Happy Mother's Day in Istanbul - it's a lovely place to celebrate

Sunday            May 08

Happy Mother’s Day!  Muammer met us at 10 today for our second day of touring with him.  He is very generous with his time, especially being away from his family on this holiday.  Michael and I told him we hoped to end today by 3 PM – both so we could relax a little and rest up, and to get him back home to Sokrun and the boys.

At the start of our morning together, Muammer drove us back to the auto parking area near the Sirkeci Gari (train station) and then kept going to take us to a “hidden gem.”  He wasn’t kidding – the road ended at the tip of Seraglio Point – it looked like a group of lean to buildings until one walked down past them and the vista opened up to a lovely café that sits with the perfect view of the meeting points for the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara.  The day was gorgeous – sunny and 25 degrees -  and we sat at a waterside table to have some tea and plan the day.  The ferries were traveling back and forth to all points, along with other boats moving in the same space.  It was a perfect spot for photos and a relaxing start to the morning.

View of Golden Horn and Bosphorus from cafe at Seraglio Point

Planning our day's activities with Muammer

Michael is always happiest when he's near the water

View of Galata Tower from our "hidden gem" cafe

We then drove back to his travel office area, parked the car and went to see the Mosaic Museum, which is located near the Blue Mosque, just off the Arasta Bazaar.  It was part of the Byzantine era Great Palace used by the emperors and the mosaics formed the floor of a colonnaded walkway, possible to the emperor’s area of the Hippodrome.  The mosaics probably date from the 5^th century and were uncovered in the 1930’s when work was being done for the bazaar.  The mosaics have been carefully restored with funding support from the Austrian government and they constitute almost 2000 square feet of images.  Most are domestic scenes of men, women and children involved in domestic activities like tending animals or playing.  Some are scenes of animals – fighting, working, playing.  The museum was well designed with good viewing of the overall floor patterns, as well as opportunities for close up.  The story of the restoration process was impressive.

Roses and columns at the entrance to the Mosaic Museum from the Great Palace

Floor mosaics - decorative borders, colorful scenes of animals, people and plants

Love this little monkey trained to gather coconuts with his falcon friend.  Cute outfit as well.

A less placid subject - might scare the little kids walking past?

Tiger hunt

Green man - beautiful face

We walked with Muammer to visit a couple of hotels to decide where we will stay on Thursday and Friday night, stopped at his office for a quick visit. We toured the rooms he has for rental in the building, in the floors about his office --very nice, compact and well designed, with a great view of Little Hagia Sophia and the sea.

Lovely view of Little Hagia Sophia and the sea from the rooms for rent in Muammer's building

We then drove with Muammer  toward the airport to visit the city walls constructed in the 400’s by emperor Theodosus II.  The walls completely encircled the city, including a 4 mile stretch from the Sea of Marmara to the Golden Horn.  There was a large moat on the outside of the walls,  the two set’s of walls, and inner and an outer one, with 192 towers spaced between the walls and with 11 guarded and fortified gates.  The walls protected the city for almost 1000 years, until they were finally breached in 1453 by Sultan Mehmet II, then a 21 year old prince.

Tower and section of Constantinople city walls

We stopped to look more closely and saw that the area of the original moat is now fertile land for growing crops – mostly by the Roma people.  I walked into the moat to take photos and a Roma man that was working in the field picked a bunch of fresh mint and gave it to me.  I walked through a small breech in the first wall and saw his “living camp” -  table and chairs, a small stove, etc.  An interesting way to live and make a living.

Two layers of city walls with towers - a large moat was in front, which has now become a garden areas

Roma woman working the garden

Living camp for the Roma man/family who gave us lovely batches of mint

We drove to an amazing museum, the Panorama 1453 History Museum.  It depicts the capture of the city of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmet II in 1453 with a vivid 360 degree diorama and a half dome painted ceiling that depicts the details of the battle and the breech of the wall.  One of 4 large cannons, specially designed and made in Hungary to pierce the walls, is on display, as are the actual cannon balls, arrows, smaller cannon and shot and other artifacts from the battle.  The details of the conquest were meticulously planned (Muammer says that Byzantine leadership could not imagine being conquered, as there had been at least 6 previous failed attempts to take the city).  In addition to making a hole in the wall, tunnels were dug by sympathizers on the inside to aide their ability to enter the city.  The Golden Horn was blockaded by a large chain that went across it’s mouth which could be raised and lowered by winches to protect the city from a sea approach.  However, Sultan Mehmet II planned for this as well – dozens of ships were dragged across the peninsula so that they filled the area of the Golden Horn from the water’s edge.  I loved this museum – you felt as if you were right in the thick of the event. 

This museum - Panorama 1453 - tells the story of when Constantinople fell to Mehmet II and the Ottomans

Sultan Mehmet II (in red) was only 21 when he led the successful takeover of the city 

Shields, arrows, cannon balls are authentic from the time period

The mouth of one of 4 great cannon (and three cannon balls) specially made to topple the walls 

Off we drove across town to catch the ferry across the Bosphorus from the European to the Asian side of Istanbul for lunch.  On the way we drove under the Valens aqueduct and crossed the Ataturk Bridge.  We parked the car at Kabatas and used our “Istanbul Card” to walk on the ferry.  It was refreshing with a nice breeze, but pleasantly warm in the sun.  It was fun to see all the sights – the Dolmabahce Mosque and Palace receding as we left the shore, the Galeta Tower, the line of mosques and minarets on the Sultanahmet side of the Golden Horn.  We could see up the Bosphorus and down the Sea of Marmara, and the Maiden’s Tower came closer as we headed over to the landing as Uskudar.

Valen's Aqueduct - from the time of Justinian

Dolmabache Mosque seen from the water as we depart on the ferry to Uskudar

Muammer's a natural at helping us experience and understand this wonderful, complex, vibrant city

Hi guys!

Dolmabache Palace

Arrival at the Asian side of Istanbul

We walked a short distance to a busy restaurant and took a look at all the offerings before sitting down to order our lunch. My preference was for starters (meze) and dessert, and Michael followed my lead.  Muammer had something a little more substantial.  The restaurant served creamy, slightly tangy homemade yoghurt, which we ate with our artichokes, Uzbeck rice and lamb, stuffed cabbage leaves, salad, and other assorted first offerings.  For dessert we had two traditional dishes, including large piece of cooked pumpkin drenched in a sugary syrup and topped with vanilla ice cream.  All very yummy, to be sure.

We walked back to the quay side to take the tunnel, the Marmaray, under the Bosphorus back to our European side.  The station is well designed, clean, and adorned with interesting tiles and other artwork – it’s a bit like the DC Metro, as you must go down, down long escalators before you get to the actual train level.  We used the same Istanbul card for the ferry, tunnel train and the tram – which we finally got to ride to get back to our hotel.  We parted with Muammer at the tram stop – as he went northwest across the bridge to return to his car and we went southeast to our hotel.

Taking the under the Bosphorus tunnel back to Europe - a short trip, but much easier than by car

 Michael and I had tickets to see a demonstration of the Mevlevi Sufi practice of whirling as a meditation of faith.  It was held at the Hodjapasha theatre - a former 15th C hamam (bath house).  The whirling - three dancers accompanied by three musicians - lasted about 30 minutes and was fascinating.   Michael said it made him dizzy to watch them.

Mevlevi devotional dance - known commonly as Whirling Dervishes

Across from our tram stop is a very attractive confectionary shop – and since we have to walk across the tram tracks right in front of it’s doorstep to get to our hotel, we just had to make a stop and sample the sweets.  The shop has a lovely, fresh décor, with colored chairs, old wood doors on the walls, some Iznik tile patterns, lamps made from old pails and wooden bowls and a few other funky items.  After I bought six to sample to take back to our hotel, the manager kindly invited us to sit and stay for a cup of tea and visit for a while.  A tasty and refreshing pause, to be sure.

Walking by this gorgeous shop three or four times a day - can't help by stop and visit

More types of pastry than you can even imagine...

Their tasty pastry goes especially well with jasmine tea

After a rest, Michael and I went out for a walk in Gulhane Park, across from our hotel.  Because it is Sunday, and also Mother’s Day here in Turkey, many families with children were out walking, picnicking and playing.  We’ve enjoyed watching the birds in the park from our balcony – a number of green parrots, some white and black egrets, and others.  We stopped for a bite to eat, a very light dinner was all that was needed after our stop at the sweet shop earlier.  It was getting dark as I walked back along our street to the hotel.  I peeked in a few of the stores along the way – and found a nice chenille square navy table cloth that will look nice in our apartment in Chicago.  One more day and night here at the Sirkeci Mansion Hotel, and then we leave for Ephesus on Tuesday.