Istanbul Series continues with the Bs - Bosphorus and Blue Mosque

Life! Day to day life that is.  At the risk of sounding cliche "it did get in the way".  Before I could finish the Istanbul series I took another trip to Europe... stay tuned for that.  Today I want to share our visit to the two touristy Bs in Istanbul.  Ma nature had decided that we had enough sun for a day so after our requisite visit to the Starbucks, the Bosphorus cruise from Beziktas started with a grey rainy day.  None of us were in a mood for a day long boat trip (though I had heard that it is spectacular to go up the bosphorus and have a fish lunch at the end), so we took a short cruise of a couple of hours.
For us the cruise was a total disappointment. Perhaps it was the weather or perhaps it was the lack of commentary (surprising since we heard the same cruises blaring on the loudspeakers all day long from our hotel room) or perhaps it was the wrong choice of cruise line. Not even a 100 words needed to describe the cruise pictures.

Ciragan Palace Along the Bosphorus

As we walked out of the boat towards Kabatas, the clouds parted to give us a beautiful sight of the Dolmabache Palace and Mosque.  A football game was about to start and there the area was packed with security, TV crews and Souvenir vendors.

Dolmabahce gate

Dolmabache camii

The smiling policemen even posed for me.  Can you imagine NY Police to doing so.  The people are always nice and smiling in Turkey.

Angry birds were everywhere

 




Did you notice the slanted Sycamores?
This time we headed straight to the Blue Mosque.  Before entering the mosque, a quick flip and we saw the magnificent Hagia Sophia from the grounds of the Blue Mosque.  Despite the flat skies, it was sight to behold.

Hagia Sophia from the gorunds of the Blue Mosque

The Blue mosque was packed with tourists and there was barely any room to face the Mihrab.

 Instead of jostling with the crowd and my camera, I started walking to the side and spent some time getting to know the wrought iron chandeliers in the Mosque.

I had lost my two companions in the throngs so found a nice quiet pillar to rest myself against.  A group next to me was making an attempt to converse in their own middle eastern tongues, each laughing away as the other misunderstood what they said.  The cute one in the  brown coat came over to me and explained that they were a group of students working on a video project to capture people of all nationalities saying the Prophets message in Turkish.  And in a matter of seconds she charmed me into moving from the back of my camera to the  front of hers.

We exited the blue mosque to its right through the chained gate into a bazaar full of gorgeous ceramics and a lone cat wandering around.

I had the strength to resist the urge to splurge on the goodies at the little alcove but I could not have predicted what lay ahead.  In search of a public restroom and a bite to eat (No, not at the same venue), I noticed a group of hukkahs laid out in a corner at the Cavalry Bazaar.  Maybe just for me to take pictures?  As I was clicking away, another young turkish boy charmed me into taking a picture of his two friends.  Next thing you know I am climbing into his shop, sipping apple tea and figuring out how many Turkish Liras in one US Dollar (see the empty tea cup and the calculator?). 

 Armed with a heavy box of floor pillows (which by the way look gorgeous in my living room transformed by the magical hands of my friend Dawn, the expert tapestry guru), we got a quick bite to eat and as we got up were caught in a heavy downpour.  Lugging that tapestry we headed to the Serkeci station before our show time at the Hodjapasha center for a Mevlevi Sema Ceremony.  But the rains got the better of us and we never made it to Serkeci (another reason to visit Istanbul again).  If you are a fan of Sufi music, I highly recommend the ceremony. Unlike the commercial ceremony, where there is some music and whirling dervishes, the performance at Hodjapasha educates you about the ceremony and recreates it in full.  It is in an old turkish hamam and the seating is very calm.  If you are the type that gets easily bored, this is not for you.  The whirling can seem eternal.  I saw a few tourists (men) taking a long nap during the ceremony.  Fortunately no pictures are allowed in the auditorium so I am attaching an image from their website here.

No better way to end this entry than with a calming image of the Mevlevis....

Istanbul: Sultan's Digs

Our next few days in Istanbul followed a wonderful pattern of sunshine, downpours, sunshine, downpours and so on.
A bright sunny day got us into the mood to check out Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque.  But before we made the trek to the tram station we forked out 50 euros each for breakfast at the hotel with a mental note to find the closest Starbucks for the next day.  While our travel companion was catching up on her zzzz, my cousin and I decided to explore the Ciragan Palace.  It was a bright sunny morning and the Palace was completely deserted.  We took the opportunity to enjoy the place and happily clicked away.
The palace has gone through multiple renovations and the outer baroque style is supplemented inside with all glass and wood interior.  It mostly serves as a venue for special events.  A perfect place for a princess' wedding.

Exterior Face 

Beautiful glass bannister and chandeliers

 The bright sunny morning outside made perfect lighting for silohuettes

I did make my grand entrance down those stairs except there was no one waiting for me at the bottom!

As we walked to Kabatz, I noticed that all the lovely sycamores in Istanbul always grew at a slant in parallel lines.  Will have to research this more.  If you know why, please add a comment here.

Topkapi Palace had a small wait to get in but the grounds are so beautiful that one does not mind the wait.  We bought tickets to the main palace as well as the womens harem.  

Hagia Eirene in the Palace quarters

Locked to keep out mere mortals like us

 

Harem courtyard

All throughout the mosques in Istanbul I was drawn to the ornate ablution basins and the Sultan's basins gave the stained glass window a run for their money.  With every square inch decorated on the ceilings and even the underside of the eaves (i am still walking with my head tilted up), do not forget to look at ground or eye level otherwise you will miss the beautiful carpets of pebblestones or yet another iznik tile.

 

Peacock Room

The main palace was full of tourists and school groups with lines three deep to see Prophet Mohammed's beard hair (which you need to see through a magnifying glass) but the Harem was not at all crowded.  The views were beautiful and everyone took a moment or two to pause and enjoy the day.

My favorite was the enticing library of Ahmet III with beautiful sunlight filtering through tall windows  and on to the divans .

After an exhausting half day at Topkapi, we grabbed a quick tea at the Palace cafe and headed out of the palace grounds in search of Basilica Cistern.  If you ever have trouble finding the dirt mound under which the Cistern is located, just look for the bright yellow wood building in Sultanahmet and the Basilica Cistern is directly across from it.  This yellow building serves as an excellent landmark.

The 1500 year old cavernous cistern (total area of over a 100000 sq feet) is an engineering marvel, outcome of many a math and science fired syanptic transfer.  What is unexplainable though are the mysterious positions of the Medusa.  The side head still sends shivers up my spine...creepy!

 

After exploring the alleyways and window shopping we were ready for our first meal since that overly priced breakfast.  

We found our way to Khorasani Kebab house (on Ticarethane sokak, next to Normade hotel) and lingered over fabulous food and wine.  We loved it so much that we returned there once again during our remaining stay.  Excellent all around.

How can one turn away from such a smorgasbord of Mezze

Still working off that bread!

So many more images to share but this is it for today!