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Sunday 06 May 2012: Antalya - Istanbul (tour ends)
Au revoir Antalya, Hello Istanbul!
For those on the group flight, breakfast in the courtyard was so early that we had to leave before the kitchen staff started for the day, but - brilliant to the last - Mike provided pastry goodies, sweet and savoury, from the bakery down the street.
Farewells in the lobby, as Jay and Fiona were staying for a couple more days and Nick was on a Monarch flight back to the UK, then quiet minibus ride to the airport for Jean and Brian, Helen, Hazel and me. Sad farewell to Mike, then a speedy check in for Turkish Airlines TK2409 to Istanbul, and not long to wait once through security.
Once back on the ground, it was final, hectic farewells at Istanbul as Helen, Jean and Brian headed off to the International Terminal, and Hazel and I went out to find our driver... who was ready and waiting for us at the arrivals gate.
Easy journey into Sultanahmet, where we were deposited at the lovely Turkoman Hotel - another Thelma tip, it's a restored, Ottoman era town house. Great location, amazing view of the Blue Mosque, roof top dining room and terrace and lovely staff - what more could you want (a larger bathroom, apparently, if you're American).
Refreshed by a complimentary turkish coffee on the roof terrace, we headed out to see some sights, starting with the Hippodrome and the columns within it, then straight into the grounds and courtyard of the amazing Blue Mosque. We'd arrived during one of the day's closed periods (which only means you can't go inside, and there's plenty to see on the outside), so we continued out exploration round the back of the mosque, and worked our way round to the Hagia Sophia, where the queues were ginormous. We spotted 3 massive cruise liners docked at Karaköy, which probably contributed to the volume of people and the length of the queues, as we passed lots of tagged tour groups.
Continuing on, we passed the beautiful Fountain of Ahmed III, strolled through the grounds of the Topkapı Palace, and then dropped down towards the waterfront at Eminönü and crossed the Galata bridge to Karaköy. A lot of uphill brought us to the Galata Tower, again with a long queue.
Back over the bridge, we explored the Spice Market, the Egyptian Bazaar and the streets around the New Mosque, but our attempts to return to our hotel via the Grand Bazaar were thwarted by key streets being cordoned off for filming... the new James Bond film, apparently. No sign of Daniel Craig though, sadly.
Once we did make it back to the hotel, it was time for a beer on the roof terrace, and to admire the minarets and domes of the Blue Mosque in the afternoon light - beautiful blue sky, grey architecture and green leaves/trees. So, no surprise that we headed back to take some more photos en route to dinner at the Doy-Doy Restaurant, where we sat on its roof terrace with views over the Marmara Sea and the Blue Mosque. Food was so-so, but not pricey and - unlike the restaurant streets we'd walked through earlier - there was no hustle/hassle from the waiters.
Back to the hotel via Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque in their night time guise.
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The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultan Ahmet Camii) is a historic mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.
It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is still popularly used as a mosque.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has one main dome, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman mosque development. It incorporates some Byzantine Christian elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect, Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour.
The cavernous ceilings of Istanbul's mosques covered spartan interiors, the only embellishments being Arabic script with beautiful gold embellishments and floral patterns that stretched from floor to ceiling. The naturally ventilated mosques provided a welcome respite from the hot sun of mid-summer outside. In contrast, the Royal Palace was an exercise in lack of self-restraint, showcasing an over-indulgence of embellishments and decorations that yet were tastefully done.
It was a reminder that opulence of the gilded age in European castles continued to be a major influence in the styling of the Royal Palace. And of the strong contrast from the confluence of western designs and eastern culture. Istanbul is one of the few places that one can experience this amalgam in a single day.
Istanbul
Turkey
Thoughts on Turkey.
I flew in to Ataturk International Airport, arriving at 11:30pm on May 20. I slept in the airport which was surprisingly not as bad as I thought.
Turkey. How the hell did I get to Turkey? I really have no idea what I was doing here. Istanbul sounded like a cool place… Honestly, I didn’t really put much thought into going to Turkey, I kinda just showed up. But as luck would have it, my friend from Syracuse, Beatrice, is finishing up her semester abroad there right now. She met me as I got off the bus from the airport and took me out to an authentic local breakfast place.
Turkey is a little behind the times. As we sat there eating some weird goat cheese thing (that’s the technical term), an overbearing loudspeaker came on. And not a loudspeaker in the restaurant. A loudspeaker over the whole city. A man speaking in Arabic calling for prayer. I look out the window and see men rushing and running to the nearby mosque to wash their feet in a foot-sink thingy (also a technical term) and then inside the mosque to pray. Now apparently this happens multiple times a day.
It was very weird. We happen to walk by a different mosque later that day and decide to peak inside. We were in there looking around, Beatrice in her fancy headscarf, provided by the front door man, and we’re both barefoot. Of course this would be the time when the loudspeaker comes on, calling for prayer. The men start flooding in, some in sweat pants, others in fancy suits, to pray. We stayed to watch for a little while (technically we were allowed to be there) but left shortly thereafter.
On a positive note though, the world is flat, thanks to the Internet. I posted on Facebook that I was going to be in Istanbul and a friend from high school messaged me saying she had an alumni event in Istanbul at the same time. I found myself on a fancy dinner cruise on the Bosphorus River hanging out with an old high school friend and some really cool people.
Basic networking, fast forward to the end of the night, I made a new photographer friend who lives in a Switzerland, and offered to let me crash at her place when I go to Switzerland later this summer. Boom. One Facebook post. Now that’s cool.
blog.samthecobra.com/post/23960774948/turkey-a-set-on-fli...
Some Australian acquaintances thought I was nuts for photographing my glass of water, but they couldn't see this cool reflection. Istanbul, Turkey
Detail of Blue mosque, Yerevan. See more about Yerevan at adrianyekkes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/picture-post-number-s...
I shot this from our cruise ship as we sailed into Istanbul. It was on our tour so we got to visit the inside.
The Blue Mosque was commissioned by Sultan Ahmet I when he was only 19 years old. It was built near the Hagia Sophia, over the site of the ancient hippodrome and Byzantine imperial palace . Construction work began in 1609 and took seven years.
The Blue Mosque is one of the most prominent landmarks of Istanbul, especially when viewed from the First Hill or from the Asian shore of the Sea of Marmara. It is very impressive with its beautiful domes and semidomes, nice courtyards and six slender minarets.
The Blue Mosque was founded by Sultan Ahmet I. He ordered Architect Mehmed Aga to begin constuction in 1609 and the whole complex was completed in 1616. The location of the mosque is just opposite of the splendid Church of Hagia Sophia as it is trying to compete with it. That is actually true because Architect Mehmed wanted to construct a bigger dome then Hagia Sophia's but he could not succeed. Instead, he made the mosque splendid by the perfect proportion of domes and semidomes as well as the splendid minarets. There is an interesting story of the mosque; according to it, Sultan Ahmet I wanted to have a minaret made of gold which is "altin" in Turkish. The architect misunderstood him as "alti" which means "six" in English. However, when the architect was shivering as "am I going to be beheaded?", the Sultan Ahmed I liked the minarets so much. Prior to that time, no sultan had a mosque with 6 minarets.
The mosque covers a large area, there's a big courtyard where some ablution fountains are located. These ablution fountains are for people who are getting prepared to pray in the mosque. Before praying, one should wash his/her face, arms, neck and feet as well as mouth and nose. This is a basic cleaning. There are beautiful marble steps right in the middle of the courtyard, leading to the main courtyard. The marble courtyard is lovely, its marble comes from the Island of Marmara (the Turkish word for marble ,"Mermer" comes from Marmara). There is a fountain in the middle which is used as decorative purposes. There is a portal on the left hand side which is entrance for the local people. Upon turning to the left, one comes to the main entrance of the mosque. The shoes must be taken off and put into plastic bags.
Upon the entrance to the mosque, one should pay attention to the gate. The gate is a typical Seljuk- Turkish wooden work with a geometrical design in its center. The star symbolizes the Turkish Generation and very typical of early 11-12th C Turkish Art. After the gate, one meets the breathtaking interior of the mosque with its chandelliers and blue tiles. The mosque is all surrounded by beautiful 17C Iznik tiles which give its name to the Blue Mosque. It is all carpeted with prayer rugs because people must put their forehead on the floor and therefore the floor should be soft and clean.
The building is nearly a square and covered with a dome of 23.5 m.(77 feet) in diameter and 43m(140 feet) high. There are four colossal standing colums of 5m. in diameter(16.3 feet) which give the basic support to the building. The mosque has 260 windows which let the sunlight diffuse into the building quite nicely. They were filled with stained-glass in early 17C but they were restored later. The pulpit and nave is worth seeing, made of marble and original. The Imam(priest) goes on the pulpit every Friday on the sacred day of the Muslims but he never climbs to the very top as a respect to Prophet Muhammed. Everybody should turn their face to the south when praying, because Mecca( Saudi Arabia) is located in South.
When visiting the Blue Mosque, one should remember the prayer times, five times a day. First one in the very early in morning, second at noon time, third in afternon, fourth in evening and last fifth before going to bed. The mosque is closed at prayer times for 1-1.5 hours. One should prefer to visit the mosque in the morning or before 3-4 o'clock in the afternoon because the prayer times rotate according to the sun's positions.
The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior. It is located in Istanbul and was completed around AD 1616.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultan Ahmet Camii) is a historic mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.
It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is still popularly used as a mosque.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has one main dome, six minarets, and eight secondary domes. The design is the culmination of two centuries of Ottoman mosque development. It incorporates some Byzantine Christian elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect, Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour.