Back home.

It was wonderful and unexpected to see Ana and Nick greeting us as we emerged with more luggage than we left with. And later good to see the kitties again.

Mostly I need to say that Phyllis is the very definition of trooper and the most enjoyable travel companion imaginable.

Next time: Vladivostok!

Love, Sarah

The gratitude of home

Sunday morning here in Madison. Rain. No ice. We missed the single-digit temperatures neighbors suffered through last week.

I am feeling deep gratitude — for life, for friendship, for the privilege of travel and learning.

Here are the two guys who made our stay in Istanbul so warm, and who made all potentially hard things easy:

Kemal and Doğan

And a very special thanks to Sarah, without whom I would NEVER have gone to Istanbul, to Sarah who struggled mightily to get posts into this blog from her tiny cell phone, to Sarah who read to me at breakfast, explaining whatever we were going to see that day, and therefore opening my eyes.

Teşekkür ederim!  Thank you!

Day #6 — Friday. Our last day in Istanbul.

We were so late getting going after our late night out that we missed breakfast at the guesthouse!

What would YOU do if you missed breakfast in Istanbul? Well, you'd go next door for Turkish coffee and baklava!  And that's what we did:

Coffee with the lid on.

Coffee with the lid off.

And then it was off in a taxi — big splurge — to the west side of town to see the Chora Church, a.k.a. the Kariye Mosque.  It's known for its marvelous frescoes, all of which had been covered up with plaster when the church was converted into a mosque.  (Now it's a museum.)

Theodocius giving a gift of the church he built to Christ.

So much delicate beauty here. Alas, the main part of the church is closed for renovation, so we never did get to see the inside. There was plenty to see in the corridors, however.

Lunch was a most remarkable soup and appetizer — that's all we could afford — prepared as the sultans' chef would have cooked it up.

Then, another taxi ride back into the heart of the oldest part of the city. Here we saw the very beautiful Sulimaniye Mosque. See Sarah's post for the lovely exterior.

Then, a long walk down to the Grand Bazaar for one last look and a few apricots. Sarah went on to the Hamam for a Turkish bath. Totally exhausted, I went back to the guesthouse and took a nap.

We spent some time today chatting with our perfect hosts, Doǧan and Kemal.

Here's Doǧan. So extremely helpful.

Sarah with Doǧan.

Now it's Saturday morning and we're trying to cram all our stuff into our suitcases. We leave for the airport soon. It's been a rich week. I'm too close to it now to try to sum it up.  So glad we did this!

Friday??? What day is this anyway?

                       Writing now at the end of Friday (Freeday according to one of the locals), just a few
                 pics from the last couple of days.

This is one of the Suleymaniye Mosque, one of the largest of the mosques because       of all its associated buildings -- schools, hospital, etc., most of which are now shops and   restaurants.

It has much less in the way of design, tiles etc than many others, but it is huge and much lighter feeling than other mosques.

                 These are frescos from a really lovely church/mosque called Kariye, most of which

                  we couldn't see because it was under construction.

                Before leaving for our cruise along the Bosphorus on Thursday, we stopped in a small

               mosque near the Spice Market.  It was a little jewel of a place, with so many gorgeous tiles.

               Here is a sample of some of the patterns along just one wall.

       Thursday morning went to the Topkapi Palace, where sultans lived until the late 19th century,
        much of which was unfortunately off limits to photographs.  
       The Treasury Rooms were so over the top opulent that they were not even horrible: jewel
        encrusted everything, huge ebony and ivory thrones, piles of rubies and emeralds.  The Topkapi
       dagger, made famous by the movie, was a relatively minor piece.  For each child born in the
       palace, four cradles were constructed, each loaded with jewels.  One Sultan, by the way, had 122
       children.

       The Harem section housed the 400 some concubines, the sultan, the sultan's mother, the black
        eunuchs (from Ethiopia), the top one of which was less powerful only than the Sultan's mother
        and the Grand Vizier, and the white eunuchs, who served the sultan.

                I'm sure Phyllis will have some great pictures of the Harem.  This was the only 

                 unglamorous room; it's where the concubines would pick up their food, after the eunuchs 

                 had eaten.

              

                        

Day #5 — Thursday at Topkapi and on the Bosphorus

 I'm a little behind here...  It's nearly midnight on Friday and I haven't yet had a moment to write about what we did yesterday, let alone today. So this will be mostly photos, not so much text.

We started the day visiting the Topkapi Palace, which is less than a 10-minute walk away from our guesthouse. The photo above is from inside the outermost door, looking out at the city.

The sultans of the Ottoman Empire lived here in this palace until younger generations, centuries later, having visited Paris and other European cities, thought they ought to live in a warmer and more comfy place.

I was very taken by the long rows of rose bushes leading along the paths from the main entrance.

At the far end of the huge park-like courtyard, we come to yet another gate — a wall within the wall.

The chambers of the sultan, rooms where he greeted emissaries from other countries, are fabulous.

Stepping outside to get from room to room, we get a good view of the inner courtyard.  I love those cypress trees!

Back inside the chambers...

Inside there were museum rooms filled with clocks of the Ottoman Empire. They are round analog clocks, but instead of the numbers we have on our clocks, there was a "0" where we have a 5. The rest of the markers were all arrows, some single, some in pairs. I couldn't figure it out. I SO wanted to take photos to show you these clocks, but there was a sign saying "dontcha doit."  

Another room held displays of Ottoman weaponry, incredibly ornate, gorgeous, shiny creations of metal. Could these beautiful items every have actually been used in a fight? No guard was looking.... I slipped my little iPod out of my pocket and, before I could begin to focus, a LOUD male voice intoned, "NO PHOTO INSIDE!"  okay

Leaving the sultan's quarters, I was pleased to find benches where we could sit down and rest a while.

Next was the Harem. I always thought the word "harem" referred to the collection of women kept by the sultan. But now I find out it also refers to their living quarters. 

The tile work inside the harem is so lovely:

And the rooms so incredibly beautiful:

And yet....  there are bars on the windows.

No jumping out to freedom for these girls. 

There was much more to the Topkapi Palace that I never saw. (See Sara's post for some wonderful things here.) Alas, I'd gotten off to a late start and had to hurry back in the rain. (Naturally, this was the one day I chose NOT to take my backpack with me, and so it rained. No umbrella.)

Only on my way out did I notice the lovely trees in the outer courtyard. I'd been looking down at the roses on my way in.

In the afternoon, we decided to become full-fledged tourists and signed up for a tour of the Bosphorus. This was billed as a "half-day" tour. To our surprise, the first couple of hours were spent doing things on land....  again in the rain. 

First we visited the Rüstem Paşa Mosque, one of the smaller mosques.

More lovely tiles:

And then we walked over to the Spice Market!  Oh, joy! I bought a spice grinder from this guy:

Finally, we got on the tour boat and went up the Bosphorus for a while. Lots to see. 

Here's a mosque that was built out above the water on a land-fill:

The walls of the city:

When we got back to shore it was nearly dark. Here's the Galata Bridge.

Later that evening, we went back to the Galata Bridge, walked through the fish market, and descended into the basement of a fish market building to dine in subterranean charm.

We had our first bottle of rakı here. It looks like water. Pour it into a tiny glass, half-way up, and then fill the glass with water.  The liquid turns milky white!  And it tastes like anise! Turkish ouzo? It really warmed us up.

Fortified with rakı and good fish, we went up into Beyoǧlu to hear some music. And we were mesmerized. 

It was around 1:00 am by the time we got back to our room. Very full day!

Dary #4 — The Ferry to Heybeliada

My Wednesday was totally different from Sarah's. We experienced very different kinds of beauty. 

I took a ferry to the Princes' Islands. The 90-minute ferry ride was possibly the best part of the day

A flock of sea gulls followed along with our boat for the entire journey. They knew people would be feeding them from the side of the boat. They were absolutely gorgeous.

This ferry is a regular commuter boat. Almost all the passengers are Turkish. 

A guy came around every once in a while hawking round circles of bread —picture a big pretzel in the shape of a ring, but it's bread, not pretzel — topped with sesame seeds. Yummy! The young woman next to me bought one, broke off a piece, and offered it to me. That began a lovely interchange!

They are both age 18, university students, one studying to become a doctor. They were on holiday, off to an island, although not the island I was headed for.

 When the ferry docked at my destination, Heybeliada, the people immediately in front of me walking down the ramp were apparently not Turkish. I was charmed by the woman's accordion, and the jollity in their little group.

After a cup of tea at the docks, I walked up a hill in the town, past lovely old mansions with well-tended gardens.

These are, for the most part, Turkish vacation homes.

They speak of money and comfort.

Note the barbed wire atop the metal fence! Just like Cochabamba!

Alas, not all the homes are kept up.

Some look like they just need a coat of paint. 

There are NO CARS on these islands!  Although I did see a few delivery trucks.  Lots of bicycles, many of them with whining motors.

My left knee said it would be a bad idea to climb this street of stairs, but I sure wanted to!

Near the top of the town I found a little park:

Street cats roam freely here, just as in Istanbul. 

One cat thought climbing my leg might be fun.

Tourists take rides in these horse-drawn carriages. I don't. Does that mean I'm not a tourist?

Runaway horses! There were five or six of them! Are they wild horses, or have these just escaped from their carriage master?

Back on the ferry for the return trip to Istanbul:

I was awakened from a little snooze by the wonderful sounds of accordion and clarinet! Oh! The same couple I'd seen exiting the ferry a few hours ago! They were playing Hava Nagila! When they took a break, half the people on the ferry applauded. While the young woman continued playing, the man took off his hat and passed it through the crowd.

On the Asian side of Istanbul — loading and off-loading ships.

Later that evening, we got together with the man who had befriended my friend, Caroline, when she was hospitalized here in Turkey. Terrific guy, we lingered over dinner for three hours. 

I was so exhausted when we got back to our guesthouse that I considered going to sleep in my street clothes. Hence this morning post of what transpired yesterday. Now...  Off to the Topkapi Palace!