I posted some of the photographs I took in, around, and from the dome of Hagia Sophia earlier. I wanted to provide an interpretation that evoked The Great Church in use; so I created a short video that is set to Byzantine Chant. I watched it a few times with great awe of the structure that remained … [Read more...]
Anemon Hotel and Grifin Fish Restaurant
Ergun, my brother-in-law, and good friend, scouts the most interesting places to visit. On June 29 we visited the Covered Bazaar for some last minute shopping then went to the Tunel district in old Pera. The first stop was an interesting bookstore which seemed to specialize in historical … [Read more...]
Hagia Sophia, III: View from the roof
From a small trap door, they made under one of the large windows between the ribs of the great dome of Hagia Sophia we stepped out to face a magnificent view of the area. As I stepped out, I was looking at the Blue Mosque at the level of its minarets and I could see the Sultanahmet district, the … [Read more...]
Hagia Sophia, II: Inside
In the previous post, you saw photographs of me and Reha in and around Hagia Sophia. In this and the next post, I will share with you some photographs that I took from the remarkable vantage point I enjoyed of this magnificent structure. The restoration scaffolding is immense as you can see. It … [Read more...]
Hagia Sophia, I
I had a very remarkable experience that I would like to share very briefly here. My good friend Reha Gunay arranged for us to visit Hagia Sophia and go up to its dome. His student Erdinc was a great host as he took us on the elevator to the top, 55 meters from the ground. The actual ceiling of the … [Read more...]
Bursa
We left Tenedos on June 23, the ferry fares are paid both ways on the way back from the island. Not a bad idea at all. We drove through Çan (Chan), Biga (Big-ah), Karacabey (Karadja-bay), to Bursa with a lunch stop at Biga. Bursa is the original capital of the Ottoman Empire and served in … [Read more...]
Tenedos, III, the thyme fields
As I alluded to a couple of posts before this one, we stumbled upon beautiful fields of thyme between the Aquarium Bays and Ayazma. The view and the aroma captured our full attention. The first day I photographed like a madman, trying to make sure that I could capture at least the visual impact … [Read more...]
Tenedos, II, the second day
We wanted to see the island, and the thyme fields, once more and decided to stay another day on the island. The next morning we strolled around town, visited the Bozcaada Museum, a small collection of local artifacts and historical tidbits. After a nice lunch under the pine trees at the center of … [Read more...]
Tenedos, I (Bozcaada)
On June 21 we left Ayvalik to catch the ferry to Tenedos, a small island on the northwest corner of the Aegean coast of Turkey. By all calculations we should have made the 1:00 pm ferry very comfortably, but since we left about 20 minutes later than planned, we made it to the boat by the skin of our … [Read more...]
Ayvalik-Lesvos Days
June 21, we learned about a wonderful cultural exchange between Ayvalik and Lesvos (Λέσβος) only one day before we left Ayvalik. Apparently, it first started last year at Lesvos, alternating the festivities between there and Ayvalik. The part we saw was a folk dance performance and both the Ayvalik … [Read more...]