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...
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
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
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...
(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
(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
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
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...
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
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
& 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!
