The Tour Officially Begins - Day 1 in Istanbul - October 12

The following morning we drank our fill of Nescafé and ate all the cheese and olives we could stand then headed out and explored another small portion of the Sultanahmet, the name of the neighborhood we called home for three nights. We headed back towards the restaurant from the previous night but took a left instead of a right and discovered a row of shops, like an artist's walk, which ran behind the Blue mosque.

The brilliant blue of these ceramic pieces caught my eye.

Sally is contemplating making her first purchase of the trip, a beautiful scarf. She decided yes. Scarves and pashminas are everywhere and the prices are very reasonable. I picked up a few for 15 TL each. They make beautiful gifts and are easy to pack for the trip home.

Sally eyed these pages from vintage books but no shop keeper was to be found. That is just plain rare. Anywhere we went in Turkey we were greeted by just about every shop keeper. Makes sense, they want our business. Sally would have given them the business, as it were, had anyone bothered to be present for it. We walked out but returned on the return stroll - still no merchant. No merchant - no sale.
The main point of our exploration was to locate the hotel we'd move to as members of the tour, the Obelisk Hotel. Every building in this photo is a hotel. Lots of hotels in the Sultanahmet. It's a great area. Lots to do, all the classic sites, restaurants everywhere, shopping ops at every turn.

At night all of these buildings were lit with different colored lights. It's really pretty. And the streets are lively at night, people are out walking, dining, getting to and fro.

Here is the view from the hotel terrace. We would eat breakfast up here but inside because of the chilly morning air.

Here is a view looking to the Bosphorous Strait and the Ahirkapi Lighthouse.
By 3 pm we had met up with the tour for our introductions and an orientation. Our guide was Mine (MEE-nay) and she was really great. Knew everything about anything.

Afterwards, we headed straight for the Blue Mosque. On the way Mine gives us some basic orientation. That green house in the background is where we would eat dinner later.

The Blue Mosque is a working mosque, not a museum, so we respected the customs - no shoes and women must cover their heads and shoulders. No bare legs for either sex but Mine said pants, at least as long as capri pants, are allowed.

It was pretty crowded. Tourists from all over the world were there. I heard several languages coming at me from all directions. And just as many Muslim visitors as any other group.

What struck me upon entering was the height of the dome, the prominent feature. But an instant after my mouth fell open because of the dome, I was more awestruck by the details. No human or animal images are allowed or any image of Allah in the Islamic faith. But the calligraphy is elaborate, ornate, stylized to the nth degree. I can't read Arabic but I can clearly understand the level of artistic skill that went into the calligraphy. Turks, by the way, speak Turkish, which sounds pretty much nothing like Arab languages. Click on any photo to enlarge.

Yes, here I am in the mosque. Some observations I made while wearing a head scarf:

• I chose too heavy a material but who knew the weather would be unseasonably warm?
• I didn't like even the slight impairment to my peripheral vision.
• I didn't like the slight impairment to my hearing.

OK, let's keep in mind that I was not wearing the style of scarf a Muslim women who wears a scarf would wear. I'm also not wearing it in the manner a Muslim woman would wear it. So my observations come from someone wearing the wrong scarf in the wrong way. In regard to women covering their heads and modes of dress, these customs ran the gamut. Istanbul is a huge metropolis, like New York. I saw women who looked like they were auditioning for MTV (is there still MTV?) and a few women in the full deal - covered from forehead to toe in black, with only the face exposed (I assumed these women were visiting Istanbul because this is not at all the norm in any of the places we visited) - and everything in between. Business professional, business casual, totally casual shorts and tanks, in between modest slacks and long-sleeve blouses, with a scarf, without a scarf, and different kinds of scarves tied in different ways.

Some women cover their heads, some do not. There are any number of ways to cover the head with any number of styles of scarf. Some women cover the head and the shoulders. Some cover their heads but wear very Western clothes while some cover their heads and wear very modest long-sleeved coats and slacks, in spite of the temperatures in the 80's.

The women in the villages are all together different yet the same. Modest but practical. The vast majority cover their heads with very light scarves wrapped loosely. After all, they are doing their share of manual labor. Again, long-sleeved shirts. And almost all of them wear the big baggy pants with the MC Hammer-like legs, called şalvar (shahl-vahr). Şalvar are probably worn because they are modest, comfortable, loose enough to work in the field and around the house, and don't reveal the shape of the body (not appropriate in Islam for either sex). Some places were more conservative than others, which was illustrated in one way by how the women dressed. In more conservative places I saw more women with head coverings and the long coats. And a few more women dressed in the full gear. I don't know nearly enough about Islamic dress codes and regional customs to declare this that or the other. These are observations only. I wish I had a light set like this in our house. The lights cast such a soft glow. There was an oddly soft brightness inside the mosque, if that makes sense. Bright but not bright. Illuminated, I should say, but subtle. This photo of this man praying was blurry and dim. So I took advantage of those "errors" and ramped up a few simple elements in iPhoto and I'm pleased with the results. I was trying to convey his solitude. What you can't see is that he is surrounded by people. But he found a spot to make his own while he prayed. The photo doesn't have to be sharp, bright or perfect. And the man didn't need the perfect place to pray, he just needed his place. Perhaps wherever he can pray is the perfect place for him.The carpet was really soft and smooth. Mine told us that they replace it every five years. One of the things I noticed after entering the mosque was the slight foot smell. Don't misunderstand, I realize that the place is full of people not wearing shoes. And I do have a sensitive sniffer. It's just an observation.Our first look at the famous Iznik tiles which grace so much of Istanbul. The Turks love tiles. Anyone would love these tiles. Iznik was formerly Nicaea, as in First Council of Nicaea. More on that later. For now, just know that the tradition of tile making in Iznik goes back to the 12th century. The heyday for Iznik tiles came after the Ottoman's conquered Constantinople (which they named Istanbul). Here is a shot from the courtyard. Pretty difficult to get too much of the place in a shot because I was standing in the middle of it. Spotted this detail on one of the huge doors to the courtyard. A word about the cobblestone - be careful! You know, nothing in Turkey is even. You have to actually watch where you step. And once in a while, one of these big cobble stones is missing or is sitting up out of its space. OK, while looking for a place to eat the night before, we spotted three Mini Coopers (real ones from back in the day, not ones with CD players and airbags) tooling down the street. On each was painted this map. The cars are on a road trip from Switzerland to Thailand. On our way to dinner this night we spotted two of the three. I've checked online for info about this road trip but came up with zilch. If anyone knows anything about it, please share? I'm really curious about it. Our first dinner as a group was at The Green House (Yeşil Ev). A really pretty dining room and very good food. We had cheese filled "pastry" for a starter. I neglected to get the name of the cheese but it was delicious, with a slight tang. We then had dolmas cooked in a small crock. I regret not getting some of these crocks. They were lightweight and inexpensive. We ate several dishes cooked in crocks, all of them delicious. Dessert was two styles of baklava, a candied fig, a candied apricot and a zippy creamy cheese. Like a thick whipped cream but more of a cheese flavor. Whatever is was it was the star of the plate as far as I was concerned. Return to Main Page or go straight to Day 2 - Istanbul.

Day 2 - Istanbul - October 13

The first stop today as a group was the Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarayı - "Sunken Palace"), built during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justian I in the 6th century. There is still water down there but only a few inches. People pitch in coins and fish swim around. Below you can see some coins and a blur of fish.
Constantine I was the first to build some kind of structure for a cistern. He's the guy who transformed Byzantium into Constantinople. And he was the first Christian Roman Emperor. He and his mother, Helena, are saints in the eyes of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine rite. We'll here more about both of them later when we visit the Göreme Open Air Museum.

This place could hold 2,800,00 cubic feet of water when it was in use. Where did the water come from? Belgrade Woods, about 12 miles north of Istanbul. How did it get to the city? Aquaducts, of course. The Romans were just crazy about aquaducts.

This column caught my eye. I really liked the design. Few of the columns are "decorated" but most of the capitals are either Ionic or Corinthian. Check out the Medusa heads. The shots I took of it were all blurry. I should have checked my Medusas before walking away.
Outside the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya), in the courtyard, is this big stone base of some lost piece. But I'll guess it's from the time of Theodosius, the guy who dragged over the Obelisk of Tuthmosis III, remember?
OK, where to begin with Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom)? It's big. It's just big. In fact, it was the world's largest cathedral for a thousand years. This isn't the original church that stood on this spot, the Magna Ecclesia. That church is long gone. And the current building is the third Church of the Holy Wisdom. This church was built by Byzantine Emperor Justinian between 532-537.

This was the focal point for the Eastern Orthodox Church until the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453. It was then converted into a mosque. It was a mosque until 1935 when it was converted into a museum. The Christian mosaics, which were plastered over, have been restored. At the same time, the building's history as a mosque has been retained.

These giant medallions were designed by Swiss-Italian architect brothers Gaspere and Giuseppe Fossati in the mid-nineteenth century during a period of restoration. Click on any photo to enlarge.
You enter through the Imperial Gate and are standing immediately under the massive dome. The main dome is under semi-perpetual restoration. This is the enormous scaffolding structure which stands right in the center of the building. You can see the highly stylized Arabic calligraphy circling the center of the dome. At the same time, you can see two giant seraphim surrounded in blue.
There are wonderful stained glass windows with Arabic script.
Peeking through this small corridor lined with Iznik tiles, you can see part of the minbar, that structure with the cone on the top, from where the imam presents the sermon.
In the upper gallery are columns with highly decorated capitals and Byzantine designs painted on the ceiling.
This is the famous Deësis mosaic, dating probably from either 1185 - 1204 or from after 1261 when the Byzantines ousted the Latin Invaders and took back their capital. A wonderful site describing the restoration of this mosaic can be found by clicking here.

In this mosaic we see Mary on the left, Jesus in the center, and St. John the Baptist on the right. You can just make out the Greek letters ΜΡ - ΘΥ on either side of Mary's head. This is an approximation or abbreviation of the letters Mu and Rho and Theta and Upsilon for Mary Theou, or Theotokos, Mother of God. We saw these letters over and over again whenever we saw images of Mary. Click on any photo to enlarge.
A close-up of Jesus. The combination of letters on either side of Jesus is a Christogram, a combination of letters forming an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ. In this case, the Greek letters are ΙΣ and ΧΣ, Iota Sigma and Chi Sigma, from the words ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ - Iēsous Khristos. Sigma (Σ), however, was often written as C in Medieval times.

Latin Crusaders and earthquakes were not the only means of destruction perpetrated on this mosaic. Mother Nature and the elements had their way too. There is a big window just to Mary's right. For decades at a time, wind and rain blasted through the window. You can see in the first picture in this series how much of the lower half of this piece is missing as a result.
Other domes of the Hagia Sophia.
Here is Mary again flanked on either side by Emperor John II Comnenus on her right and Empress Irene on her left.



Below is another image of Jesus, this one from the Empress Zoë mosaic. I do have shots of the full mosaic but there was a fair amount of glare from the nearby window.

The mosaic below Jesus, featuring Mary again, is one of the apse mosaics. This one is in the half-dome in the apse. It dates from 867 but the background is the original from the 6th century.

Here we are back at the Comnenus mosaic. This is Alexius Comnenus, son of Emperor Comnenus and Empress Irene.
This pie shape we will see again. It's one of several early Christian symbols. Often, the symbols were composed of Greek letters spelling out Jesus or perhaps just the first letters of a longer Christian phrase. The letters would be stacked every which way to create a symbol.Here we have quite a variety of patterns and colors. We have paint, stone relief, and marble.
Sally spotted this graffiti carved into a marble railing in the upper gallery. The letters are certainly Greek. We think the middle reads "1565" but that's as far as our knowledge got us.
You might miss this mosaic if you weren't paying attention. It's at the southwestern entrance which is an exit for tourists. So it's behind you as you walk out. However, a mirror sits above the exit (entrance) so the image catches your eye and you orientate quickly and spin around and look up. This mosaic is very well preserved. It dates from 944. It was rediscovered by those Fossati brothers when they worked on general restorations to the Hagia Sophia from 1847-49 when it was a mosque. On Mary's right is Justinian I and on her left is Constantine. Again we see the ΜΡ - ΘΥ on either side of Mary's head.
A quick snack was had for 2 TL from the simit vendor in the square outside Hagia Sophia. Simit were available everywhere we went. Think of it as somewhere between a pretzel and bagel. One variety is thinner and covered in sesame seeds. The other is flakier and has a thin water or egg white wash.
Inside the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art (Turk-Islam Eserleri Muzesi). There is a large section depicting nomadic cultures. I love yurts so this reconstructed yurt caught my eye.
I really like the relief work on the following pieces. Here is a dragon breathing fire.
These two structures are cenotaphs, monuments or tombs representing folks whose remains are elsewhere.
Here are a couple of warriors from the 12th century.


The blue tiles in this 12th century mosaic lit up the room. This piece is sizable. The measurements were not listed on the identification card but it had to be four feet tall and almost 3 feet wide.
















Not quite sure how comfortable these slippers would be but they sure are pretty.
It wouldn't be a museum of Islamic art without rugs. This giant room held some exquisite examples.
We saw Mother of Pearl used in several pieces while we were in Istanbul. This is a koran box dating from late 16th early 17th century.


Just two days before, I was reading about this place in the Magic Bus book I mentioned in the post from our first day in Istanbul. This was THE hippie hang out back in the day. The Pudding Shop is a nickname given to Lale Restaurant, opened in 1957 by brothers Idris and Namik Çolpan. Travelers would stop here to meet other travelers, check the bulletin board, eat, hang out, on their overland route from Europe to all parts of Asia.
The food was pretty good. Quite the selection.
Check out the old photos.
OK, Sally had a stuffed zucchini and rice. I had stuffed mushrooms and rice. And bread, plenty of bread. You can see two varieties in this shot. The light country loaf and the flat bread style with the delicious char marks from the oven.

On to Chora Church or, more specifically, Church of St. Savior in Chora. East meets West. On the left a minaret, on the right, the main part of the church. Most of the current church dates from 1077-1181. The church isn't that big but it hold some of the most spectacular Byzantine mosaics and frescoes. It's just packed to the gills. It was also packed with people so we didn't linger. I took dozens of photos and I've selected the ones I think best illustrate the types of works we saw. For plenty of photos and information, visit the Chora Museum web siteRafet, our driver, handled that bus like a dream. I can't tell you all of the tight squeezes he sailed through. He is but one quick example from the alley leading to a back entrance to the grounds of Chora Church.



Click on any photo to enlarge.
Here is a shot to give you some perspective on the scale. Much smaller than Hagia Sophia.

This Jesus and Mary in another deësis (not shown is St. John the Baptist).
I liked this image. Just the face remains but we can see where the hundreds of tesserae once sat.

Above, the Anastasis fresco, the resurrection.
An up-close shot so you can see the individual tessara. You can also see the indentations where tesserae once sat in the plaster.
These two guys were quite the characters. I met them outside the Chora Church where we all mingled and shopped and relaxed. They loved having their picture taken. Look at those faces, huh? How adorable are they?
I see Val, Bonnie, Sally, Karen, then four strangers, then Patty and Glenda.
Dinner with Karen and Nell at Sofa Restaurant just a a couple blocks form the hotel. Very good food. And the cats of the neighborhood were respectful. This guy just hung out next to Sally the whole time.

Return to Main Page or go straight to Day 3 - Istanbul.