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!