Whirling Dervish

This is one thing we had our our to-see-list and these pictures are my favourites from the trip. I really enjoyed watching them and did not clap at the end as instructed. I also did not use flash photography which is why the pictures turned out this way - I personally love the look of them! The whirling dance that is proverbially associated with dervishes, is just one of the physical methods used to try to reach religious ecstasy (majdhb, fana). As this practice is not intended as entertainment, the people that have been invited to watch them, should not speak or clap throughout the whole ceremony. Dervishes were known as a source of wisdom, medicine, poetry, enlightenment, and witticisms. Many dervishes are mendicant ascetics who have taken the vow of poverty. The main reason why they beg is to learn humility, but dervishes are prohibited to beg for their own good. They have to give the collected money to other poor people.

Merry Christmas!

Winter in Dubai!

It's so warm that the snowman is melting!

Sirkeci Istasyon Caddesi - Train Station

A short walk from Eminönü (you can see the Galata Tower in the background) we find the train station. We wanted to find the station because this is where we will come see the whirling dirvish later that night. This is also where you would catch a train to most everywhere in Turkey. A train from this station to Budapest would cost about 81 Euros; to Ankara 12 Euros.

Eminönü

Eminönü is the area on the Bosphorus - there are many ferry stations here. As Istanbul is on the water, seafood is abundant! In the pictures above Barry is standing with a man who is selling fresh mussels. We were less adventurous and opted for the fried fish vendor who offered us this interesting treat.

The Bosphorus

Walking down to the Bosphorus. The Bosphorus Strait runs from the Sea of Marmara all the way to the Black Sea. Mythology says that the Bosphorus is where "the cow crossed". The cow was Io, a young girl who Zeus (king of the gods) had an affair with - and got pregnant. When his wife Hera discovered his infidelity, Zeus tried to make up for it by turning Io into a cow. Hera provided a horsefly to sting Io on the rump and drive her accross the strait. Zeus managed to get off scot-free. Io's child became the mother of the first founder of the city Byzas. One picture is the walk down to the port, one is of a mosque near the port and the other is a picture looking across the Bosphorus to the other side.

In and Around Istanbul

Here are random shots of various things we saw during our walk around Istanbul. When in Turkey Barry and I took a cab twice - once from the airport and once back to the airport. Walking proved to be the best mode of transportation even for our walk from Galata Bridge to to Taksim Sq via Istiklal Caddesi on the Beyoglu side of the Bosphorus. Mind you that was a LONG walk and we took the tram back to Sultanahment.

Hagia Sophia

It was so easy to sightsee in Turkey – it seems there is something around every corner.

Next stop, Hagia Sophia. This mosque is a former patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Medieval Seville Cathedral in 1520.

Basilica Cistern

We visited the Basilica Cistern (aka Yerebatan Sarnıcı), it is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that still lie beneath the city of Istanbul. The cistern was used as a location for the James Bond film From Russia with Love.

The Medusa heads were very interesting to see! The origin of the two heads is unknown, though it is rumoured that the heads were brought to the cistern after being removed from an antique building of the late Roman period. Another mystery is why one of the heads is upside down, while the other is tilted to one side. It is commonly accepted by scientists that they were placed that way deliberately.

Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) is one of the main reasons I wanted to see Istanbul. Visiting this mosque was a very significant part of the trip. In order to see the mosque without hordes of people ruining the experience, we woke up very early (not quite as early as the call to prayer). We were lucky the Blue Mosque was only a 5 minute walk away from our hotel. Later in the day we went back and visited the inside.

The Blue Mosque It was built between 1609 and 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder.

Hamam (aka Turkish Bath)

The Turkish Bath is the Middle Eastern variant of a steam bath, which can be categorized as a wet relative of the sauna. They have played an important role in cultures of the Middle-East, serving as places of social gathering, ritual cleansing, and as architectural structures and institutions. I heard mothers frequented hamams to find wives for their sons.

How do I explain this with grace? I don’t know that I can. . . . . .a bunch of naked women of all colour, shape and size walking around wet and soapy (except for the men's side of the building of course).

The Hamam we visted was built in 1584 and it was beautiful! The idea is that you lay on a massive circular marble slap in the middle of the round room. The roof was a massive dome which had stars cut into it. Depending on the service you selected (self-service, traditional, or Luxury style) you are given two small domino-type coloured tags and a scrubbing cloth. One tag shows that you are there to be bathed and the other shows that you will then go for a massage.

After lying on the marble stone in the centre of the room, pouring water over yourself from the several “sinks” around the outside of the room, a hamam lady will go over to you and bath you on the marble stone. This involves hard scrubbing followed by lots of bubbles, rinsing and hair washing. That’s as much detail as I will go into on the blog.

For obvious reasons there was no picture taking inside. For pictures check out the website:

http://www.cemberlitashamami.com.tr/

P.S. my locker key was number 30 :-)

Things I loved about Istanbul

Interesting architecture;
Narrow streets with cobblestone roads;
Cafés on every corner;
Quaint shops everywhere; and
Mosques on every street;
The night view from our hotel room.

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar

Since the plane was late taking off (darned charter flights) we only had a few hours in the Grand Bazaar before it closed for Eid. The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest covered markets in the world and is comprised of more than 58 streets and 4,000 shops. We tried to make our way through the walkways to see all the jewelry, gold, silver, pottery, spice, leather and carpet shops we could. Being well trained in the art of shopping by my mother, I was successful in purchasing a few items which will remind me of this trip in years to come. I could not stop taking pictures of the Bazaar’s painted ceilings!