Turkish jewels

I forgot to share this with you - I bought these pieces in Istanbul. Such a lovely reminder of the wonderful time I had.

Freedom

It was about freedom then, and it's about freedom now.

I had such a wonderful time in Istanbul, not so long ago. My heart goes out to the people of Turkey and I hope they move forward to the better future they desire.

The end

All good things come to an end. Thank you, I had a wonderful time.

Long Service Award

In the streets of Istanbul are these sales people that deserve a Long Service Award. They are at work despite injury, bruising and missing limbs :-) without a word of complaint.

Turkish bath

Catch the tram to the Turkish bath, but get off at the wrong stop but find it despite getting lost, which has pretty much been the pattern throughout this trip.
The Turkish bath was fantastic – 10 minute in the sauna, then rough sea sponge massage. Short shower, just water poured over the body, first cold then hot, followed by a soap massage, a dip in the pool, back to the sauna, then lastly a shower. I'm so glad I had this experience.
Afterwards I was thirsty, hunger and tired all at once.

Walking to Fener

I walked to Fener in the morning along the streets, then down along the waterfront, then back up into the streets again.  I couldn't find any of the things that were marked on the map :-) but then a big section was boarded up for construction or renovation. Saw the Greek church in the distance and walked up the steep, steep, steep hill to see it and of course it's not open to the public. Then walked back towards Sirkeci.

Streets of Istanbul – 4

Back to the other side

Back along the walkway.

Met some students on the ferry, they had 'escaped from school'. We chatted, they practised their English and I answered their questions. Nice interaction, I enjoyed the moment with them.

Lunchtime Rendezvous - local love stories

Moda pier

I'm such a dork – I had this on my list of places to go to but completely forgot about it – only found it because I thought: Let's see want's around the corner. Had lunch here. Peaceful, and yay! no tourists.

Streets of Istanbul – 3

Decided not to visit any of the tourist stops and shops, so just walked around the back street and eventually came to the water's edge where there was a walkway kilometres long.

Eminönü to Kadikoy, or Europe to Asia

On the ferry past the Haydarpasa train station – beautiful old building.

Whirling Dervishes

On the way back from the pier, as I passed the station and they shoved a pamphlet in my hand - for the Whirling Dervishes. Yay! Performing that evening in the station.
I wanted to see them but not at one of the restaurants as a side show. It's a spiritual ritual, and this was the real deal. Wonderful!

Turkish coffee cups

Bought something at last!

It's a man's world

Capture these pictures sitting in one spot and snapping everyone that walked by.

Under the bridge

After a day of exhibitions I wanted some time outdoors, so spent the afternoon on the pier. Calm and peaceful. Had a fish burger at one of the restaurants under the bridge. 

Enjoying a dust bath

More exhibitions

Up the road from the Istanbul Modern was a wonderful old building, when I got there they had 2 exhibitions running - one was about rugs - Flemish/Danish/Scandinavian style. Oops, I have forgotten already and didn't write it down. Sorry. And the other was Piri Reis maps, from the 1500s - fantastic!

Haci Ahmed Muhiddin Piri (c. 1467 - 1553), more commonly known as Piri Reis for his legendary stature in the Ottoman Navy, was a famed admiral and cartographer.

He is primarily known today for his maps and charts collected in his Kitab-ı Bahriye (Book of Navigation), a book that contains detailed information on navigation, as well as very accurate charts (for its time) describing the important ports and cities of the Mediterranean Sea. He gained fame as a cartographer when a small part of his first world map (prepared in 1513) was discovered in 1929 at the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. His world map is the oldest known Turkish atlas showing the New World, and one of the oldest maps of America still in existence anywhere (the oldest known map of America that is still in existence is the map drawn by Juan de la Cosa in 1500). Piri Reis’ map is centered on the Sahara at the latitude of the Tropic of Cancer.

No photography

No photography allowed inside the Istanbul Modern. A wonderful gallery with awesome exhibits. I wrote down the names of some of the artists whose work I thought was great and now I'm having a hard time trying to read my own hand-writing :-)
If you google Istanbul Modern images you will get pictures of their hanging books corridor - lovely.
There was a photographic exhibition downstairs where a South African photographer had 2 pieces displayed - Guy Tillim.
The graffiti at the bottom of my range of images was taken nearby, not at the Istanbul Modern.

Going to the Istanbul Modern

I took the tram to the other side, then walked the short distance to the Istanbul Modern.