Archive for January 26th, 2011

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Istanbul Mosaics

January 26, 2011

Posted by Kanga.

Byzantine mosaic flooring

Today we went to the Mosaic Museum. This is Byzantine era mosaic flooring. It is a rather amazing artform. But, I’m always amazed by anything that is more than stick figures, since that is where my own artistic talent begins and ends. Here are some of my favorites.

mosaic bush

This may be just a bush, but it is quite intricate.

mosaic elephant head and front leg

The many subtle shades of grey of this elephant caught my eye.

mosaic monkey with stick attempting to catch birds in a tree

And this one, just ’cause it’s weird. That monkey has a bird on his back. Isn’t that role reversal? The signage explained that this was a “bird catching monkey.” It is connected with an ancient fable.

To see the rest of my photos – http://picasaweb.google.com/kangayayaroo/MosaicMuseum#

Posted in Istanbul | 1 Comment »

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Hagia Sophia

January 26, 2011

Posted by Kanga.

So, we’ve been walking around Istanbul, taking pictures of cats, buying groceries, etc. We finally did the tourist thing today and went inside the Hagia Sophia. We decided to just go in cold with no guide or audio tour. We’ll go back a second time to do that.

view of the main floor of the Hagia Sophia from the second floor

I stood in the approximate center of the main floor and recorded the below video to try to give a 360 view starting with the dome. It may give you some small taste of the grandeur.

I took many pictures and you can see them at http://picasaweb.google.com/kangayayaroo/HagiaSophia#.

sign showing carving in the marble by a Viking

Those damn Vikings. You can’t take them anywhere.

Posted in Istanbul, video | 1 Comment »