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)
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.
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,
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
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
a golden sofa!
this brought us to the third
courtyard of the Palace,
wherein was the Enderun Library
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
by Murad IV
another bird in flight!
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)
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
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
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
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
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!)
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.
