We did sleep in a bit, then began our day of visiting sites in Sultanahmet where many of the famous "touristy" sites are. I’m including a photo of the Metro – I loved their long sleek lines and at one point I thought I was looking into mirrors facing each other. In a straight line the view through multiple cars seemed endless. The metro is sleek, modern and efficient. While at the metro stop, Tricia and I were talking – in English of course. A Turkish man introduced himself and spoke English with us. Another kind Turkish interaction. His name was Omer and he offered to show us the Blue Mosque. He walked us there and explained that there were 3 entrances – one for tourists, one for Turks and one for worshippers. We took our shoes off and went in. It’s called the Blue Mosque because of the abundance of blue tiles used in the mosaic art work. Because of the numerous descriptions of the lovely blue tiles, I was expecting something different in my mind - like walking into a sea of blue. Yes, there are a lot of blue tiles but there are more white tiles so it was more like walking into a partly cloudy sky scape. Aside from this erroneous expectation, it was beautiful (that happens fairly often in life doesn't it?).
Here's a little aside - Turkey is a secular country with a population that is 96-97% Muslim. Istanbul is a huge city, I just checked Wikipedia and they say as of the end of 2010 there are approximately 13 million people in the city. I'm not sure what the physical parameters of the city are, but that is less than the 15, 16 or 17 million I kept hearing while visiting there. While there are many mosques in Istanbul, I was surprised by the small number of woman I saw wearing scarves (hijabs) covering their hair. I thought the majority of women might wear scarves but I'd say, where I was maybe 10% were. And there were some very professional women wearing them. One cannot "judge a book by it's cove" whether they are wearing scarves on their heads or running shoes on their feet! Istanbul is a mature and modern city, I don't know if that has any bearing on dress code or not. Another example of my uneducated expectations being different that what I saw.
Back to the Blue Mosque - or it's proper name, Sultan Ahmed Mosque. It’s the first mosque I’ve ever been in. It was built between 1609 and 1616 and I’m always
in awe of architecture on a massive scale which has survived for such a long
time. And the variety of designs of intricate handmade ceramic tiles astonishing and beautiful to look at.
Another thing I learned from our impromptu host, Omer, was that Jesus is one of the prophets of the Muslim
religion. He is mentioned by name in the Quran 25 times which is more often than Mohammed is mentioned. I know nothing about Islam so I'm not going to say any more. If you know me you know I'm not a "religious" person, but it made me very happy to know that Jesus is respected here too.
After completing our visit to the Blue Mosque, Omer showed us to the near-by entrance to the cisterns and told
us it would take about 30 minutes to visit the underground water system. Talk about historical - this enormous underground cistern was build in 527-565 and can hold a 100,000 tons of water. In the photo you can see a few of the marble columns - there are 12 rows of 28 columns. That's a lot of marble!! The most recent restoration was in the mid 1980s and it is now a tourist site rather than a source water for the city. And yes, there are fish.
After the cisterns, Omer invited us to visit him at his family’s
carpet and jewelry shops for tea afterwards.
We did. We learned a lot about
designs in different carpet patterns.
Different styles are woven in different regions. They had a little bit of everything from
simple loom woven rugs to double knot luxurious rugs with intricate patterns to
even more intricate embroideries. There were some designs which remind me of
Native American designs of the American southwest. His uncle joined us – the shop owner and I
realized not only was it informative, it was also a sales presentation. Which one did I want? Hmmmm. I actually love the feel and colors of fabric design, so I
was willing to consider purchasing one of the least expensive ones. I left with a handwoven carpet with a simple
pattern and one of the smaller price tag. The
fringe at each end of the carpet is gathered into little clusters and this is a
sign that the young woman who wove it is not yet married. The carpet comes from a region called Cappadocia in central Turkey. It's region with many interesting rock formations and even homes built into the rocks and cliffs (similar to Bryce Canyon). Some people still live inside their homes in the rocks. Somehow it seemed perfect since I came to this part of the world from the gorgeous red rocks of Sedona. I walked away with a purchase I wasn’t
planning on, but I now the happy owner of a piece of woven art from Turkey. I felt
they were kind, and not high pressure salesmen, and it is something that will
help my feet stay warm on cold winter days and nights – guaranteed for 70
years. :>)
Next, across the plaza, we went to a mosque-turned-musem called Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofia). Another amazing historical feat - built between 532 and 537 with 1,000 masters and 10,000 workers. It was originally built as a Byzantine Church and converted to a mosque in 1453. The upkeep was not as pristine as the other mosques I visited while in Istanbul. Some parts and tiles were showing wear and tear. Again the sheer size is impressive.
We headed back over the Golden Horn to our apartment and the part of town that is beginning to feel like home. While it's been a full day we talk about going to an American movie at a theater - something I haven't done in almost a year. We're walking along the charming Istiklal Street and we actually find a theater with an American movie beginning in 15 minutes. The title is in Turkish and we don't know what it is but it has Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet in it. So o.k. - let's check it out. The theater is interesting. We choose seats about 1/2 way back and sit in the middle of the row. There are only about 10 people there so options were many. What was interesting is that the rows of seats in front of us were slightly higher with each row, not lower. The screen was fairly high on the front wall so it seemed more comfortable to me. Each row had the seats staggered so everyone would sit between the two people in the row in front of them. Our movie adventure only lasted about 20 minutes or so though. At the end of the first reel (do they still have reels) the movie stopped. Whether it was a planned or unplanned intermission I don't know, but we both were ready to leave. I later looked up the movie on the Internet and found out the name was "Carnage." It wasn't bloody carnage, it was psychological carnage between two sets of parents over an incident between their pre-teen sons. There's more than enough angst and blame in the world already, I don't want to sit through 90 minutes of it and call it entertainment. It's not for me. So good for us - we left and had an enjoyable evening at home. Tomorrow is another day.
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