after our dismal attempts
at clothes-shopping yesterday,
we wanted to try again!
it seemed there might be
a large commercial district
a little farther west...
plus, we thought we would
set our eyes on the old "land" walls
(built in 413 by Theodosius II...
well, he was 12, so not actually...)
& check out a museum nearby...
so off we went!
our street...
lower right: a man with a hand cart, collecting recyclables
we took the e-train back across
the Bosphorus
to near the University area,
headed for the Mihrimah Mosque.
overall, the area seemed
more modern to me
than the parts of Istanbul
we'd explored so far - with
wider roads, more cars,
driving at faster speeds!
so i have just learned
(thank you Google)
that "Mimar" means "Architect"
in Turkish
...i had assumed it was his first name!
but it was not.
here's a little more about Sinan.
one feature that seemed consistent
for Sinan's mosques
are the windows...
so many windows!!!
it's hard to tell from the outside,
but - from the inside - oh my!
just look at all the light!
even around the dome!
if you know me,
you know i am a
Big Fan
of the color GREEN
(and blue-green together
just light up my happy)
so these windows
made me practically
swoon
i was intrigued by
the two tusk-like structures
on either side of the mihrab.
they are curved slightly
and braced to the wall -
and almost appear as if
they are broken off
at the top.
in reading about the mihrab,
it's possible they are quite ancient
(& massive) candlesticks!
as you can see,
(well, maybe you can't,
but i'll tell you...)
we were the only ones there
the rainy weather
was no more!
look at these blue skies!
so, i've told you about
the cats...
there are, also, dogs.
mainly (almost entirely)
big dogs
(sort of lab-like mutts)
that hang in small packs,
never bark
(i mean never),
and are incredibly chill.
what really struck us
was the calmness of these dogs
and that they never barked!
(i know i already
said that, but it
bears repeating!)
we saw several running
only once...
and they ran silently,
with absolutely
no barking.
anyway...
we stopped to fortify ourselves
for some more wandering
because we were on
what was technically
an enclosed porch,
every person around us
had lit up a cigarette
or was going to
but the food was...
yum!
Turkish coffee
(which is served in
a very small cup)
and water, in a
very small glass,
paired with way too much
of a doughy, cheesy dish
called borek
(which was good, but
we should have
shared one!)
and, in the background,
the call to prayer
(it never got old to hear this)
so, yes...the Walls of Constantinople!
this is the Gate of Charisius,
where Mehmed II entered
when Constantinople
fell to the Ottomans
the plaque below
commemorates
the entrance of the
conquering Ottomans
into the city of Constantinople
on Tuesday, May 29, 1453
if these walls could talk!
we followed generally along
the walls, heading east
it works!
(an ablution station)
we walked & walked
well, really, it wasn't
that far
rather than a straight path
on the main street,
we - of course -
meandered through
neighborhoods
where they deliver mail
(is this the universal uniform?)
along cobblestone streets
steep, steep, steeeeep
cobblestone streets!
(but what really amazed me
was the diy balcony
on the right...eek!)
& then you turn the corner
and see this!!!
which felt, somehow,
movie set perfect!
on the back side of the
currently closed
(so disappointing!)
(a church from the early 300's,
a mosque as of 1500,
then a museum in 1945,
and a mosque again in 2020)
it will have to be
another "next time"
so we continued
our wander
on another grand
laundry day!
this (below) was about
the largest cat house
we saw!
even crumbling, there are
lace curtains in the windows
so, we made it to our
next destination,
(or Tekfur Palace...Palace of the Sovereign)!
the museum generally focuses
on the relatively brief period
of time
the building was used
as a pottery kiln
(about one hundred years
starting around 1719)
however,
it was actually constructed
as a palace
in the late 1200's
or early 1300's...
had extensive damage
during the Ottoman siege
due to being along the city walls,
then housed the
"Sultan's menagerie"
and was (briefly) a brothel
prior to the pottery kiln gig
it has one heck of a view!
looking north
& looking south, towards
the Golden Horn
more than 15 million people
live in the city of Istanbul,
which is the largest city in Europe
and the seventh largest city
in the world
i think we were the only
non-Turkish museum visitors
so, then we thought it was time
to direct our wander back down south
with no specific destination -
though we had seen something
about colorful houses in the
we managed to find some more
old city walls on the way
& more beautiful skies
& - always -
the call to prayer
& while i don't think
we exactly found
those Instagram-famous houses,
we did find these...
& the late afternoon
December sun
illuminating the colorful
plastic shopping bags
of the departing man
in a way that
pleased me.
(plus...cat)
&, looking the other way,
a group of teenagers
headed downhill,
maybe towards the river
we never did try out a Hammam
as we hear they are quite vigorous
in the exfoliation step...
here's the website for this one,
which seems to have quite a history!
this was just across the street from the Hammam,
an older woman leaning out of her window
and talking with a neighbor, who was
in the road near us.
i liked the steam venting...
gives you more of a sense of
how dynamic the streets are
with human activity.
more laundry day and shopping excursions by foot
every now & then, amongst the concrete,
there would be a house made of wood.
they always looked SO old!
we were about to turn right
when a woman called from her
"tea shop" asking if we'd like some...
we'd been walking awhile, so we did.
we had nice conversation
partly using Google Translate,
admired her baby,
and paid exorbitantly for the tea.
here i am, coming out from
her "shop" after having done that.
we made our way back
to the main street with an idea
to check out some clothing stores,
once again finding bridal stores
featuring princess gowns
(which is not what we
were looking for)
i don't have photos of our search,
but store-after-store
in this shopping district
told us they only sold in bulk!
we started realizing there were
different "sections" of the district -
for example, two or three blocks
comprised entirely of children's clothing stores
or another two or three blocks
entirely of underwear wholesalers!
finally, we realized that these shops
were entirely geared towards
merchandisers coming from other countries
to buy in bulk and stock their own stores!
frequently - and interestingly -
we often saw signs in store windows
that were in Russian.
(and p.s. i said in the previous post
that i'd tell you about those
little yellow half-moons
with holes in them
along the street curbs...they are for
hooking up a hand cart
as deliveries are made
so the cart doesn't roll away
down one of the steep streets!)
what was so strange is that,
to us, they looked pretty much like
American clothing stores.
i don't think we ever really figured out
where the local Turkish customers
purchased their clothing!
we finally did find a department store
called LC Waikiki and made a few
successful purchases.
then we passed by a shop
where i had noticed a red shirt
and bought a few more
from the mounds (literally)
of clothing he had inside
(plus the red shirt from this rack)
we used Google Translate to communicate
(and bargain),
and he seemed to say he was from
the Eastern part of Turkiye.
i have thought of him since the earthquakes,
hoping everyone he knows is okay
it was getting pretty late (as usual)
by this point, so we decided
to find a nearby place
for dinner.
we were within sight of the
Fatih Mosque, and decided on
an Uzbekistan restaurant
called Ata Yurt Mutfagi
hubby got a soup (maybe called a Shurpa?)
and a loaf of bread that was
(honestly and unfortunately)
more beautiful than tasty
i went with more familiar items,
which were all delicious!
yum!!!
we were pretty tuckered out,
especially from the bizarre
shopping experience
with all the wholesalers!
it's possible we walked back to our place,
but i'm betting on public transportation
and falling into bed.
