Home Time

Home safe and sound.

No photos today, just a big thanks to some folk who made this holiday fantastic and deserve a bit of recognition.

First, Karen Wolf-Thom from Travel Counselors who made all the travel arrangements and, most importantly, gave excellent recommendations on all my accommodation, tours and transfers. Karen provided a flawless service that took the grind out of the holiday arrangements, while catering specifically to what I wanted.  If you want some help planning a trip, but don't want a package produced by a travel bureau, check out Karen at Travel Councelors.

Second. special thanks to all the team at Levni Hotel, Istanbul. The hotel was great value with very good facilities, but what made my stay there exceptional was the staff. Service was truly first rate and helpful, from little things like having an Istanbulkart transit card ready on request, to being able to arrange travel and other services efficiently at short notice. Special mention goes to Nural and his guest engagement crew who had so many suggestions for what to do and see. Many of my favourite photos that you have seen in this blog would not have been taken without their suggestions.

Ad thanks to everyone who has read and even responded to this blog over the last few weeks. The blog is my personal diary that I would have written anyway. However, as well as being good fun and some much needed contact, the comments, suggestions and simple hellos that came in while I was writing it encouraged me to go a bit further.  In years to come when I re-read all this stuff and reminisce... I'll thank you all again for that.

So, thanks again and I hope you enjoyed the photos.

RC

Istanbul Sunset

The tea stands scattered around this city have to be one of my favourite things, and the best of all were at the waterfront at Uskudar. So it was here that I decided to spend my last evening in this fascinating city, eating olives and bread washed down with tea.

Back to the Wall and the Chora Museum

Today was spent retracing my steps to some of my favourite spots, and also seeing one museum I nearly overlooked. It was cool and overcast, which cast the city in a new light.

After a last wander through Sultanahmet, I caught the tram and subway out to the land walls again. I wasn’t satisfied with my first visit; it was hot, I was tired and I had tried to cram in too much for one day. As a result, I hadn’t really appreciated the walls at the time, and regrated that afterward. So under cover of a grey sky and with hours to spare, I set off to walk a longer section and to return to the turret I shot from last time.

I’m glad I did. This time I was more present and enjoyed the experience more.

Then, it was a short walk to the Chora Museum, which is a gorgeous little gem. Though under almost full restoration (the entire building was covered in scaffold), there were still many rooms one could visit. It was just glorious; another of those low key, highly personal experiences. This was a place for mysticism, closed in, complex and atmospheric… it was possible to imagine the heavy incense, the oil lamps and…

… anyway, it’s time for me take care of some logistics and get ready for one last excursion.

Rustem Pasha Mosque

After breakfast, I had a quick walk around all of the camera shops I have spotted within ten minute's walk of the hotel. Alas, there were no real bargains to be had.

After taking a tram ride all the way to the end of the line just to see what was there, I returned to Fatih district and brought forward my visit to the last two mosques on my agenda. The first was easy, the huge "New Mosque" in Eminonu. As I arrived, the mosques were closing for an hour for prayer, so I thought I'd go find the second mosque, the Rustem Pasha Mosque.

This smaller and older mosque is also in the same area, but was going to be harder to find. It was out the back of the Spice Bazaar someplace but the guest relations manager at the hotel, Nural, insisted it was worth it. He has been correct in pointing things out so far, so I went off in search. It took a while, but I did locate it. It stands above a maze of busy little alleys near the bazaar and can the only public access was through a pair of small stairs, each at different corners of  the complex.

I first spotted the dome on the same way I spotted the Pantheon; down an alley, and not where I was expecting to find it. I had to walk around it twice before I realized there was no door... just these delightful little stair cases rising up from the street. I thought they were just shop stairs before I realized they must lead to the mosque's courtyard.

It was worth the effort. This mosque was indeed more blue than the Blue Mosque and was much more human in scale. I sat in the courtyard for the remainder of prayer, listening to the call to the call and watching the men rush in from their jobs to attend. It was good... it gave me time to just sit and write some notes... and just be there.

Inside the mosque was different from others I had seen. More intimate, darker, more wood... the light was fantastic. I spent some time wandering around looking at the tile work, the dome and the small nooks and rooms that lay off the central area.

After that it was off to the New Mosque, which was back to the pattern of grand perfection I'd observed at the Blue Mosque and the Suleiman Mosque. Again, they are beautiful buildings, but I somehow find it difficult to connect with them. The Rustem Pasha Mosque was more my size and atmosphere.

The kind of little passage out the back of the bazaar that leads to the Rustem Pasha Mosque. As I took this photo, I didn't realize it but the mosque was five meters to my left, and up about eight. It was very reminiscent of the hunt for St Maria's of Trestevere.

The men come to prayer. One of the biggest challenges I have faced in shooting things in this city is trying not to get people in my shots inadvertently. I don't like taking stranger's pictures unless its plainly a public place and in a wider context. But I relaxed my rules a bit here... the procession of guys coming up those steps from their jobs just seemed an absolutely integral part of this moment.

The blue tiles that give this mosque its distinctive character

Not the largest dome in the known world, but still impressive.

But it was the details and textures that set this place apart. 

And the nooks and alcoves that let in a very diffuse and soft light.

Taking a few steps back, this is how I first saw the Rustem Pasha Mosque. Quarters were so cramped, this is about the best shot I could get from outside. I just love these walkable, three dimensional cityscapes.

The New Mosque. That is what it is known as locally, and it is plainly a focal point. All day, each party in the coming elections had a loudspeaker van in the plaza out front trying to out-do each other in sheer volume of announcements. 

There it is again... that imposing, grand perfection.

These precariously roosting pigeons deserved a snap.

Istanbul at First Light

I'm calling this a first light shoot rather than a dawn shoot. That's because I couldn't actually observe a discernible dawn, just a gradual lightening of the sky.

Well, its actually been pretty hard to shoot a sunrise here, simply because of the low cloud and overcast that has hung around every morning. If it's the last vestiges of a mist or fog, I haven't been able to get up high enough to see it.

But this morning was as good as its been, so I wandered around the Galata Bridge for a couple of hours and took these. I wasn't expecting much, but after looking at a few exposures, there were a surprising number of very subtle colours happening. Again... Istanbul did not disappoint. 

The Adalar

Today was magic.

I took a ferry out to Bergazadasi, one of the so-called Prince’s Islands, or locally known as simply the Adalar. Anyway, these are small islands an hour’s ferry ride from downtown Istanbul, and genuinely seem to be another world altogether. They are popular destinations for tourists and locals alike, so I chose one of the less popular ones for a visit.

Bergazadasi is a smaller island that is much less heavily populated than its brothers and sisters. It’s main “town” is a cluster of residential houses, cafes and essential services near the ferry dock. Like all the Adalar, this island is interesting because private motor vehicles are banned. The only cars and trucks are operated by the local government, or the services. The whole island is entirely walkable, but general transport is provided by horse and buggy taxis, hand carts and bicycles.

The attraction for me, however, was the walk that was visible on Google Earh… there seemed to be track leading from the top of the village to a bluff looking south over the Sea of Marmara. To make it better, there appeared to be a monastery up there, too, but no-one could tell me if it was occupied or not. That was good enough for me.

Well, the walk was idyllic and I had the track to myself. It was hardly a strenuous climb and although the views are spectacular I was never more than half an hour’s walk away from town. But, that’s all okay, because this has to be the best value walk per kilometer I have ever taken. I hope the photos can tell the story.

The air, the smells, the sounds and the sights made this humble walk a highlight of this trip.

To finish the afternoon off, I visited the studio of an artist I have briefly chatted to once or twice. Her space was a riot of colours from works completed and in progress, in an old apartment and shop just down the street from the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. It serves as a gallery and studio for her entire family. She's (justifiably) paranoid about people taking pictures in her shop, but I was able to take a snap of the stairs leading up from the main street. It tells a story of the place, even without any paintings or drawings in sight.

A fishing flotilla on the ferry ride out.

Today's ship identification exercise... it looks like an oiler to me, but that's the extent of my knowledge.

These gulls followed the ferry the whole way.

A small fishing pier near the ferry dock. Note the clarity of the water

The track that leads up from the town. You'd miss it if you weren't specifically looking for it. 

I was lucky enough to spend an undisturbed hour in this spot, in the shade of the tree on the left, eating my lunch and taking photos. There was no sound except the breeze in the pines, the gulls and the occasional motorboat. The air carried the scent of wildflowers, salt spray and not much else.

Bergazadasi seems like another world, but it is just a short ferry from Istanbul.

The gradients of blue and green were simply gorgeous. These two islands just seemed lost against an invisible horizon.

The town of Burgazadasi, with one of the ferries I caught just pulling away.

The stair outside Elif Nursad Atalay gallery...

Bosphorus Cruise

Most of today was occupied with a cruise of the Bosphorus, from the Ferry Terminal at Kabatas up to Emergin.

First thing I have to mention is that I am really enjoying the approach of just turning up and jumping on things in this city. No online ticketing, no perpetual fishing for your email address or facebook details by sellers, no apps for this or apps for that. Just turn up, pay your cash and enjoy whatever it is you want to do. Even the transit card is like that... its just a card you put cash on, almost anywhere. No need to log on, sign up or any other such bullshit. It just does one thing, and one thing well, which is get you on just about any form of transit in Istanbul with no hassles at all.

My hotel's very able and helpful visitor relations manager must be getting tired of me turning up and asking how I book this or that, when the reply is always the same; just turn up or, if you want to be sure, just make a phonecall. Why the heck have we lost sight of this? One thing I've noticed is how complex I assume things have to be... if there isn't a complex booking option that requires all of my personal information, I get anxious. A silly learned response.

I've said a couple of times that I've had trouble getting around Istanbul. I should clarify. Especially after spending a week of getting around very easily indeed. Walking around this place is hard. It's busy, chaotic and not very friendly to pedestrians. But the transit is really very good. I've been on buses, trains, trams, ferries and even a funicular, and all have been very easy to use. So, when I say Istanbul is hard going, I mean on foot... and in this instance I am really comparing it to Rome, which is unfair. Rome is the most walkable city I've ever been to.

So, back to the ferry. It was a very pleasant and simple affair. It stopped in half a dozen places, where you had the option of getting off or staying on. If you jumped off, all you had to do is wait for the next ferry on the route and jump back on... by waving your plain old paper ticket that was bought with cash handed to a real human being back at the terminal. Simplicity itself.

Myself, I only decided to disembark at one place to have lunch, which was all the great value I've come to expect here. 

The real star attraction of the day was the strait itself. I'm not much of a sea dog, and I'm not used to a lot of large ships maneuvering in a really small body of water, so I found the constant movement of vessels of all shapes and sizes to be fascinating. More than anything else, seeing Bosphorus from the Bosphorus brought home what a vital waterway this is. From the ferries, to huge freighters and even a Russian destroyer being followed by a Turkish sub... it was all there, just as it has been for thousands of years.

Old and New

The small...

Sentinals

The large

The little suburb I had lunch in... down another leafy lane tucked in the shadow of that turret.

An evolving city

Russian destroyer

A Turkish sub trailing the Russian destroyer. At least, I think it's Turkish... I stand to be corrected (Trent?)

The Bogazici Bridge. I had originally intended to walk it, to say that I had walked from Europe to Asia. But really, who'd bother after you've sailed under it?

The growth and development in this city seems to be pretty rapid.