Sorry for the absence from the blog--I've been very busy spending the last week touring the Prince's Islands, Istanbul, and Yalova with Colin. Though nothing's gone up until now, rest assured, we've had a great visit, seen great new things and revisited some of our favorites from our last stint together in Turkey, and I took plenty of pictures throughout the process.
Hope you like them! -A
Colin arrived!! Slightly dazed, I swept him off to the taxi stand where we got one straight to Kabatas and then waited for our ferry to Buyukada (the "big island"of the Prince's Islands) first at this tea stop and then in a beautifully heated mini-Ottoman cabin. The cabin is hard to describe, but it was cozy and much appreciated after the near-freezing temperatures at the tea garden.
Cold, beautiful view of Anadolu Istanbul from our tea table.
We arrived safely on Buyukada, checked into our hotel, and then went on a tour of town. This fayton (horse-drawn carriage) which almost ran me over was one of many similar faytons on our motorized-vehicle-free island.
The snow was off-and-on throughout our time on Buyukada. This (extremely dorky of me) picture is from the hike Colin and I took Monday afternoon, after our own fayton ride. Stops in our morning walk included attractions below:
Old Buyukada orphanage--"The second-largest wooden carcass building in Europe!" Hard to get a photo of, but it was really pretty cool, as far as wooden carcass buildings go. :-)
Monastery of St. George--located on the tallest peak of the island, with views of the other islands, Istanbul and hundreds of boats sailing the Marmara, it was actually a really beautiful church in and of itself. Definitely worth the steep climb to the top. Though the current building is much newer, a Georgian monastery has existed here since the 6th century.
An icon featuring George slaying the dragon. For more info on George, click here. I wanted to know more--and the list of things he's patron saint of is quite impressive!
This fayton took us back to our hotel, through the forest and the falling snow.
Our hotel: The Gala Butik Otel. Conveniently located, clean, modern, with helpful staff, great food, and board games--an excellent spot for your next trip to the islands.
Some of the beautiful old Ottoman houses in our Buyukada neighborhood.
The Ottoman ferry station where we caught ours back to Istanbul.
Goodbye, beautiful, snowy Buyukada!
Hello beautiful, snowy Istanbul!
After arriving at the Ozkan-Hallers', having lunch and doing some family-catch up, we all went out to play in the snow! First there was an epic snowball fight, but when Korhan (4.5) came outside, I switched gears to help build "the most awesome-ist snowman ever." Here it is...he's a bit stumpy and shapeless, and also a cyclops, but we really did try!
While the three of us were snowman-ing, Colin and his older cousins (11 and 9) got themselves into an international snowball conflict. Don't worry, international peace was restored by the end of the afternoon.
Wednesday morning, Korhan got super lucky and school was cancelled. As a result, Colin and I stayed back and played legos with him--competeing with each other to see who could make the best pirate-themed space ships and win the best compliments (/most love) from Korhan. In the end, his favorite helicopter was the one he loved most.
Karate Korhan, Colin and our fleet. A bit of a self-timed picture fail, but still so cute!
We said goodbye to the Hallers' just before lunch, to catch the 2:00 ferry to Yalova. On our way, we got to see how beautiful Istanbul neighborhoods can be in the snow!
When we arrived in Yalova, the skies were clear. We took a dolmush to my apartment, and could see Istanbul clearly, and even make out the Islands. We headed into work, where I picked up two packages that had come for me while out of town, and when we got back outside, it was a white out! To celebrate this change in weather, we walked along the beach, admiring the many shades of white and grey around us.
Thurday dawned snowy again, so we seized the opportunity to see Istanbul in the snow!
Outside of the Blue Mosque--our first stop!
Inside of the Blue Mosque. Something about the shiny walls, and colorful glass felt so perfectly wintery and Christmas-y. This is my new favorite corner of the mosque, but....
I still love the larger space, too. Though it was chilly to get around, it's such a nice thing to tourist here when there are no crowds! Look at this beautiful, open space!
Crossing the plaza, we headed toward the Aya Sofya!
My second trip the the recently-restored museum was well worth it. I love this building, it's history (built in 537!!), and the Rick Steeve's walking tour.
So few tourists, such awesome art, what a deal!
The snowy view back toward the Blue Mosque. These small buildings are the tombs of important Ottoman emperors and their immediate families.
After some sahlep (a hot, sweet, cinnamony, rice-pudding-y drink) and some shopping in the Grand Bazaar and Old Book Bazaar, Colin and I went to the mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent.
This mosque is credited as Sinan's, the great (Armenian) Ottoman architect, magnum opus. It has an enormous central dome and graceful arches to create lots of open space, it's less ornamented than the Blue Mosque but still displays complicated geometric patterns everywhere you look.
On Friday, we stayed in Yalova and stopped by (most of) my little city's monuments and highlights. The first important place we went to was the city's monument to the 1999 earthquake. This massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake had it's epicenter just north of Yalova, in Izmit, and several thousand people of all ages and backgrounds from Yalova died.
The monument was tastefully done, I think. It is basically a large mound with a path cut through it. Supporting the mound on either side, are huge marble columns with the names of the Yalova's victims inscribed into them. The path is a quilt-like mosaic of children's art with patches showing hearts, the sea, birds, words like "mom" "sister" and "peace."
After spending some time at the memorial, we continued on toward Kipa, and stopped at the Fatih Mosque just across the street from it. Though no Suleymaniye, this mosque was surprisingly great. It seems practically new, but the architects clearly worked hard to make it ring "Ottoman." From the tulip iznik tiles in the mihrab to the domes, wooden doors and rounded windows, this mosque keeps the Ottoman tradition alive. Nice work, Yalova. :-)
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