Friday, April 1, 2011

Scenes from Istanbul


Hey, all!

I wish I could say that I have a great April Fools' Day joke for you, but I don't. :) Either way, I thought I would start off the weekend with some more pics of Turkey, this time focusing on Istanbul. I'll be writing more in-depth posts starting next week.

While looking at pictures of sights are great, I think looking at how people live everyday is even better. Here's a glimpse into Istanbul:

Empty Asirefendi Caddesi (Asirefendi Street) in Sultanahmet (the old historic portion of the city) on a Sunday morning.


A heavy police presence on fashionable and fun Beyoglu's Istakal Caddesi (Istakal Street)
There was a heavier police presence that day because of small protests in front of some of consulates of countries participating in the no-fly zone enforcement over Libya. We saw a few people screaming in front of the French consulate. While Turkey is one of the less conservative Muslim countries (they have had a democratically elected secular representative government since the early 1920's), many still feel a connection to the rest of the Muslim world.


In general, I loved looking at the colorful (and often designer) scarves that many women wore in Istanbul.
Some women in Turkey wear head scarves as a way of honoring the Muslim tenet of hijab. You can read about it here. There are many interpretations of what hijab means and how one should interpret its requirement of modesty in dress and deportment. There were many women in Istanbul without head scarves (Apparently if we were there in the summer, we would have seen many women in tank tops and mini-skirts, too). While 97% of Turkey's population states that their religion of choice is Islam, there are many who do not practice regularly.


Fishing off of the side of the Galata Bridge connecting Sultanahmet and Karakoy neighborhoods. We saw people there at all times of day and night fishing. Check the Yeni Camii (mosque) in the background


We saw these boats by the Galata Bridge and couldn't quite understand what was going on.


They're cooking! I think they should make this a Top Chef challenge: cook on a shaky boat in the middle of a busy waterway.


Inner courtyard of the Yeni Camii (Yenii Mosque)
There are so many large beautiful mosques in Istanbul that dot its skyline.


A view from Galata Tower, in the Karakoy neighborhood, of the Golden Horn, the inlet of the Bosphorus strait that divides Sultanahment from the new portions of Istanbul proper.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing more of Istanbul.

Happy Weekend!

5 comments:

lavenderpug said...

so many interesting things to see. looks like a beautiful city--the courtyard of that mosque is lovely.

Diana said...

I think its very respectful and very 21st century to see designer head scarves. Beautiful pictures, and its great to see the local areas. It must have been a little scary to have been there during the protest, glad it was peaceful.

PS I thought you said that was Top Chef for a moment...that would be a great idea! :)

Happy Weekend!

Oneika said...

Hi Terri!
Just found your blog and I love it!! So great to see another travelling sista!! I was just in Istanbul last December and thought that it was a great city, even though the weather was terrible while I was there!!

Looking forward to reading your blog. :-)
By the way, I love your locs! I have baby locs (less than two years old!) and yours are giving me major loc envy :-)

Oneika

http://oneika-the-traveller.blogspot.com

BigAppleNosh said...

Looks amazing - I've heard such good things about Turkey :)

Erica said...

I've heard so many fantastic things about Istanbul that it has totally made my personal bucket list... and I totally want a designer scarf. P

 

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