FROM THE BALCONY

ANOTHER MOTHER . . .
this is without a doubt the most humungous cruise ship i've ever seen.

pics from the balcony last
night - the weather is
gorgeous now, warm and
mild, feels more like
autumn than spring.

 such an endless
variety of boats,
they criss cross the
bosphorus day
and night - the
sun catching them
here as the day
draws to a close

AH! BOSPHORUS

OH BOSPHORUS

where little boats

criss cross for us

JEWELS

a few purchases from the jewellery market and my favorite little shop in Istiklal

charms for  my
bracelet - mostly
turkish  - symbols
of good luck,
the sultan's
calligraphic swish,
the national moon/star,
and the lovely
muslim hand.

 these earrings are

made of a lovely

gold finish that

reminds me of the

old pre columbian

jewellery, it has

a raw handmade 

quality

small silver earrings from the ortakoy jewellery market

bronze pieces from ortakoy

CHILDREN'S DAY

TUESDAY - we spent nearly all day wandering down Istiklal, the wide shopping street with no traffic except for a quaint old red tram that trundles up and down every now and then.
the sun has come out, it's been a really warm beautiful day, the first since we've been here. it's been pretty cool and grey, not bad though

sunny in tunel - this
was a pretty little 
arcade full of lovely
cafes and interesting
little shops

one more street cat - 

this pretty little one

had a beetle in 

its sights 

susan heading
up to one of
the endless
selection of
rooftop bars
and terraces,
each with a 
new exciting
view of
the bosphorus.
some of the tiny 
lifts only hold
two or three
people 

THE CHIMNEYS are wonderful, endless variations and all to be viewed from the rooftop bars and cafes that seem to be absolutely everywhere,  everyone wants a view

the wiring - almost as good as in china

susan and sean in the Londra hotel, the most amazing collection of over the top kitsch i've ever seen, just look at the crazy old metal phones  and the chandelier, (ataturk in the background), one of dozens around the building. 

there are banners and posters of ataturk all over town for children's day

my favorite fire escapes,

 like sculptures

 against the sky

sunny and i bought big bunches of lilacs from this lovely woman on the
way home from taksim square

 from the balcony . . . 

another huge cruise ship berths in at karakoy

CATCH UP

WHOOPS  i haven't done the blog for a couple of days - have to remember what we've been doing.  The jewellery market on sunday was as good as ever, sadly the beautiful little wedding cake of a mosque down on the water at Ortakoy is shrouded with fabric, it's being restored. the weather was too cold and a bit rainy for the trip up the bosphorus.  i didnt take the camera so can't remember the rest of the day, we've done too much since then.

MONDAY  we caught the bus down to Ortakoy and walked about another half hour along to the old castle.  Past all these magnificent Ottoman houses, little winding streets with these gorgeous old timber buildings looming overhead, full of beautiful carved lacy detail and 

the street dogs lie around everywhere -not a lot of pets to be seen aroundistanbul but plenty of street dogs - people leave food for them and they just live around the neighbourhood

Fishing is huge here -all along the bosphorus are men fishing and there's plenty of fish to catch

WINDOW CLEANING istanbul style - this old guy was up on the
second floor, when he stepped right out onto the ledge i couldn't watch

SPRINGTIME and these beautiful pea-flowered blossom trees are out all over the city - right up over the hills in the countryside too

the beautiful

egyptian consulate

on the bosphorus - 

lovely seagull

motifs on the roof.

THE TULIP   i think the tulip is the national flower, its certainly used in design everywhere, ceramics, Iznik tiles, jewellery.  it's the tulip festival now and the whole city is filled with beds of flowers, these are up at the castle 

we walked back down to the bosphorus for brunch on the water, this huge ship passed by
leaving these waves crashing in its wake

this children's band passed by and then came back again, heralding the arrival of Children's Day tomorrow - it's a national holiday created by Ataturk in 1920 to celebrate the formation of the new parliament.

from the balcony . . . 

sunny watching the departure of the Aida as she disappears around the golden horn

SUNDAY

today we’ll walk down to ortakoy. it’s about half an hour away on foot, the jewellery market is there.  we’ll take the ferry up the bosphorus for a look see, then have lunch. we’ll let sean off the hook and save the jewellery market for after lunch and he can escape back to civilisation.

yesterday's brekky spot - today's will be similar i'm sure

Yesterday we caught the bus round past ortakoy to a wonderful cafe on the water for big brekky.  wonderful ships passing really close, wisteria in profusion overhead. it’s still chilly but we had the overhead heaters on us so we sat outside right on the water’s edge.

then back up to Taksim Square and another walk down the long winding antique street (i must come back for a good scrounge on my own) and to see Orhan Pamuk’s Museum of Innocents.   it’s a strange atmospheric place which is all put together with objects that come from his book of the same name – a great romance which looks true but may not be. none of us have read it so we can’t decide, i find his books hard to  penetrate.  i think it’s an amazing marketing ploy – he must be selling stacks of books, but it was interesting to walk up through an old ottoman house, very narrow and vertical, four levels.

amazing old 'miss haversham' of a house -

 these ottoman houses are in glorious decay because they must be restored exactly to the original - people simply can't afford to do it so they're left to rot. paradoxically the more they deteriorate the more beautiful they become.

 inside the antique shops - amazing collections of exotic things

COLOUR colour

everywhere

 


Istanbullus love their cats,  the street cats and dogs are all looked after by everybody - food and water are left on the footpaths everywhere for them.

even the gas bottles look good

then more walking, down the hill past the Galata Tower to Istanbul Modern – that gallery is terrific, huge spaces full of fascinating work and right on the bosphorus so of course we had to have a glass of wine and watch the ships – AGAIN :0)  and why wouldn’t you?








tram home – tired but happy, and snoozes,  dinner and scrabble.

from the balcony -

 mr and mrs - she sits
all day, hardly moving.
he calls in now and then
to give her a break and
to bring food i imagine
although i haven't 
seen that yet. they
look so vulnerable there

 

the setting sun catches the windows of the houses over on the asian side.