A Walk Along the Shore in Eminönü

Here are a few photos from the end of my day of wandering around. 

There are men fishing everywhere.  Ferry boats leaving every few minutes to connect the European and Asian sides of the city.  You can Asia in the background of the first photo below.  It's such an amazing and unbelievable city!

In the last post I mentioned how Aya Sofya sits up on top of it's hill and can be seen so clearly from the sea.  Here are two photos of Aya Sofya from the Golden Horn.  The effect is the same from the Marmara side of the city.

In the first photo you can see the little Aya Sofya to the left of the Aya Sofya.  To the left of those two buildings is the Topkapı palace.  Topkapı was the home of the Sultans for hundreds of years, but it's a palace made of pavilions situated in a wooded parkland.  It's completely NOT what we expect in a palace, but it's really beautiful.

Soon after this day I left for the Black Sea region of Turkey to spend a week with Suphi and his family.  I'll post some pictures of that adventure in a while!

Mosaics from Aya Sofya

These are some of the mosaics that have been uncovered in the Aya Sofya.  There are many to uncover still (apparently) but the ones that are visible are really amazing.

Pictures of the Inside of the Aya Sofya

I took a bunch of photos of the inside of the Aya Sofya.  It's really amazing!  Apparently much of the inside was whitewashed when it was turned into a mosque, but the have been restoring it for many years.  The marble walls are amazing, the mosaics are beautiful (I'll have some of these in the next post) and the sheer size of the place is beyond belief. Hopefully the photos at the end have captured some of the immensity of the space inside.

There are huge medallions with Arabic hanging from the walls.  I WISH i knew what they said.  I suppose if I'd taken  tour I would know, but I just wanted to walk around.  But they are amazing.  you can see that there is still a lot to restore, but you can also see that it's a beautiful place.

Finally, the views of the interior.  I took these from the second level, but the second level must have been the equivalent of the 4th or 5th floor.  You can see in the last photo the height of the first level.  Imagine what it must have been like to attend a service in this place!

Still Wandering around Istanbul

So, after visiting the Sulamaniye & Beyazid Mosques, I walked in the direction of Sultanahmet and the Aya Sofya (Haghia Sophia.)

Along the way I passed the Nurosmaniye Mosque.  It's just beside the Grand Bazaar.  It's a beautiful Baroque-style mosque.

After the mosque, I walked along and found a book fair.  It was centered around the old Hippodrome of Constantinople.  From the book fair there was a great view of the Blue Mosque.  It's called the Sultan Ahmet Camii, or the Sultan Ahmet Mosque.  That's why the area is called Sultanahmet.  It's a fairy-tale type of building with all the minarets!  In the evening the lights that are strung along and between the minarets are lit and it's really amazingly beautiful.

Then you turn and you can see the Aya Sofya.  It was built in the 700's, if you can believe that.  It sits above the hill it sits on and you can see it from everywhere.  I can't even imagine what people sailing into Constantinople hundreds of years ago - it must have seemed like a completely unbelievable building!  

When Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror captured Constantinople, this church was turned into a mosque.  When Turkey became a republic, Ataturk  (the Father of the Turks is what that means) turned it onto a museum is a gesture of reconciliation, secularism and modernity.  In the picture below the dome and the minaret in the distance is the Aya Sofya.    

This is the Aya Sofya.

And this is a view of the Blue Mosque from inside the Aya Sofya, looking across the domes of the tombs that now surround the Aya Sofya.

Two Beautiful Mosques

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!

Sunday Wanderings in Istanbul

First, just in case you can't remember what I look like, here I am!  

I'm in the tomb of Suleyiman the Magnificent!  And the tomb is magnificent, too.  So here you go.

Now on to some sights.  Here are two photos of the Rustem Pasha Mosque.  Very beautiful.  It's up a little windy stair off a side street.  I wanted to take pictures of the stairs, but they didn't look like much in the photo.  So you'll just have to come!  It's covered in beautiful tiles.  It was designed by Mimar Sinan - a famous architect at the time of Suleyiman.   I passed his tomb on the way to the Suleyimaniye Çamii - the Suleyiman Mosque which he also designed.  I'll put up pictures of that next.  

Of course I discovered in a book I was reading here that Mimar means "architect" so it's a title, not a name.  And Sinan was a very common name of Greek converts to Islam back in the old days.  So while everyone talked about Mimar Sinan it just means Sinan the Architect.  Not exactly specific, is it!  :-)

But the Mosque is beautiful.  I really liked these two photos of the interior.

Here are two shots of shops.  The first is a shop for coffee and tea pots.  Definitely specialized!  But that's often what I saw in Turkey - lots of little shops selling just one or two things.  The second is a large covered bazaar.  Lots and LOTS of little shops selling things.

Another day in Istanbul

One of my very good friends in Istanbul is Suphi (you say Soup.hee)  Anyway, I've known him for maybe 9 years now - so we've been friend for a LONG time.  He works on a cruise ship right now but he is home on a vacation between contracts now.  So we were able to spend some time together doing this and that.  One of things we did was take a boat trip out to the Princes' Islands in the Marmara.  Here are some photos of that trip.  We had a picnic, wandered around the island called Buyukada (it means Big Island) and then went to the beach.

I walked down the hill from Beyoğlu to the Ferry terminal.  Here's a picture from the bridge.  There are many fishermen on the bridge (the bridge has cars and trucks rumbling along as well as the Street Car - so it's busy and not the first place you'd think of if you were trying to find a fishing spot.  But it seems to work!)  The sea-level part of the bridge where I was walking is full of restaurants (fish, of course!) and cafes.  Very fun place.

Of course once we got there we found out that the ferry to the Islands had moved up the Bosphorus.  So we got on the Tram (Streetcar) and just made it as the boat was leaving the dock! 

Here's the view at the small town on Buyukada.  As you can see, it's a VERY popular place for tourists on the weekend.  The weekdays are less crowded, but it's summer so in a way every day is a weekday.  Schools are out, people go for the summer to rented houses and apartments, and there's no escaping the crowds!

The beach was not just a simple beach.  It was a Destination Beach with a DJ.  He played tons of fun (Turkish) music and lots of people were dancing.  But you're probably noticing that all the boys are dancing together.....that's what happens here generally.  The boys dance together (well, not together, but in the same general space and laugh and have a good time) and the girls dance together.  Although Turkey is officially (constitutionally) a secular country a lot of the norms and practices are still a little religious (I don't call it Muslim because so many things are exactly the same as you would find in rural America or Europe.)  There were obviously some boyfriend/girlfriend combos dancing together, and the girls were all wearing bikinis, but still some things were done separately.  Anyway, they were having a good time, laughing and just enjoying the beach.  So, here you are - a little slice of life at the beach in Turkey.  

Finally, this is the boat back to Istanbul.  Standing room only after a LONG wait with everyone muttering about the late boat, the lack of information about what was going on and all that.  Just like anywhere.  Then the mad rush to the boat (no one was pushed into the sea, so nothing really bad happened!)  Then standing all the way back to Istanbul (just less than one hour.)

That's it for this post.  More later!

Disappointed in America (again)

Is this all our current Administration can offer America?  We were once a beacon to people everywhere who yearned to create a new life, find freedom and lift their families to a better place.  

The Statue of Liberty offers this vision of America and these words to the world: 

"Give me your tired your poor, 

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.  

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,  

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

But as you can see in the editorial below (and the link to the article it references) apparently we take the tired, poor huddled masses who are just trying to work to create a better life for themselves and their families, arrest them, treat them like cattle and throw them in prison.  Right now I'm sad and embarrassed to be associated in any way with a government that has so little compassion and so much fear of the world's tired and poor people.  They are just yearning to be free and we've imprisoned them!

I'm also furious that our government would trample the good name and reputation of our country in the mud - again.  Haven't they done enough damage to America yet? 

************************* 

July 13, 2008

EDITORIAL (New York Times)

The Shame of Postville, Iowa

Anyone who has doubts that this country is abusing and terrorizing undocumented immigrant workers should read an essay by Erik Camayd-Freixas, a professor and Spanish-language court interpreter who witnessed the aftermath of a huge immigration workplace raid at a meatpacking plant in Iowa.

The essay chillingly describes what Dr. Camayd-Freixas saw and heard as he translated for some of the nearly 400 undocumented workers who were seized by federal agents at the Agriprocessors kosher plant in Postville in May.

Under the old way of doing things, the workers, nearly all Guatemalans, would have been simply and swiftly deported. But in a twist of Dickensian cruelty, more than 260 were charged as serious criminals for using false Social Security numbers or residency papers, and most were sentenced to five months in prison.

What is worse, Dr. Camayd-Freixas wrote, is that the system was clearly rigged for the wholesale imposition of mass guilt. He said the court-appointed lawyers had little time in the raids’ hectic aftermath to meet with the workers, many of whom ended up waiving their rights and seemed not to understand the complicated charges against them.

Dr. Camayd-Freixas’s essay describes “the saddest procession I have ever witnessed, which the public would never see” — because cameras were forbidden.

“Driven single-file in groups of 10, shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles, chains dragging as they shuffled through, the slaughterhouse workers were brought in for arraignment, sat and listened through headsets to the interpreted initial appearance, before marching out again to be bused to different county jails, only to make room for the next row of 10.”

He wrote that they had waived their rights in hopes of being quickly deported, “since they had families to support back home.” He said that they did not understand the charges they faced, adding, “and, frankly, neither could I.”

No one is denying that the workers were on the wrong side of the law. But there is a profound difference between stealing people’s identities to rob them of money and property, and using false papers to merely get a job. It is a distinction that the Bush administration, goaded by immigration extremists, has willfully ignored. Deporting unauthorized workers is one thing; sending desperate breadwinners to prison, and their families deeper into poverty, is another.

Court interpreters are normally impartial participants and keep their opinions to themselves. But Dr. Camayd-Freixas, a professor of Spanish at Florida International University, said he was so offended by the cruelty of the prosecutions that he felt compelled to break his silence. “A line was crossed at Postville,” he wrote.

Istanbul Experiences

Well, it's hard to believe that 6 weeks have almost ended.  On Tuesday an amazing time will come to a (temporary?) end when I head back to Kelly and Paul in the UK.  I did a "test pack" of all my stuff today because I was worried that a few things here and there had turned into too much to get back.  It JUST fit.  So I guess I'm set to go.

I'm going to slowly work my way through my weeks here - fortunately my digital camera keeps good track of when I took which photos so I have a handy reminder of what I did and when I did it!

But before I start let me just say that Turks are amazing people.  I knew that already, but living here for these past 6 weeks have reminded me how wonderful they are.  Everyone should be like the people I met here - kind, hospitable, helpful, loving, interested in life, interested in the world and ready to experience what's out there!  

Also, here are a few of the people I've met while I've been here:

• A war photographer.  He's been in Afghanistan and Iraq, and was held hostage by the Kurdish PKK group inside Turkey for a while
• A woman who is part of a group called Mavi Kalem.  They fight for the Health and Reproductive Rights of Women in Turkey, and the Health and Education Rights of Children.  
• A modern dancer who used to have a company in the US based in Long Beach.  He is now teaching in Istanbul, but the Joffrey Ballet has some of his pieces in their repertoire.
• A very smart and kind professor who also used to be the president of the International Gay and Lesbian Alliance.  He has some fantastic stories, including meeting with the IRA in Northern Ireland in a secret location.
• My friend Suphi's parents who were fantastic hosts in the mountains of the Black Sea region of Turkey.  I'll have a post dedicated to them later.
• A woman who used to work for the International Red Cross in Geneva and who now lives here in Istanbul doing real estate.
• My Turkish teacher who introduced me to his cousin, who works for the Turkish security company that screens passengers at the airport for flights to the UK and US.  But guess what - we wouldn't give him a Visa to visit our country!  What's that all about?  We trust him to make sure out flights are safe but we won't let him come to visit the country he is protecting?  That's simply wrong, ungrateful, rude and outrageous.  Amazingly, he was very gracious about it - I would be hopping mad if it were me!
• Lots of lots of people who asked me what I think of President Bush.  Those were always interesting conversations...they definitely have an opinion, and it was universally one that I share!  :-)

Anyway, now for a few photos of my first days in Istanbul.

I arrived on June 1.  Nice an easy to remember that.  This is the view from the apartment I rented.  I have more which I'll post as I get to them - I know this isn't much, but maybe it gives an idea of 1) the weather while I've been here and 2) the size of Istanbul!  Maybe 20 million people live here!

It's in a part of town called Beyoğlu.  That's across the Golden Horn (this link takes you to a really interesting Istanbul site!) from the old historical part of Istanbul called Sultanahmet (Sultan Ahmet - one of the Ottoman sultans.)  Of course this part of town was called Pera, and has a long history itself.  It was long the center of the European traders, so it has some fantastic buildings.  

The main pedestrian street is called Istiklal Caddesi.  That means Independence Street.  I was told by several people that it's estimated that on the weekDAYS approximately 1 million people walk on this street for the shops, cafes, restaurants, etc.  On the Fridays and Saturdays they estimate that 3 MILLION people are here.  You can believe it if you are walking around! 

Here are two shots one evening soon after I got here.  The second (Balik Pasaji) is a great little street off of Istiklal - Balik means fish, and there are fish restaurants up and down the street.  Very tasty!

One day soon after I got here I walked down the hill and the up along the Bosphorus for a bit.  It's a beautiful walk along the shore.  Just two photos for now - the first is of the Tophane Mosque with it's fountain in front.  And the second is of the fountain and front windows o another mosque - I can't remember the name.  But I thought it very beautiful.

That's it for now.  I'll load up more in the next few days.  Maybe not too much before I leave, but then I'll have 6 days in the country in the UK so I'll get some things posted!  It's nice to be back, but sooooooooo sad to think of leaving Istanbul!