Rainy Segue into...more mosques!

 after several days

with prescribed destinations,

today we had none.

& it looked like

it might be on/off rain

(plus it was fairly cold),

so we simply decided

to take the e-train to

what we thought might be

a good shopping area

& see what we found!

but first, breakfast!

i had my eye on a place

around the corner

called Yaya Firin

(which translates to

"Grandma's Oven"),

but it was NEVER open!

instead, catty-corner to it

was a little quick market

that had hot tea (yay!)

& hot-pressed bread

w/chocolate inside (yum!)

the only seating was outside,

barely under the roof

& out of the rain

(but not the cold!)

on little stools...

this was the common scenario

for outside seating...

very short, small

tables & stools,

your hands wrapped

around the hot tea!

^^^our rainy breakfast perch &

early morning street scene

my recollection is that we

were interested in finding

a good shopping district

(we packed minimal clothing

for this very purpose!),

then saw, as we disembarked

the e-train, this museum...

the Istanbul University

Ridvan Celikel Archaeology Museum

being that it was

still drizzling

& still cold...

we went inside!

(& were glad we did!)

hubby is fairly well-versed

in history, dates, & events

of this part of the world...

me, well...i am more

in possession of

a vague level of knowledge -

so my appreciation

of these exhibits

fell largely within

the artistic realm

(plus, nothing was translated!)

oh, and also...a *motherly* realm,

as our younger son

is VERY knowledgeable

about this area of the world,

spending the past two summers

on archaeology digs in central Turkey

(he is finishing a bachelor's degree

in classical archaeology

& is headed to a PhD program

this autumn...go, Joseph, go!*)

*or as 18-mo old Joseph told me

"Dodef dood it!"

(say that out loud & you'll get it)

language does intrigue me,

& i am fascinated by

its historical development,

such as...

we enjoyed this little museum

(& its super-modern toilet facilities)!

but it was soon again time

to set out

in the drizzle & cold...

we hoped to find some

awesome little clothing shops,

but it was confusing to understand

clothing retail in this city!

we ended up popping into

a few small men's clothing stores

(hubby was in search of

particular items of clothing)

& not - really - finding

quite what we imagined...

but the search was interesting!

shopping area along Ordu Cd. (Street)

we had more context for this area

the next day, when we undertook

a more lengthy & dedicated

(& puzzling until the ah-ha moment!*)

shopping excursion

*notice all the hand carts

"parked" in front of stores

as well as the little yellow half-moons

along the street

with the holes in them...

reason why in the next blog post!

we ate a lunch somewhere

that was (obviously) forgettable

(i think we decided it was a chain

as all the employees

wore orange shirts),

though i did take a picture

of the toilet...

oh, yep...this was it!

(often there was a water spigot

low down on the side of the wall

& a small bucket for...something -

there was always toilet paper, too.)

& all of the toilets like this

that we encountered

had a flushing mechanism

(often a wall panel/button)

like the toilets we're used to.

as you can see,

this target takes

some skill and practice...

we decided, during lunch,

that we would now wander

towards what is called

Little Hagia Sophia

Küçük Ayasofya

on the way,

we encountered caaaaats....

is it clear who is Queen?

i think so.

i believe this graveyard (below)

& the cats (above) were at the

Nisanci Mehmet Pasa Mosque,

which we did not go inside

basically, we were taking

rights and lefts

as the fancy took us -

whichever way looked

more interesting &

was still going in the

general direction of

Little Hagia Sophia

window of Baklava!

& street view of this corner

with the Historial Hotel

slow, slow, slow renovation projects

of some really beautiful buildings!

so glad they're not just

tearing them down!!!

i took photos a number of years ago

at an abandoned mill in our hometown

that was exquisitely covered in graffiti.

one of the greatest rooms of this art

featured a chair like this one, below.

(you can find that old blog post here)

also, i just liked 

the composition of this,

not arranged for anything

but a functional purpose.

Google Maps was my friend

on these wanders - 

and my friend now as i try

to place the locations

of some of these photos!

looks like this street corner

might have a little food spot

called Ersin Bufe,

and i see it on Maps

just where it should be

on our foot travel towards

Little Hagia Sophia.

the only thing i can find

online about this Ersin Bufe

(bufe = buffet...as in food)

is this one review -

and i quote

(the Google-translated Turkish):

"He is shouting, his style

is very bad,

may God give you

a lot of money, but

add a little style

with you."

i like how this photo captures

the street scene -

buildings built onto buildings

& people moving

in every direction...

and the frequently present

Turkish flag.

which brought us,

finally, to...

Little Hagia Sophia

(so named due to the

potentially correct timeline

that it pre-dates Hagia Sophia

and was Justinian I's inspiration

for that larger Byzantine church)

it was - just like Hagia Sophia

- previously a Greek Orthodox Church

named The Church of Saints

Sergius and Bacchus

(commissioned by Justinian I 

in either in 527 or 536 AD)

we found it quite lovely,

with little contemplation nooks

that were very appealing

^this one was a bit of a puzzle,

as it was rather narrow

yet raised above the floor level

(you can't see that, but to get into it,

you had to step up quite a bit).

i assume it is for prayers,

but i wonder its function

when this was a church...

and these ancient 

stone stairs!

what was exceptionally stunning

was the inscription

running around the top of the columns

in the central worship area

it is from the original construction

and is in ancient Greek,

praising Justinian I and

his wife, Theodora

i found the column capitals

especially exquisite -

they look like lace

but are stone! wow!

apparently, they are called

ionic impost capitals,

and there are crosses

and imperial monograms

on them -

you can see one

on the right...

it is the solid disc

amongst all the "lace"

a very quiet, lovely space

(that was a church

for 1,000 years* -

and has been a mosque

for 500 years)

*that span of time

always amazes me

for these buildings

that are still standing

& in use!

^^^wish i could read Greek!

if you looked at the links already,

you will know who initiated

the transformation of

The Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus

into Little Hagia Sophia.

i didn't describe anything about

the Chief Black Eunuch

in my Topkapi Palace post -

as the subject is pretty horrifying.

this person was powerful

(on the one hand),

having ready access to the Sultan

and undertaking covert dealings

on behalf of the Sultan.

the particular Chief Black Eunuch

who transformed this structure

into Little Hagia Sophia

was Huseyin Aga

who met his ultimate demise

via execution

see below, the chimneys

of the madrasa

(these originally housed dervishes

and were constructed

for that purpose

when this became a mosque)

it was time to direct our wander

back towards our place, but we

popped into one more mosque -

and were so glad we did!

(it was more beautiful, to me,

than Little Hagia Sophia)

here is the...

Sokullu Mehmed Pasha Mosque

designed by that amazing architect,

Mimar Sinan, in 1571

absolutely gorgeous!

i thought this was a really interesting map!

it shows the location of every mosque (camii)

in this part of Istanbul.

as you can see

(each crescent moon = one camii),

there are a lot!

this mosque provided head coverings

for women tourists without one

i just loved the "layers"

& these carved doorways - wow!

apparently, they are called

muqarnas

it was dusk, by now...

& we were ushered out

due to evening prayers

a totally satisfying,

low-key day

& a ride 'home' via...

^^^i'm carrying a bag that contains

some very tourist-y Istanbul t-shirts,

which we saw in only ONE shop.

we had passed it on our Hagia Sophia day

(it was up the street from

the delicious adana kebap meal)

& figured we would - surely -

pass another one...but never did,

so when we passed it again after

Little Hagia Sophia, we decided to go in.

by that point, we had an understanding

that sizing of clothing in Turkey

was vastly different than back home

(or, rather, our sizing back home

has "grown" apace with

our population's average girth...).

but the salesclerk insisted the t-shirts

were "American" sizes...

back home, it was clear

that was still rather snug...

our train deposited us

a few blocks from our place,

and we became very familiar

with that route -

passing the same little markets

and businesses on our way.

it might have been this night

- or another one -

when we needed more

bottled water.

spying several tiny

(i mean, tiny) shops

selling various sizes,

we inquired at each on pricing.

they were literally

right next to each other,

selling the same size

at different prices.

we thought we were

making a deal with one

particularly zealous vendor -

buying his water but

at the price his neighbor

advertised - however,

he attempted to return change

that reflected the higher price.

at which point, i returned

the bottle, took our money

back out of his hand,

and purchased water

from his neighbor.

he seemed a little stunned

by this move -

but not ill-humored.

we walked away

with our water &

our correct change,

listening to the two

vendors loudly discussing

this transaction.

~ ~ ~

most evenings ended like this...

(not the water debacle, but)

me, at our "charging station"

in the wee "kitchen,"

faithfully updating y'all

on our day's adventure :)

thanks for reading!

Morning of... & Topkapi Palace!

 it looked like it would be

another slightly rainy day,

so we were glad to have tickets

(purchased online ahead of time*

in the US with the help of our airbnb host

who let us use her in-country phone number!)

to a traditional Turkish music concert

commemorating the death of Rumi

*kudos to hubby for finding several quality,

diverse music/dance events for us to attend!

side note: i see in this sketch^ a girl & a kangaroo

...how 'bout you?

the concert was in the very new

and beautiful AKM

Ataturk Kultur Merkezi

(Ataturk Cultural Center)

it started with a quintet

playing Turkish classical music

on some unique instruments

then they added a vocal performer

(i assume he was reciting Rumi poetry)

with a larger group of musicians

& then they added an entire choral group

and even more musicians!

The Flame of Love
by Rumi
(trans. by R.A. Nicholson)

How long wilt thou dwell on words and superficialities?

A burning heart is what I want; consort with burning.

Kindle in thy heart the flame of Love,

And burn up utterly thoughts and fine expressions.

O Moses! the lovers of fair rites are one class,

They whose hearts and souls burn with Love another.

source

really enjoyable, interesting concert!

unphotographed, but truly it happened...

we had finally figured out

the metro system

but had only taken ferry boats so far -

today we rode the e-train from our place

(oh, my - we need some better

public transportation in our country!!!)

& took the underground funicular

up, up, up (hilly Istanbul!)

to Taksim Square!

then we had a bite of breakfast

before the concert

& near the AKM

(which is, itself, near Taksim Square)

at a place called Simit Sarayi,

with counter service by some

seriously grumpy teenagers

(but we still enjoyed ourselves!)

being as the way down

was, as such, downhill,

we chose to walk it

after the concert...

i turned around to reflect

on the journey:

the frequent dichotomy in the city,

represented in picture

i liked the artwork...& the way the old window grates

are now holding back the debris from the crumbling house

rather than protecting it from the outside world

this corner was fascinating...

on the left side, with the crumbling wall,

there were some arched interiors

from whatever the building used to be -

& on the right side was a wooden, stacked

building that reminded my foggy memory

of houses in northern Europe!

i was taken by the lovely green

of this small mosque,

called the Omer Avni Mosque

and on the same street,

this oddly named store...

seemed a little backwards to me!

i mean, i think i'd rather

shop at a store that changed me

from a Loser to a Lucky, right?

rather than the reverse...

~ ~ ~

so, that was our 'scheduled' event
for the day (the concert,

not the wander...which was

a perennial occupation for us)

but there were SO many hours

left in the day!

i mean, at least five hours

until sunset...an eternity!

what to do? kind of drizzling, so...

off to TOPKAPI PALACE!

(which we figured was mostly indoors -

well, it kinda was...)

have i mentioned all the cats?

cats are QUEENS around Istanbul

while they do not appear 'owned,'

they are well cared for by the humans

near whom they choose to linger.

this one^ had her own carpet perch!

(there were cat houses on the streets

& shopkeepers often put food/water out

on a daily basis for their feline neighbors)

by way of the cat,

(which was sitting to the side

of Hagia Sophia)

we arrived at the nearby Topkapi Palace

in the gray drizzle of afternoon...

that is Hagia Irene behind us,

which we ended up not having

time to go inside - next time :)

btw, Hagia Irene means "Holy Peace,"

and it sits very near Hagia Sophia,

which means "Holy Wisdom"

note the somewhat topped sycamore trees

(these were popular trees

near significant sites in Istanbul)

topped as they are,

the resemblance to dendrites strikes me

this photo ^^^ is at least the third

where i managed to include a lovely bird in flight!

onward through the Gate of Salutation!

Google Translate was my other

much-utilized App...

but it didn't work for Ottoman Turkish!

here's how Google Translate helped me out

on this one:

much better (but not perfect)

when i selected Arabic!

we walked ourselves through

the various parts and passageways

of the Palace...

yoked by an audio guide which

rarely (unfortunately) had much to say.

i'm used to palaces/castles

being one large building -

but, in this one, there's a lot

of exterior space that separates

or delineates the various areas

and their functions.

and the buildings are rarely

more than one level.

perhaps that speaks to this being

a milder climate than the

northern european ones i'm

more familiar with.

here we were moving into the

area of the Imperial Harem

ceiling of the Music Room,

where Harem residents

(eunuchs, concubines, etc.)

learned how to entertain

beautiful wall tiles & gold accents

in the Harem residence of

the Sultan's Mother

the Valide Sultan (the Sultan's mother)

always had rooms next to the Sultan's,

likely because - historically -

most Sultans became Sultan

when they were children.

the Valide Sultan was often quite powerful

(also likely due to the typically

young age of the Sultan -

as well as the fact that the Valide Sultan

became the mother of the Sultan

by rising through the ranks

of the Harem &/or catching the eye

of the prior Sultan)

& there was an extended period of time

- called the Sultanate of Women -

where the wives and/or mothers

of the Sultans had great political influence.

interestingly, most of these women

were former slaves, captured

on slave-raids or conquests,

& brought to join the Sultan's harem.

until Suleiman the Magnificent,

Sultans did not marry their consorts

(though could marry foreign nobles).

Suyleiman was the first

to marry one of his consorts

when he married Roxelana,

a slave-raid acquisition

from what is now Ukraine

but was, at the time, Poland.

anyway....just look at

the Sultan and his mother's bathrooms -

a very posh space

that had a series of three baths

of different temperatures

& gold lattice screens

to ensure the occupant was not murdered!

i surmise this (below) to be a toilet

(not dissimilar to the ones

we encountered around the city,

though - i dare say -

those had a MUCH smaller target!)

& a place to wash your hands

for some reason,

a visitor tossed a gift bag

on top of the sealed toilet -

i say 'tossed' because

there was a barrier preventing

us from entering the room...

the only way for it to land there

was for it to be thrown

over the barrier

lots of beautiful tiles throughout

& this amazing ceiling...

these light holes

are called "elephant eyes"

and are to help the steam escape

from the hammam

on to the Imperial Hall

(aka the Imperial Sofa, the Throne Room Within,

or the Hall of Diversions)

oh, my!

gorgeous, gorgeous tiles...

everywhere!!!

the Imperial Hall

in this photo,

you can see the throne

(which is a low-backed sofa!)

i would totally

hang out in this room.

aaaaah....the beauty!

wonder if this is the mirror

behind which the Sultan

could escape?

i think it was the only in the room,

but it is rather large -

so would not, exactly,

make for an unobtrusive exit...

unsure of the location

of this photo,

but i enjoy all the patterns!

here is the Sultan's ceremonial throne,

a golden sofa!

this brought us to the third

courtyard of the Palace,

wherein was the Enderun Library

of Sultan Ahmed III

so beautiful!

& i love the book stand!

^^^not a real person^^^

ceiling tiles and decorations

another bird in flight!

(& the library exterior)

fountain (or ablution station?)

below the library

looking towards the Baghdad Pavilion,

built in 1639 to commemorate

the Capture of Baghdad

by Murad IV

another bird in flight!

at the Iftar Pergola,

where Sultans broke their Ramadan fast

if it occurred during summer

(there's a stone bench

under the golden cupula)

different bird in flight,

looking down on gardens

& out from the Golden Horn

to the Sea of Marmara

exterior of the Baghdad Pavilion/Kiosk

this looks more throne-like to me!

the Throne of Sultan Ahmed I,

(he who ended the practice of fratricide &

oversaw construction of the Blue Mosque)

after this amazing sight,

we filed through a long, slightly disorganized line

at the Privy Chamber

to see the Sacred Relics

(in my unprepared state, i didn't quite know

what we were standing in line for...

but it was a line, so one assumes

the items to be viewed are of high interest!)

they were passing out scarves to the women

(i, of course, had my trusty scarf,

purchased on day two in Kadikoy's

amazing street market),

and this resulted in two young women

refusing to put them on

and, thus, being politely denied entry

to this extremely religious space.

i remember being of that mind

in my teens and young twenties...

principles trumping experiences, mayhaps...

(and, truly, i saw it was acceptable

to even just raise the hood of your jacket

rather than donning an actual head covering/scarf)

when in rome?

so, we filed to the right

(my recollection is that we were directed to,

but now i am unsure...perhaps we were the line

that was going in the wrong direction?)

in a mildly crushing,

slightly disorganized queue

that came to quite an impasse

in the middle

when we encountered the line

of folks who filed to the left

upon entry...

both lines attempting to see

those most sacred of relics

related to Muhammed

at the middle back of the space.

the security guards

showed preference to short people

&, especially, to the women,

which helped me out :)

so, i was able to observe closely

but briefly

the items in the cases,

being in front of the taller men.

interestingly, as we wandered

through the other parts of Topkapi,

i did not see

(or was not aware of)

quite the range of visitors

that i observed in this room

of sacred objects.

there appeared to be

Muslims from many different countries,

all very intent on getting close to

these items.

whereas, in the other areas of Topkapi,

it seemed more a sentiment 

of tourists objectively viewing history.

i also appeared to be quickly identified

as a likely English-speaking non-Muslim,

and a guard approached me to explain

in English the amazing items

upon which i was gazing,

especially pointing out those

that might be crossover sacred items

for Christians.

such as...

this well-traveled right arm relic & casing

of Saint John the Baptist

as well as this well-traveled skull relic,

also from Saint John the Baptist

&, this, the Staff of Moses...

which was really challenging to photograph,

so here's a section of it.

it did not look at all like actual wood

to me...or it is carved wood, maybe?

here are some thoughts on authenticity...

apparently, it's not out of the realm

of possibility...

the main crush,

and the point at which

the right and the left lines

collided at somewhat

of an impasse,

was at the glass-encased items

from the Prophet Muhammed

the aforementioned guard

ensured that i peered through

the magnifying glass

(not pictured)

to see a hair from the beard

of Muhammed.

i think he was quite satisfied

(he being the guard)

when i exclaimed that i could,

indeed, see it!

below is an imprint

of Muhammed's right foot

from here, we went to the

Imperial Treasury,

across the courtyard

i did not take many pictures

as, honestly, we had been touring

Topkapi for hours at this point

and i was fatiguing a wee bit

suffice to say, there was

A LOT OF GOLD!

for example, this ^^^ stunning golden dagger

called the Topkapi Dagger,

which (due to the death

of the gift-giver, Sultan Mahmud I)

never made it to its recipient, Nader Shah,

shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736-1747.

p.s. those are for-real emeralds!!!

p.p.s. the largest of them is a secret clock!!!

below is the iron mail armor

of Sultan Mustafa III,

who was locked up in Topkapi

for more than 25 years

before becoming Sultan.

light was waning,

as were we...

but we did pop into

the Imperial Council building,

which is a very open space

(sectioned into three)

with a bank of cushioned benches

running around the sides.

below is a photo of a screened window

behind which the Sultan

(or the Valide Sultan -

the Sultan's mother, that is)

could sit without being seen

but seeing & hearing ALL

in the glow of evening,

the latticework resembled lace curtains

a view inside, with the benches

along the walls

and quite a large open space for...?

maybe less important people sat on cushions

or other kinds of portable seating?

dusk in the courtyard of many birds

(not its real name)

we dashed through the kitchens,

which they were starting to close up

for the night...

these kitchens & their 800 workers

fed 4,000 people each day!

the kitchens were rebuilt after a fire in 1574

by the Imperial Architect, Mimar Sinan

(who also designed many civic projects

for several Sultans, including

Suleiman the Magnificent).

this internal street (below)

stretches from Topkapi Palace kitchens

all the way to the Marmara Sea

full-on dusk

and the dendritic sycamore trees

Istanbul was starting to feel

like not quite such a big city,

as our paths started overlapping

day-to-day...

Topkapi Palace (which was built upon

Byzantine ruins) sits fairly next to

Hagia Sophia, so we could not

pass up the opportunity to go inside

one more time!

it's slightly decaying splendor

made it feel very real & ancient,

and the low, glowing rings of light

made sitting down on the carpet

feel very appropriate

in this evening, everyone

(read: women)

was permitted to wander

past the usual barricade,

so that is what we did

....and gazed UP...

look at our view!

evening was winding down,

& we needed foooooood

sooner rather than later,

so we went a little distance

(and up a hill - surprise!)

to Gulhane Sark Sofrasi

where we enjoyed a super-duper

yummy Turkish meal

in a fabulously festive setting

side note:

after awhile, we were joined

in this festive space

(see the wee Christmas tree?)

by a solo diner

who clearly had been there recently

("see," she said, "i told you

i'd come back!")

oh, yes...she said this in English,

as she was English.

not passing up an opportunity

to hear someone's story

(or at least a small piece of it),

i was able to discover that

1) she enjoyed soccer

(the waiters were checking in on

the World Cup final game,

and she was watching it

on her cellphone)

and 2) she was currently

residing in Pakistan via

a post with the British Government

and 3) she was on her way home

for a Christmas visit.

then, towards the end

of our meal, we were joined

by another solo diner

who - it turned out -

was from Spain.

the aforementioned Brit

piped up that she had lived

awhile in Seville.

lo and behold,

so had i

(many years ago,

in college).

so, of all things,

Spanish was our

common language....

hubby opted for the Tavuk Kiremet

(Chicken Casserole),

which did not disappoint

& i got Pilic Dolma

(Sultan's Stuffed Chicken),

which was yummy, as well!

i do believe we

walked back to our place,

across the Galata Bridge,

on that cold, windy night.