Merry Christmas!

The Christmas decorations are looking quite a bit like last year's decorations, so I looked around for some that I had not seen last year.  The most creative tree goes to the Leonardo restaurant in Polonezkoy, who turned their chandelier into a decorated tree.

The candy shops are all nicely decorated for Christmas.  Here is one of the Divan shops, ...

 one of the Baylan shops made a tree out of their colored macaroons, ...

 and Cafer Erol has a red and white candy cane ring tree.  And the flavor is, ... no, not peppermint, but cherry!

Almost all of the trees are artificial, but I did find two very much alive trees at the Kanyon shopping center.  The girls inside even posed for me after giving treats from their red bag to children!

Have a very Merry Christmas!

a ferry ride

Just before heading out on my adventure for the day, I spotted a naval ship cruising down the Bosphorus.  You do not see naval ships very often.  After it was out of range, I left the apartment and took the bus to Anadolu Kavagi, the northernmost ferry stop on the Asian side.  My goal was to take the ferry from Anadolu Kavagi across the Bosphorus to Rumeli Kavagi.  This is the only Bosphorus ferry crossing that I had yet to take.  Temperatures today were forecast for the low 60's, so it seemed a good day for this excursion.

 While in Anadolu Kavagi, it was much easier to spot the castle at the top of the hill with the leaves off the trees.

 The ferry pushed off from the village of fish restaurants and fishing boats, ...

My Mom's house sold last week, and to celebrate, I brought my copy of her front door key with me and slipped it into the Bosphorus.  It can spend the rest of its life flowing back and forth between the Black Sea, just beyond the horizon line of this picture and the Sea of Marmara.

 Looking back to Anadolu Kavagi and the castle.

 And approaching Rumeli Kavagi on the European side of the Bosphorus.

 We were in about 50 feet of the ferry landing when an attendant on land shouted to us.  Evidently there were no passengers to get on the ferry, so we did not stop, but continued to the next stop, Sariyer.  That was fine with me.  I was heading there to see the exhibit of terra-cotta figures at the Sadberk Hanim museum.  No picture taking at that museum, but it is a very good one.

 After Sariyer, I bussed down to Yenikoy and after passing the cats on the pumpkin ledge, ferried back to Asia

Cengelkoy

Cengelkoy is a village on the Asian side of Istanbul.  The word "cengel" means "hook" and in this village, it represents the shape of the inlet along the Bosphorus.  

 Cengelkoy is located two villages to the north of the first bridge.  On a clear day you can easily see the outline of the historic section of old Istanbul.

 Smaller boats are harbored here, with experience needed for maneuvering the dock in the dark.

The most famous spot for tea in Cengelkoy, is under the sycamore tree.  An ancient tree with a huge trunk and supported limbs sits between a small mosque and the Bosphorus.

Team rivalries go back many years in Turkey.  In the Ottoman period, two teams competed in horsemanship - the cabbage men and the okra men.  A fountain in front of the police station shows the cabbage men support.

 Throughout Turkey, the very small Cengelkoy seedless cucumbers are the best.  I doubt many or any are grown in this congested village, but the name remains.

Cengelkoy also has a very nice bakery with their bread making processes displayed in ceramic on the store front.

 A few eateries offer the delicacy of kokorec, which is lamb intestine cooked on a rotisserie.   I have never tried it, so I cannot vouch for its taste.

 I can vouch for the almond meringue cookies, which are a tasty treat!

If in Doubt, ...

Accessorize!  My niece saw a small dish with this expression on it in a shop, but unfortunately, it was not for sale.  It was part of the display.  But it would have been perfect for my niece, who has a birthday today!  So in honor of her birthday and her interest in accessories, here are some shops in Istanbul that offer all sorts of accessories.

Accessories is not a Turkish word, so in hindsight, I am surprised so many use this word in their name.  Western influence infiltrating in this market area...

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Barbarossa

Barbarossa (red beard in Italian) was an admiral in the Ottoman Navy during the years 1515 to 1544.  He is still considered today one of the outstanding admirals in the country's history.  Hayreddin Barbarossa pirated the Mediterranean before aligning himself with the Ottoman empire.  His campaigns were very successful and under his leadership, Algeria and Tunisia were brought into the Ottoman empire.  A statue in his honor stands in a park named after him just outside of the Naval Museum in Besiktas. 

His mausoleum is also in this park.  He died in Istanbul in 1546.

Inside the Naval Museum, are several portraits of Barbarossa.  The navy was the earliest organization in Turkey to send officers for training in western painting techniques.  Prior to the age of photography, naval officers painted pictures of key figures, the fleet and battles.

This portrait of Barbarossa was done by Refek Aziz in the 20th century.

In addition to many fine paintings, the Naval Museum has ornamental wood carvings that decorated the ships.  These were all created in the ship building workshops.  Here are a couple of lions on display.

In this area of Besiktas, many businesses use Barbarossa's name, showing his continued popularity.  The library of the Bahcesehir Univeristy is named after him, ...

as well as a local cafe.

Ebru at 1200 degrees

Ebru is an old Turkish art form of painting with water on paper and creating a marbling effect.  Glass artist Gulin Algul has used the ebru as inspiration for her work in blown glass.  Her work is on exhibit at the Naval Museum in Besiktas and the title of the exhibit is Ebru at 1200 Degrees.

Many stunning pieces are on display, with the marbling effect.  The following are each about a foot in diameter.

This piece was my favorite.

In addition to the glass art pieces on display, pictures on the walls show the processes used in making the pieces.  Gulin does her work in the studios at the Glass Furnace in Istanbul.  Can you feel the 1200 degree temperature just looking at this glass going into the furnace?

More of Gulin's work can be seen on her website www.asanni.org  The exhibit at the Naval Museum is on until December 15, 2011.  It is worth a visit to see this glass art exhibit and also the Naval Museum.

Anadolu Feneri by the Black Sea

On a fairly sunny day this week, I took the bus up to Anadolu Feneri on the Black Sea.  As the bus departed from the station of origin, I was the only one on the bus.  My own private 30 foot limo.  People did join me along the route, but most departed before the final stop at Anadolu Feneri, where just 4 of us disembarked

 The cats are doing very well in this village.

 The sky and Black Sea merged into the same pale gray color.  To the east of the Bosphorus opening to the Black Sea, there were lots of fishing boats.  Tankers and cargo ships waiting to head down the Bosphorus were to the west of the Bosphorus opening.

 The view to the east from the small park around the lighthouse, ...

 and an up close view of the lighthouse.  The gate to the lighthouse park was closed during my last vista, so I was happy to see it open this time.  The door to the lighthouse was locked, but a sign outside gave some further information. It was built in 1856 by the French, is 75 meters above sea level, is 20 meters in height and has visibility of 20 miles.  Previously, it was powered by a corded kerosene lamb, but now a filament lamb of 1000 watts is used. (Not sure if it was the French or the Turkish who did the translation into English, to generate these very talented lambs!)

 When I left home, the tankers and container ships were heading north from the Bosphorus to the Black Sea.  They travel in only one direction at any given point in time.  By the time I got to Anadolu Feneri, they were still heading north into the Black Sea.

 A little fall color around the houses of the village...

 I was disappointed to see my lavender colored restaurant not only closed, but for rent.  So I purchased some almonds and corn nuts in the little market and started walking back to the beach before the village.  This beach is closed to people, as it is part of the area belonging to the military.  The number of seagulls on this beach is impressive.  They have first shot at the local fish, and the fishing must be great.

By the time I got home, I looked out the window and the flow of traffic on the Bosphorus had changed.  Now all the tankers and container ships were heading south toward the Sea of Marmara.