Living the Travel Channel

Posted by Kanga.

Today’s adventure begins with Hagia Eirene Museum. This is a Byzantine church (originally built circa 330 C.E.). Unfortunately, people aren’t allowed to enter the sanctuary. I would have loved to get a view of the dome from directly below.

In the outer areas of the church was a museum exhibit of artifacts from early inhabitants – the Hittites. Which has led me to conclude that there are no new ideas.

Like pottery with animal heads and mouth spouts. (I’ve never felt at ease with liquids that come out of an animal’s orifice.)

Or palm sized document devices.

Or alimony contracts.

Cribbage anyone?

Or a built in strainer.

Or a collander.

Yep, no new ideas.

Posted by Kanga.

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.

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

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

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 by Kanga.

We hopped on a very crowded tram and rode to the Eminonu stop. Nearby is the Galata Bridge that crosses the Golden Horn. Under the bridge is a string of restaurants. At the end of the bridge is more of the European Istanbul, but if you look directly out from the bridge, you see the Asian Istanbul.

We walked to the center of the bridge where the walkway ends to allow for the boats to pass under the bridge. After taking a good look in all directions we started back and chose a restaurant where we could sit in comfort for a while, have tea and hot chocolate and read our books.

Later we walked back to land on the other side of the bridge.

Near shore we could see some well decorated and lit boats that required closer investigation.

On close inspection, the boats were floating kitchens where fish were being fried up. The eating was being done on shore.

Since it is nearby, we then proceeded to the Eqyptian bazaar. We walked through without buying anything. I would like some slippers with the curly toes, though.

The bazaar and surrounding area were really quite crowded. I’m glad we came in the off season.

We walked back to where we could catch the tram and called it a day. A very nice day.

Posted by Kanga.

The very first thing I noticed about Istanbul looking out the van window while being driven from the airport along the coastline to our hotel was that ancient and modern are melded together. Unlike Dubai, where a ten year old building is considered ripe for the wreaking ball, Byzantine and Medieval walls and buildings are simply incorporated into modern constructions.

You never know when you will look down a street and see an ancient wall.

Or an old tree around which building, awning and sidewalk wrap.

One explanation of the origin of Turkish Delight is that it was invented by Bekir Effendi the founder of this confectionary established in 1777 and still operating today. Of course, we went in and bought some. Yum!

Posted by Kanga.

When one of our Twitter friends saw that we are in Instanbul and staying near the Blue Mosque, he messaged us to look for the Akbiyik Mosque in our neighborhood. It is one of the oldest mosques built in Instanbul – 1464 C.E. (or A.D., if you prefer) – and among Istanbul mosques is the nearest to Mecca. Why did our friend bring this to our attention? Because it was built by his ancestors, his family heritage.

So, here it is, literally just a few steps from our hotel.

The sign explaining the history:

The view from Akbiyik Mosque up the hill to the Blue Mosque:

Thanks Khaled for bringing this to our attention. It brings a personal touch to the history we are seeing all around us.

Posted by Kanga.

We walked through the backstreets of our neighborhood this morning. Here are a few of the sights.

Ever thought of Olive Oyl as a geisha? Someone did. (This is my new Facebook pic.)

Shortly after I took the above image a man came down the street pushing a similar cart and calling out something in Turkish. He had some scrap metal in his cart. He parked his cart next to this one.

While I was stopping to take the above picture, the street sweeper (a man with a broom and a dirt pan made out of a broom handle and a large plastic bottle) spoke to Paul in Turkish. From the focus of his gaze on Paul’s beard, we concluded he was remarking on the awesomeness of the beard.

I took this picture just because I think it is beautiful and undoubtedly even more so in the spring and summer when the trees are green.

This is the gateway out of our backstreet area to the main road that runs along the side of the Sea of Marmara.

So, there you have the first ten minutes of our day, yesterday.

Posted by Kanga.

Here are some random street views I’ve taken so far.

The above picture did not come out particularly well, but at the end of this street is a lovely view of the Sea of Marmara.

This was a rather Dubai-like traffic situation. A man was pulling a wheeled cart across a narrow street blocking several cars. He was in no hurry.

I took this picture for the five story tall textile shop, but what stands out is the yellow Playstation sign. Oh, well.

This is the street with the tram running down the center. I was just going to take a basic photo, but saw this guy coming with his sack out of the corner of my eye, so waited a little bit.

This is the same street from a slightly different angle.

This is just a beautiful city.