This evening Randal and I picniced in our room on dark crusty bread, goat cheese, green and black olives drenched in lemon juice and it was wonderful.  Then Randal went out and got us a decadent strawberry cream thing to split but we washed it down with diet coke so it’s ok.  One could gain thousands of pounds here and soon they won’t be asking me if I’m French!

Here’s the story of our visit to the Pera Palace Hotel and the Galata Tower.

Pera Palace Hotel and the Galata Tower

The Pera Palace Hotel was built in 1892 to provide accommodations for passengers on the Orient Express.

The Pera Palace “back in the day.”

Mustafa Kemel Ataturk, the first President of Turkey had a suite now set aside as a small museum: Room 101. http://www.perapalace.com/en-EN/ataturks-museum-room/66.aspx Agatha Christie stayed in room 441 while writing Murder on the Orient Express. http://www.perapalace.com/en-EN/agatha-christie-room/65.aspx will take you to the Pera Palace Hotel’s website which tells about Christie’s stays at the hotel.  Unfortunately the room was occupied so we couldn’t see it.  But Linda and I did make use of the “ladies.”

Terrycloth towels rather than hot air or paper which is especially impressive after Southeast Asia and India where there is “no nothing” in the “ladies” but 3 walls, a door, and some kind of plumbing.  Definitely a far cry from the AKDENIZ Hotel or the Alican where Linda and Michael have been staying.

The Sedan chair was displayed in the lobby.

From the Pera Palace we walked to the Galata Tower.

I couldn’t get back far enough to capture the entire tower.

“Although it is not completely certain as to when the Galata Tower was built, it is claimed that the it was built during the reign of the Byzantian Emperor, Iustinianos in 507 CE.  (That tower was built of wood.)

It was called the Christea Turris (Tower of Christ) by the Genoese and the Megalos Pyrgos (The Great Tower) by the Byzantines. It took its present shape during the Genoese period. The Tower was heavily damaged during an earthquake in 1509, and it was renewed by the architect, Hayrettin, who was very famous during that period. During the reign of Süleiman the Magnificent (1520-66), it was used as a jail for prisoners who were sentenced to work at the Kasımpaşa Naval Dockyard. The head astrologer, Takıyeddin Efendi, established an observatory on the top of the tower at the end of the 16th century and functioned as an observatory for a particular period of time. Later, it was closed and again turned into a prison by Sultan Murat III (1546-1595).

In 1638, Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi flew as an early aviator using artificial wings from this tower across the Bosphorus to the slopes of Üsküdar on the Anatolian side during the reign of Murad V. Towards the 17th century, it was used by the Mehter Band, the janissary band of musicians. After 1717, it was used as a fire-observatory tower, but the tower itself was unfortunately destroyed in a fire in 1794.

After it was repaired, a cumba, a little room made of wood, was added to the tower during the reign of Sultan Selim III (1761-1808). After another fire in 1831, Sultan Mahmut added two more floors to the Tower and covered the top of the tower with a famous cloth in the shape of a conical hat.  An inscription written by Pertev Paşa concerning the tower’s repair works was affixed during that time. After a strong storm in 1875,  the framework of the roof was damaged and was late repaired in 1960. Today, the Galata Tower operates solely as a touristic attraction by a private company. The elevator only goes to the 7th floor, and the last two floors of the tower must be climbed by stairs.

After passing though the restaurant on the top floor, there is a balcony that encircles the tower. The restaurant’s view showcases a scene of Istanbul and the Bosphorus.

Dimensions

The height of the tower is 66.90 meters (62.59 meters non-including the ornament on top), the outer diameter is 16.45 meters, the inner diameter is 8.95 meters, and the thickness of the wall is 3.75 meters. http://www.ibb.gov.tr/sites/ks/en-US/1-Places-To-Go/towers/Pages/galata-tower.aspx

The Galata Tower’s website is   http://www.galatatower.net/english/

Linda and I paid the fee, waited for the elevator that takes you part way and then climbed the stairs to the outside walkway around the top of the tower.  It was cold and crowded but the view of the “Golden Horn” was wonderful.  Randal and Michael sat in the street café next door and had coffee.

Looking down!

The Galata Bridge spans the mouth of the Golden Horn and is said to divide the European side of Istanbul though I’m not absolutely sure what that means.

The Golden Horn.  Buildings are all jam packed together.

Overlooking the Bosphorus

Today was our last day in Istanbul.  It’s a great place to visit and one could spend lots of time here.  But tomorrow we’re off early to catch the ferry and then train south to Izmir.  Linda, Michael, Randal and me.  The ferry leaves at 7 am and takes 2 hours.  Then we’ll board the train and be in Izmir around 3pm.  We are staying at the Alican Hotel.  I still need to write more about Istanbul and maybe will get some written on the train.  I certainly learn more as I write.

Ru

Sultanahmet Square

Tulips are blooming in Sultanahmet Square.

I said I wanted cooler weather.  I’m wearing a turtleneck, a wool sweater, my Sox hoodie and my heavy foul weather rain jacket.  But the sun was shining and the cold felt good.  The day it rained I had skipped the hoodie, my Henri Llyod rain jacket soaked up rain and I froze. 

“This is one of the oldest pieces of art in Istanbul.  The heads of 3 snakes entwined with each other formed the feet of a cauldron.  The 31 Greek cities that defeated the Persians in the 5^th Century B.C. melted the bronze trophies they acquired and constructed this artwork of unique quality.  The Snake Pillar which is 8 meters long was originally erected in the Temple of Apollo in Delphi.  It was brought by Emperor Constantine in 324.  It was erected in the middle of the Hippodrome. (Now Sultanahmet Square) One piece of the snake heads which were lost in the 17^th century is exhibited in the Museum of Archaeology in Istanbul.”

The Theodosius Obelisk

“The two obelisks were erected in front of the Karnak Temple in Luxor by the Pharoh of Egypt, Tutmosis the 3^rd in 1490 B.C. for the victories Egypt won in Mesopotamia.  The obelisks were made of pink granite of a rare quality.  A Roman emperor, whose identity is not precisely known, brought an obelisk weighing many tons to Constantinople in the 4^th century.  The obelisk, which lay on one side of the Hippodrome for years, was erected with difficulties in 390 by one of the governors of the city, Proclus, during the reign of Theodosius the 1^st. The artwork, which has always been considered to be “enchanted,” is the oldest in Istanbul.  The obelisk stands on 4 bronze blocks on a Roman pedestal decorated with embossed figures.”  One of the obelisks is being refurbished and the base of this one is wrapped and not visible.  These two structures are obviously the oldest mad-made works that I’ve ever seen. 

Randal was more fascinated with the piles of granite “pavers” used to maintain the roads and center of Sultanahmet Square.

Vendors sell bread, corn on the cob or roasted chestnuts.

A segue used as a police vehicle shows the modern side by side with the ancient.

Attack of the ice cream cone.

With a long handled scoop, the vendor would scoop out some ice cream, catch a cone with it, and thrust it at a passerby.  It was too cold so I wasn’t tempted.

Tea glasses left on a window ledge in front of a carpet shop.

Linda and Michael gave us a tip; if you are cold and want hot tea or coffee, walk into a carpet shop and they give you a beverage while they try to see you a carpet.  We haven’t tried that yet but have had hot apple tea from these lovely glasses.  The main character in Bastard of Istanbul would buy a set of tea glasses almost each time she walked through the Grand Bazaar.  There are hundreds to chose from and all lovely and I can see why she had been so tempted. 

AKDENIZ OTEL is just down this alleyway on the left right on the main road and tram route. 

Our favorite bookshop in Turkey on the main street where the tram runs (see its reflection in the window.)

“Our aim is to show Turkey to the world, to act as an international window for Turkey.” “Ali and his staff select their stock by consulting the Bookshop’s “100 advisors”…a group of experts and academics from around the world who alert Bookshop to new publications.”  Amazingly there are two Book Shop locations in Sultanahmet, just about across the street from each other!  The collections are about the same but one the second shop is larger.  We met Ali our first visit and walked out with 3 books, all recommended by Ali or his staff.  Portrait of a Turkish Family by Irfan Orga originally written in 1950;  Turkish Reflections: A Biography of a Place by “Virginian” Mary Lee Settle in 199;, and Belshazzar’s Daughter by Barbara Nadel, a murder mystery series featuring Inspector Suleyman set in the Jewish section of Istanbul.  Ali’s comment about Nadel was that her goal was to kill off all the men in Istanbul.  I may have already mentioned that The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak was not available.  Ali implied it was because her writing isn’t yet great, but I know there were issues with Turkish censors.  But a bookshop isn’t a library so can choose what it likes and limit what it sells. 

The Blue Mosque is also in Sultanahmet Square but that gets an email of its own.  My favorite places so far are the Chora Church which I’d read about in Sue Monk Kidd’s Traveling with Pomegranates.  Randal’s brother-in-law Ken is a minister and I wanted to see it for him too!  And we went to see the Pera Palace Hotel where Agatha Christie wrote Murder on the Orient Express in room 441.  It was occupied so we couldn’t see it but I told my friend Sarah I’d try because her book club had just read Murder….  And we had a really fun dinner one night because chef Burak of Burak’s Turkish Kitchen became our friend and checked to find where Linda could find food kosher for Passover.  But that’s a story for another email.

Ru

DoraMac

Keep going SOX!!!!!