service at St. George's
very interesting to see the door open
in the center of the Iconostasis,
and the priests conducting
the religious rituals on the other side!
~ ~ ~
we had no further specific destinations
for the day, so we simply
wandered kind of south(ish)
so that we'd eventually end up
back at the Galata Bridge
the Fener/Ayakapi area
are neighborhoods of real life,
not tourists!
& it was a sunny day, so...
it was LAUNDRY DAY!
as i've previously reported,
Istanbul is H I L L Y !
which means great panoramas!
(the tall brick building in the photo below
is the private Greek High School,
founded in 1454)
i was almost at the top of this staircase
a very busy spot near a local park,
playground, and sports fields!
(Çarşamba Çukurbostan Parkı)
this is considered a fairly
religiously conservative area,
and even some of the boys & men
were wearing non-western clothing.
women's religious clothing
in this neighborhood
included a veil that covered
the lower half of their face,
which you didn't usually see
in the other parts of the city.
our wander soon brought us to...
the exquisite
built in 1527
this carved doorway
is sooooo beautiful,
with the striped stone also adding layers
the mosque's courtyard
double minarets
& (below) you can see
the ablution station
these young women
were eating together in a
courtyard window
a somewhat 'plain' interior
but the windows just glowed!
& the view from the mosque's terrace
was spectacular!!!
there were several tombs on the grounds
of this mosque,
including that of Selim I
(Selim the Grim / Selim the Resolute),
father of Suleiman the Magnificent
(we saw his mosque later this same day)
this column (below) is not the tomb -
& as i do not read the Ottoman Turkish language,
i cannot tell you what this column is for...
but the cat had claimed it!
another wonderful view from the terrace
looking more to the north(ish)
it was easy for me to feel i was dressed
in a relatively modest style
since it was winter & i almost always
had on my coat and long sleeves/pants,
but in this area of the city,
i was most certainly a western woman.
~ ~ ~
we wandered on from the Selim Mosque
checking in with Google Maps
to see what our next destination might be
& couldn't pass up this neighborhood bakery!
here is the street nearby...hilly & plenty of traffic!
bananas, persimmons, and oranges
made even more so by the bright sunshine
a mixture of modern & old,
it was really nice to see how much
has been preserved throughout the city
~ ~ ~
though we were wandering
in a general direction,
our destinations were typically mosques...
and we landed at the simply stunning Fatih Mosque next!
built in 1461 to commemorate Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror
(he who conquered Constantinople)
on the site of a major Eastern Orthodox Church,
called Church of the Holy Apostles,
Fatih Mosque was rebuilt in 1771 after an earthquake.
it is exquisite,
and the area surrounding the mosque
is a marbled city square of grand proportions
i love the circles of lights
and the multiple domes!
this mosque, in particular,
seemed to have so many windows,
which really was stunning.
all-in-all,
this was my favorite mosque
(if i had to choose)
i didn't wear the scarf correctly,
but it met the requirements for me!
the ablution station and double minarets (below)
~ ~ ~
we took ourselves along Fevzi Paşa Cd. (street),
which was full of shops
with clothing either like this...
or like this...
the wedding dresses
were full-on princess
& not particularly modest!
very, very busy street scene!
& the Roman-era
(completed in 373 AD)
or, in Turkish, Bozdoğan Kemeri
(the "Aqueduct of the Gray Falcon")
with Ataturk Boulevard passing below
which brought us to Şehzade Mosque,
designed to commemorate the favorite son
of Suleiman the Magnificent
& built in 1543 on the third hill of Istanbul
it was designed by the Imperial Architect Mimar Sinan
(an Armenian/Greek born with the name Joseph
who later converted to Islam)
...so pretty...
~ ~ ~
we were cutting through towards
Suleymaniye Mosque
& discovered, tucked away, the very small
& remarkable
it was fairly dark by this point,
and this mosque (former church)
seemed somewhat impoverished
and without much illumination
...in terms of mystery and "pull,"
this is the mosque that stays with me...
it was so clearly a former church,
which was entirely intriguing to me,
as the other mosques we saw this day were not
(and now i'm reading that, as a mosque,
this one was assigned by Sultan Mehmed II to the
Kalendari sect of the Dervish...
even more fascinating, as this is tied
to the Andalusia area of Spain,
where i lived as a college student)
i would have enjoyed seeing this in daylight,
but it was certainly quite impactful in the gloom of evening
~ ~ ~
our wanders then brought us to
the magnificent
which we had attempted to see the night before,
only to find all the doors locked
(unusual for a large mosque).
the same German couple we encountered that night
was inside the mosque tonight,
having also returned to try again.
a funny coincidence!
this mosque was commissioned by
Suleiman the Magnificent
& designed by Mimar Sinan,
(the Greek Joseph who converted to Islam).
we arrived just before evening prayers,
so we were soon asked to leave
(other large mosques seemed to permit
visitors to stay as long as they remained
behind a particular demarcation)
~ ~ ~
as was our pattern,
we had not necessarily intended
to stay out quite as long as we did.
it was full-on dark & getting kind of cold
(i was glad to have my scarf as i did not
wear a jacket on this pretty, sunny day!)
this was a time that Google Maps
took us on a slightly iffy route
down to the Sea of Marmara
(and a bridge we could cross)
we zig-zagged down towards the water
through a fairly back-alley route,
passing - at one point - two small children
in the cobbled street
outside their home &
playing hide-and-seek
behind a broken wheelbarrow
hung against a nearby wall.
as we passed, i turned towards the open door
and could see their father
laying out blankets/pallets on the floor,
readying the space for the children's bedtime.
Google Maps finally brought us down
to a street under the metro bridge
(which we later crossed on foot)
and a restaurant called
it was a busy, cobbled street
with the usual 24/7 hubbub of this city
& mild enough that we ate outside!
i wouldn't exactly agree with the effusive reviews...
but it was a fun atmosphere and we were
definitely the only tourists around!
(i also was one of the few women)
i had an interesting jaunt to the toilet,
which we'd assumed the restaurant would actually have
since there was inside seating...
but, no...they didn't seem to,
so i was asked to follow one of the proprietors
around the side of the building
& up the street, past another restaurant,
then inside what seemed to be an apartment building.
i then followed him down to the basement
(yes, i did...i followed a stranger to the basement)
and to a literal bathroom (shower and all)...
where he left me so he could dash back
to the restaurant!
i have no idea whose bathroom i used.
by the end of dinner,
it was definitely time to walk home
(we seemed to be completely unfazed
at the distances we covered on foot!
we hadn't really figured out their transit system,
so there was simply no other option for us)
so, we headed across the metro bridge,
pausing in the middle along with some other romantics
also wandering around Istanbul
(the screeching metro train,
which stopped in the center of the bridge
to take on & let off riders
had us moving along the bridge
soon enough, but it sure looked lovely!)
this (below) is a bit Titanic-looking,
but is really achieved by zooming out -
the bridge was perfectly straight!
...as you can see below!
we strolled along the Sea of Marmara
(where all the young people gather,
sitting along the wooden steps near the water)
before heading up towards our place
through the Azapkapi neighborhood
view across to Suleymaniye Mosque
we were pretty bedraggled by this point,
and the walk required a continuous
ascension up to the top of the hill,
but we enjoyed a few details that reminded us
Christmas was near...
(this area was a Genoese colony
- as in Italy -
back in the 14th century,
and later in our trip we would see
this kind of decoration
- lights strung across the street -
in actual Italy)
if you go back to the very start,
the Lavender Café also had rainbow windows
just like this doorway
the fatigue was real,
so i didn't take photos of ALL
the closed shop doors...
but they each had an excellent mural
adorning their closedness -
here's one of them
the Galata Tower was a good sign
as this meant we didn't have to climb
UP any more!
we skirted around it
(and the lively groups of young people
out for the evening),
headed down the other side,
& fell into bed!
well, just about...with no washer,
we got into a daily routine
so that we had clean clothes.
this required scrubbing the clothes
in the kitchen sink,
letting them drip to dampness
in the tiny, unheated, tiled bathroom
(a misnomer as there was only a toilet,
a sink perched on a very tall shelf,
and a shower wand...
& the entire room got quite wet
whenever one of us
took a shower)
then rotating the wet clothes
out to the small space heater
to dry...slowly...
so we did this
& then fell into bed!
p.s. here's a photo of me
from the night before
with a very sought-after item
this was not due to digestive issues!
it turns out other methods
(bidet, for example)
are more utilized outside of our
tree-rich country!
