On this particular day (continuation of the two earlier posts) was walked all over. Here are some pictures of two really gorgeous mosques.
The first is the Suleymaniye Çamii - the Suleyman Mosque. It was built by Mimar Sinan. It truly is amazing. It's undergoing a massive restoration now, so you'll see some scaffolding. And the inside is completely closed off except for a small section. But I have a B&W picture of the interior of this mosque on the wall of my front hall in SF. So maybe you remember that.The first is the Suleymaniye Çamii - the Suleyman Mosque. It was built by Mimar Sinan. It truly is amazing. It's undergoing a massive restoration now, so you'll see some scaffolding. And the inside is completely closed off except for a small section. But I have a B&W picture of the interior of this mosque on the wall of my front hall in SF. So maybe you remember that.
Men (not women for some mysterious reason) wash hands, feet and face before entering the mosque. I'm sure the reason isn't mysterious to people who live in Turkey, but it's a mystery to me. So all mosques have fountains like these where people can prepare to pray.
Just like the Suleymaniye Çamii is named for the Sultan Suleyman, the Beyazid Çamii is named for the Sultan Beyazit II. It is next to a university also named for this Sultan. It's a very different style but also very beautiful. I like this shot of the interior.
Then when I was walking around the back I came across this little entrance. I like it.
This is the plaza outside the Mosque Gate. Lots of people selling a variety of things.
One of my favorite things to buy here is Turkish Pilav (a rice dish.) Here are some recipes! Try them! There's a guy selling it form the little wooden cart sort of in the middle of the picture. It's just rice with a few garbanzo beans mixed it. But it's TASTY! (Probably has tons of butter or oil or something.) My friend Boran took me to a great little Pilav restaurant (yes, ONLY pilav) close to here. You can have it plain, with beans or with chicken. They have some small, spicy and very good peppers on the table. And you drink Ayran with your hot peppers and it's perfect. And you can make Ayran at HOME! :-)
From these two places I wandered to a friend's shop that's very close to the Grand Bazaar (but not in the Bazaar). Here is a shot of his place.
From here I went to the Aya Sofya (Haghia Sophia) so those pictures will be next!
3 comments:
O.K. Love, love, LOVE all the cool pics. and updates. Have you considered printint them up through blurb in a little book about your travels? Here's an awesome site for that if you're interested in something like that:
http://www.blurb.com/
Great post(s)! Glad you're back on-line.
I obviously cannot spell simple words. :-)
Hey Lynne! Thanks for the comments, and I'm glad you like the photos still.....I'm finally catching up on all the weeks in Istanbul! I will have more to say in the next posts (instead of just photos) because I was spending time in the mountains with my friend Suphi and his family. That was fun, and I have some good memories of that place.
Thanks for the link! I'll think about the idea.
Finally, since I often spell "soon" as "son", I can empathize. Since I'm usually trying to say "See you soon" but instead say "See you son!", I REALLY know what you mean! :-)
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