Istanbul Day 5

The last day of our little escape. As we where finished with all the shopping (he he) and we had to leave in the afternoon we decided to go for the typical touristic things like visiting the Hagia Sophia (museum). As many might know Hagia Sophia used to be a church but in 1453 when Constantinople (Istanbul) was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque. The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over.



The Islamic features— such as the mihrab, the minbar, and the four minarets outside — were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey.

For many years there is a huge restoration going on as you can see. The scafolding , at least fourteen stores high is also fascinating.

Here you can see at the ceiling a mosaic of Maria with her Child but also the symbols for Muslims. I like the way the two religions look peacefully together.

Looking at the situation, the restoration looks like an endless project, we saw workers at the top, must be pretty scary working there.

A funny fact, although many beauty of history can be seen, one thing that got most attention and most pictures was taken off was not very historical but pretty photogenic....

This was the library of the Sultan, behind the metal work.


This is the minbar, which is a pulpit in the mosque where the Imam (leader of prayer) stands to deliver sermons.


There were no staircases but a sort of tunnels which turned slowly up.

All the details where amazing, imagine how it must have been when it was new, and how they made it, is a real miracle.

Mum was admiring...

Fountain (Şadirvan) for ritual ablutions.



After the museum we decided to walk around a little...

we accidentaly stumbled on the Grand Bazaar, oops...

We bought two very yummy bags from a very kind shop owner, all bags are handmade and gorgeous.

In case you are in the neighborhood, the shop's name is Pırlanta and is at the Çarşıkapı Nuruosmaniye Caddesi no 31, Kapalıçarşı, Istanbul.

I forgot to mention some addresses in previous posts, just ask if you wonder :)

We are now home still with the air of Istanbul in our hair, tomorrow everything will be just like before.
Historical information was taken from wikipedia

Istanbul Day 4

Today we met some friends of the EuropeanStreetTeam!



First we went with Heli to the Gülhane Park which used to be the Garden of the Topkapı Palace.


Heli picked the perfect place, it was lovely, the view was great!

Then Meltem called us and we went to the atelier of Şenay, both are friends of our team at Etsy, it was so much fun to meet some of them in real!


Şenay took really good care of us with tea and delicious cookies.

Meltem and Heli.

Starmum, Şenay and Meltem


And the whole gang together :)

Istanbul Day 3

So, we forgot to take pictures yesterday of the supplier we went, today we needed to go back for one tiny thing, BIG mistake, very big mistake as we bought even more. To understand the temptation you have around here, here some pictures untill you get dizzy and bead-sick...



This is a huge shop of 3 floors full of beads and everything you can dream of...



Mum looks pretty smug between all these supplies...

The store is so full that even the staircases are full with yummy supplies...

If you ever come to Istanbul, the address of the huge shop is:

Orijinal Bijuteri

Marpuççular Cad. No: 4/6

Eminönü/ istanbul

So if you think that one shop is it all, you are wrong, there are a few buildings, full with only beadshops, nothing else....

Supplies....

and more supplies....


Feeling dizzy?

Even mum- the biggest supply lover you can imagine- run away eventually, it was just too much :)

Istanbul Day 2

We found this wonderful shop today, dangerously close to our hotel. They sell gorgeous handmade felt dolls, hats, jewelry but also bags and shoes made of old carpets.

Beside the items, the atmosphere of the shop was wonderful too.

All items where very nice showed, with a Turkish style but still different then usual.

Also some small furniture pieces in the same style.

Of course we couldn't resist to walk out this shop without buying something, mum got her self a beautiful felt glass case and needle felted doll. And I got a yummy bag.

After that we went to Eminönü the place to buy jewelry material. You first go through the Grand Bazaar, and after that you come to a huge mess of tiny streets and tons of shops.

We also needed some packaging and found a perfect shop for that, shopping takes alot of time here, people get easily distracted by others but eventually after some patience you get what you want.


Shopping doesn't go without tea and a fight about prices...

We also went to a huge supply shop with 4 floors but forgot to take pictures, we bought a few kilometers of chain and other things, spending money makes you tired and the day was gone already, so we went to a restaurant to eat something and then back to the hotel to rest from all the shopping, to continue tomorrow :)