Where two religions met

On another evening, my colleague and I went to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. This is one of the oldest markets in the world, originally intended for people from Asia to bring goods that would eventually end up in Europe and vice versa. Today it is a tourist attraction with many, many 'rooms' that contain lots of booths that sell touristy stuff. Mixed in here and there are boutiques with a little more unique content.

Mirrored and glass goods, enameled goods, carpets, cotton and linen towels, scarves, hats, jewelry, copper goods, wall hangings, spices, etc. are all available here. And let us not forget the ubiquitous Turkish delight sweetmeat!

We spent a couple of hours wandering around looking at items, buying stuff, taking pictures and generally getting a feel for the place before heading out to dinner. It does get a bit overwhelming at times. There are areas that traditionally housed the carpets, the copper goods, the fabrics, etc. and these still tend to stay true to form.

Looking down one of the 'streets' in the Grand Bazaar:

I really wanted to bring home one of these copper vessels but they were too big. Some day...

There are cafes in the Grand Bazaar. In fact, we met up at one of them. But there also used to be a mosque. This is what you can see of it today:

The Grand Bazaar now is all about commerce, not religion. But there is a water fountain where one can drink, or maybe wash one's feet before worship? I don't know. I just thought it was beautiful.

The area around the Grand Bazaar is also chock-a-block with shops. This maze of streets and shops extends for quite a distance around the Grand Bazaar in the old part of town. The old part is where all these places are located. One can easily walk from the Topkapi palace to the Hagia Sofia to the Grand Bazaar if one is willing to walk up and down hills on narrow streets. What little I did of it was fun! There are also some upscale shops around the Grand Bazaar. We went into a carpet shop because we loved the carpets in the window. Beautiful but not very affordable and definitely not for stepping on.

One last shot of a bridge lit up with colored lights and the reflections on the water...

 The next day was spent at the Hagia Sofia and the Blue mosque. The Hagia Sofia was a church when Istanbul was still Constantinople. When the Muslims invaded and took over, it was converted into a mosque. Then, when Kemal Ataturk established the secular state of Turkey, it became a museum. All I can say is that it is beautiful and I could spend lots more time in there just feasting my eyes on the various details.

After walking through an arch or two and a gallery, the interior is visible:

The scale of the building is immense. Everything is huge! Part of it was closed off for repairs. The scaffolding you see in some of the photos is for this renovation.

Every surface is decorated beautifully. The imagery fluctuates between Christianity and Islam.

That is the dome you see from the outside. It is flanked by smaller sections, all of which have murals on them.

At each corner are these giant calligraphy plaques...

There is an upper floor that was used by the women when it was a mosque.

The lights are huge but beautiful!

This the spot where the Sultan was crowned...

Contrast the door to the pulpit where the mullah would go to lead the prayers,

with this mural of the Virgin Mary.

The Sultan got his own space and could ride his horse up there - there is a ramp visible from the outside.

One of the galleries leading outside to the baptistry provides a snapshot of the decoration that is on every surface.

And the font in the baptistry - there are steps to go down into the water.

This pillar contains a wishing hole. You put your thumb into the hole and turn your hand 360 degrees while making a wish.

Yes, I tried it and no, I don't remember what I wished; but I did make a wish.

To reach the upstairs gallery, you walk up a winding ramp that looks like this - all the many lengths of it.

I walked up with a couple who stopped to take photos along every length. I have no idea why. Maybe one of the photos was perfect.

The front gallery where the Empress and her attendants worshiped and watched the goings-on is lovely.

She had a good view of the main floor from her vantage point:

There are lots of murals upstairs too. This one is incomplete. The little one shows what it looks like when complete.

On one of the railings, there are some scratches that are apparently Viking runes. The Vikings came this far south and added graffiti to show they were there ("Vikings were here")

They are protected by acrylic and were pointed out by the audio guide, so I believe the story.

And with that, we move on to the Blue mosque. The mosque is so named because of the color of the tiles within. You enter a large courtyard..

Worshipers enter through one door, but tourists are directed to another gate. I had read that one has to be careful to wear modest clothing if one wants to go inside. No shorts above the knee, no sleeveless tops and no bare chests for men. But I saw lots of tourists that didn't meet these requirements. There were lots of signs stating these requirements but no one was enforcing them.

We left the courtyard and joined a fairly long queue that moved fast, but was still long and hot as it was all in the sun. Once we entered the back of the mosque, I realized why there was no enforcement of the rules.

Women like me, who were modestly clothed, were given a head scarf and nothing else. Some people had brought their own but I hadn't as I had been told that they would be provided. Women who didn't meet the rules were given a smock that went to the knees to put on over their clothes.

Men were given a sarong like wrap if their knees were exposed. All of us were given a bag for our shoes. We put on the garments we needed and took our shoes off. Then we had to pass by a pair of very vigilant guards - one woman and one man - who inspected us to make sure we met the rules. Then we could go into the mosque.

One side was roped off for the tourists. The rest of the mosque was open for worship. It is closed during the daily prayers at fixed times but otherwise is open.

This is where the men worship. The women are in a different area which is not visible from the tourist section.

And then we were out. There were bins for the clothes and bins for the plastic shoe bags so everything was clean and neat. It was all extremely efficient and did not disrupt the worship at all. It also was not very disruptive to the tourists either. We could stay as long as wanted, we could take photographs and gawk at the gorgeous tilework, stained glass and architecture. Some people sat on the carpets and looked around to their heart's content. Others of us spent 10-20 mins and left.

After leaving the mosque, I went back to the hotel and hung around for a bit before leaving for the airport. I could have stayed longer. There was so much more I wanted to see. History pours out of the pores of every building in the Sultanahmet area - the old town.

Of course, the history and culture in Beijing run as deep but so much of the city there has been demolished and modernized. In Istanbul, the history feels more alive. I wonder if it is because it is so much more familiar to us than the history in China. In any case, I find both of them equally fascinating.

We will go to a different continent yet again next time. But it will be a surprise.

Where two continents kiss

I had a very brief visit to Istanbul in July. I was busy most of the time with work, but I had planned about 2 days of sight-seeing. The flights were such that I had to arrive early in the morning and leave late at night. This suited me because I could come a day early and leave a day later without any guilt. I couldn't land on the day I needed to be at work but I also knew that I couldn't plan a whole day of sightseeing after having traveled all night but I was determined to do as much as I can.

I had 3 places that were on my must-see list: the Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sofia and the Blue mosque. The first two are now museums, the latter is a functioning place of worship.

The day I landed, I went to the Topkapi Palace museum. This is where the Ottoman Sultans lived for centuries. The weather was fabulous. Sunny and warm, but not too warm. It was rather nice after Shanghai, which is very hot and humid in the summer. However, my colleagues told me that the weather was unusual. It is usually much more humid that it was when I was there. I just counted myself lucky!

As befits a palace, the entrance is grand! You walk through this gateway into a garden.

From the garden, you see the first of many views of the Bosphorus. Those Ottomans knew how to place their palace for the very best views. You will see lots of photos of the Bosphorus so I won't bore you with too many from the palace itself. The Bosphorus is the strait that divides Europe and Asia. I was amazed by how blue it was and how blue the sky was. Maybe it was the contrast with  Shanghai, but the light seemed very clear and pure.

Turkish architecture is very decorative. All the ceilings and walls were painted and tiled and I will only give you a small sampling of the intense color and pattern all around.

This gate is where you go after you buy your ticket. The security check and ticket booth are on the other side. I got an audio guide, which was very helpful in understanding the different buildings and what they were used for.

Here is an example of the decorative arts in the palace. This is the ceiling on the other side of that gate above.

This area is where the Sultan would receive foreign dignitaries. After picking up the audio guide, I walked through a section that used to be the kitchens. That was adjacent to this beautiful garden which separates the previous gate from the next one.

Looking back through that gate after I passed through it, you can see the gorgeous architecture, which is hidden by the trees in the photo above.

Now we are into a courtyard called the Enderun. This was an area for education. So there is a library here, along with other buildings that were used by scholars and tutors. The Ottomans had a meritocracy. Bright boys were gathered from all over the Empire and brought to Istanbul for education. They then became the officials of the government.

One of the buildings in the Enderun courtyard:

And a view of the courtyard itself:

A view of the Bosphorus from the palace itself.

This building used to be a library. It is now a museum with clothing, jewelry and furniture used by the Sultans and their families along with gifts that were given to the Sultans by visiting dignitaries.

Unfortunately, photography inside was forbidden. The view of the Bosphorus above is from the balcony on the other side of the library.

The insides of the rooms have stained glass and tilework. Every surface is decorated.

Here is a lovely outdoor courtyard overlooking the Bosphorus:

One of the many ceilings I photographed...

This interior is a room where many official government meetings were held:

On one side of the palace are the buildings of the harem. The harem was for the women of the palace and was ruled by the Sultan's mother. Eunuchs guarded the harem and served the women. It also contains the private apartments of the Sultan himself. This lovely courtyard is in the harem.

I visited the Sultan's bathroom - very ornately tiled - and some other rooms in the private area. This fountain caught my eye because it was one of the few in the wall, as opposed to in the middle of something.

An example of the interior of the harem...

I was pretty tired by this time and ready to hit the sack so I just walked through the square that separates the Hagia Sofia from the Blue mosque (yes, there is also a garden in between) and caught a taxi back to the hotel.

In parting, and as a preview of the future, here is the Hagia Sofia from the square,

and the Blue mosque on the other side.

One evening, my colleagues took us to a lovely restaurant right on the water. We called for a boat taxi from the European side. The boat took us right to the deck of the restaurant where we sat at the water's edge and ate. I took a lot of photos of the sunset, the bridges and the boats passing by. I am giving you a little glimpse of that glorious evening.

Waiting for the boat:

On the boat:

Sunset during dinner:

Bridges lit up as the night comes on:

They change colors:

The lights of Europe, from Asia:

After a lovely evening, we took the boat back to Europe and then taxis to our hotels and apartments.

Next up, the Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. Stay tuned.