Thurs, 16 Mar 06

More eventful then it'll sound in the retelling - a late morning, topkapi palace for real this morning. glamourous palaces, it's been compared to versailles but i think that's way too much of an exaggeration - they weren't that nice.... interested glob of buildings placed very randomly - wierd to be in an official place without an organizing plan. galleries of the royal treasure, glittery pox of jewels on unneccessary objects... a watch-handled knife, how convenient when you're stabbing someone... pottery, gardens, decorated domes, etc. cool, not breathtaking. the dome behind ataturk in the picture was from topkapi palace.... the grey skies really got to me and i didn't take all that many pictures... ones with sun are always preferable, so this pic is from sunday morning. 

Public Nudity!

More wandering, saw a huge section of this dense fabric cut out for a soccer stadium - kind of an eyesore, and interesting to see how they had to dig it into the very steep hills. this is an overview at sunset, you got the impression that the land would keep waving, covered by this mess, away into the distance forever if you could get up high enough to see it.

Scary hammam experience - we consulted the guidebook to find a 'real experience' hammam vaguely on the path we were travelling. hmm.... not tourist oriented, they tried to hurry me out, and rather then the promised waffle-weave towel to keep around you, they handed out a fluffy drying-off towel.... wasn't sure what to do, apparently that hammam's custom was to wear swimsuit bottoms, something i didn't know... anyway, much uncomfortableness as a result..... i was pretty happy to leave, even if it meant waiting in the busy street with people staring. lodged myself in a pile of travertine with my notebook and a occupied look, not too uncomfortable and the busybodies of the neighborhood apparently made sure tony knew his travelling companion was waiting - he had a good experience in the guys side, lucky bastard.

we stopped for some creative baklava on the way out, the turks are much more enthusiastic about food's aesthetic preparation then non-mosque's buildings..... supper, fresh seafood on the galata bridge overlooking the city and drifting boats... i ordered sea bream, figuring the whole fish pictured on the menu was just for illustration, but i recieved a fish that had probably been slapped wiggling onto the grill then left alone.... tasted good, came close to choking on bones, but it wasn't as hard as i'd imagined and an experience. tres chill hookah bar after that, cushions on the floor and low walls comfy, coffee tables, chill and smoke water pipe (apple, tasted like applewood and we only learned later that it was actually tobacco too.... pretty effect-less) was very soothing i guess.... good times. over enthusiastic waiter boy, snowboard competiton on tv distracting and fun - i wish chicago had someplace with an atmosphere similar, will have to go looking when i get back...... interesting cool day. 

Beyolglu walk

Saw the best/new and just normal parts of the city on this walk that took all afternoon - across the river to Beyolglu, way uphill for a long ways - galata tower, fun bookstores, a dunkin donuts? first in europe, trendy stores, the anti-climatic taxim square on the top of the hill, then 'going back by an alternate route' we veered from the wealthy path to the everyday neighborhoods. quite decrepit by our standards, people hanging wash on lines across the streets, but all the children playing ball on the streets looked well-fed and dressed, and friendly or indifferent, and the people there seemed to be ok with their life. no doubt it's a lot harder then ours, but less unpleasant then many people in third-world countries would live i guess. one of these girls wanted to pose, the other was a little more shy.... 

Wed 15 Mar 06

Salty breakfast (same every day, same arrangement on plate - slab of feta cheese -g00d - 5 olives, 3 tomatoe slices, 3 cucumber slices, one butter, one jam, and a basket of sliced bread... good, but got old by the end), topaki museum trip turned into archeological museum trip. lots and lots and lots of really old junk, not too well displayed - i'm really getting a lot pickier about museums. cool stuff though, lots of real skeletons and paleolithic setups - they're a lot closer to their history there, and there's a lot more of it there then even europe. Wander over to bridge, lunch in a small small small restaurant - back of a doner kebab streetfront - that i think most people in the states would consider horrendous, it was kind of just part of the atmosphere there though and was very fitting. Broke our anti-mosque streak (we were waiting for the sun) with the Mosque New on the riverfront, large beautiful cold feet. Spice market traveling, more fragrent then the other bazaar, brighter and more fun but much smaller. this picture is from the plazza in front of the bazaar and mosque, and going to the riverfront. i don't understand why people feed the vermins.... you can see it's a muslim place from the clothes, pretty typical of everyone we saw there. 

Bazaar!

I'm cheating with pictures- this is the spice bazaar a few days later, but i somehow managed to feel hassled enough to not take pictures in the bazaar.

Bazaar! we certainly didn't see all 5,480 shops today, but a huge number - predating malls or even the passages, the 500 year aged warren of commerce was an exercise in avoiding the appearance of interest while gawking profusely. fun time though, too much stuff, too much a tourist trap, lots of heckling. "yes please" you heard all the time, a few wits "let me help you buy something you don't need" but not enough creativity in selling or merchandise.

too many repetitions of things to see there - excess of jewelry, clothes, shoes, wood boxes, eyes (a cool istanbul phenomenon, handmade glass trinkets seen in every store and restaurant, didn't get to check private homes, but the idea was that these artificial eyes would ward off the evil eye from unwellmeaning people), jackets - all the stores seemed the same, quickly. the hecklers were more fun after the mental callouses to brushing them off had formed.

dragging ourselves away from the stimulation and coveted items, we were cajoled into a rug shop on the way back to the hostel. tony was more seriously interested, but it was a fun demonstration regardless. the salesman was fairly smooth, but seemed a little uncomfortable. his 'i will show you a magic carpet' line was kind of silly, implied scoffing, but he brought out a small silk rug and the difference between direction, helped out by his practiced spin, was pretty beautiful and amazing. it was hard to define the difference, one side was definitely darker then the other, but the wish for the carpet to keep spinning so you could put more of a finger on it was very real. it also worked on the larger carpets, less dramatically then the just-silk though. amazing amounts of work in these, and very expensive, and they should have been i guess. would have been lovely.... so soft and so expensive in the states and so dramatic... fun.

supper at buhara with the expressive waiter, wandered to the pudding shop, apparently a famous landmark, kind of just a restaurant there. taking an only slightly wandering path around the university home landed us in a very scary area. i have a wierd relation to risk - i just don't' feel it walking around with anyone else. i feel fairly capable of taking people on, so with company i have to be safe? although tony repeatedly told me i was on my own if someone tried to mug me.... ha. so when we were on a deserted street reminiscent of old market street in Chicago and Tony started getting nervous i was a little surprised. The hill dropped away and a building half-destroyed and small gang of boys (looked like they were harmlessly employed, but still) convinced even me we should start walking away, and faster.... probably the smart thing to do.

Eerie Cisterns

luminous underground crypt of the basilica cistern, an enourmous canyon of geometric columns. i want my project to do similar things - maybe a water component, or just shiney floors. well-lit, but communicating black underground intensity anyway, our raised platform over the low level of the cisterns water allowed us to float through the space a bit more easily then boats would have done. lovely empty and dark. echos upon echos, repitition of form. beautiful brick domes spanning every for-square of columns. at the end a dammed off area with enourmous medusa head bases ivited you to another angle on the columns. the roar of incoming chilren, already numbering in teh large crowds, echoing through the space, made it feel like more of a trap then a wonder - or else isolated like being in the bathroom at a huge party. wading threough the sea swarm of children to the exit and the retrun to creepy peace int heir aftermath welcomed us back to the sunlit lands. ironic, as it was cloudy or raining all day.

Tuesday morning - hammam eek!

transcribed again.... Initial impressions best? if a little wordy. a hammam is a traditional turkish bathouse, still somewhat in use, but declining with common indoor plumbing.... this one was more tourist-focused.

a slow starting morning, although out the room by 9. free salty breakfast in the basement, watching horrible turkish mtv. initial experiences with hammam - interesting a little, uncertain and scary a little, lovely although not as great as imagined. corridors for disrobing, following a dressed lady into the enchanting main room. it was a slow time for the hammam, and for awhile i was the only one laying on the raised navel stone, staring up at the star-studded dome, the light changing in intensity, with little curls of steam playing with the edges of the cups. 12 bays , 4 axis points showing rooms cut off with marble porticoes. pink-peach variegated plaster, one large crack half up the dome and splitting arch above largest 'shower' room.
Massage administered capably if not lovingly by a stout fit older lady. motioning for me to take off my robe, i complied - weird and liberating. nudity just part of the experience - baking your body on the stone, feeling your pulse in the heel of your palm, could be unselfconscious with only females, even under massuers intense scrutiny. gloved exfoliation left me raw initially. i felt like saying, i NEED that stuff to keep me warm, but refreshing front and back. soap massage a wonderful technique, the feeling of warm lather showering down from a ballooned towel. fast massage, long strokes not rubbing - not too much attention paid, and as always too fast. a full massage should be in order at some point. rinse off delightful - cascading buckets of water better then a shower by far, and still the masseur wouldn't allow you to help. soap n the eyes made the rest of the stay even better, no sarcasm, fuzzing the lights to appreciate more the delicate shading. just one of the 12 bays also had light coming in 3 portals. beautiful, unfortunate that it was just one. 5 women was the max while i was there - almost unfortunate, the closeness/proximity was interesting, and it wasn't even remotely crowded. xperience inside drawn to a close, a transition to clother (ugh! and smelly) and dry in those corridors. fresh juice in the courtyard and a timely appearance by tony from the elevated men's side before our exit.

Evening in Istanbul

After supper we wandered a little more, into a place that looked overly authentic (I asked a Turkish guy later though, and he said it was pretty much what his grandma's place was like - amazing).... transcription from notebook written that night....

Charming space, covered in rugs overlapping, clashing wonderfully. Traditional (I hope) seating, low tables with 6" woven reed stools, and a platform to sit on the floor/cushions directly and eat. The place was possibly a converted mosque - centralized plan and a dome, niches in the wall. In the center under the octagon hole to the second story, ultimately under the dome, was an enclosure of low long countertops where two lumps of women knelt rolling out dough from an enormous bag of the stuff and frying it into bread. Very matriarchal women, robed with headscarves and flowing practical gowns, large, comfortably lumped immobile in their seat. It was hard to tell what heir emotions were being there, but it was easy to feel that they did a lot to rule the unruly boys. There were many, four musicians that played a 20 minute set, moving round to tourists at the tables, one man set aside his tambourine for a charming? dance that owed more to belly dancing and buffoonery then MTV. A long silver oboe-shape with a clarinet mouthpiece held the tune, and a tamboor, tambourine, and basket-bodied strummer made up the rest. After their set they rested on cushions in their corner, bsing and greeting customers as they walked in. Old man at the register, you'd think he was in charge, until an even older man from the table shoves him out and makes himself comfortable there. Coffee boy in american hot dog stand hat, matched bellboys, the waiter - too many people, it was easy to see this was just their way of life - they seemed to be spending time as a family as much as putting effort into running a business made slow by the winter.
After our Turkish coffee kicked in (wonderful, thick, leave the last quarter in the cup if you don't want to gag on the grounds they leave in) we wondered down to the bazaar gates and a gorgeous mosque - so un-Roman but an obvious continuation along a different path then ours. Our hostel's power was out, "the first time this year" so this was written by the light of the street lamps.

Picture from rug mosque/baths place the next day, I unfortunately didn't take any pictures of the Cennet place, but an idea of the rugs and niches anyway...

Intro to Istanbul

Istanbul rather easily achieved, 20 euros and maybe 4 minutes longer in customs lines then into paris, but very painless in ataturk airport. the approach to the city was snuck up over the water and just a glimpse of hills and hills of tightly packed urban houses. The taxi ride was similarly both informative and no, being taken by the seashore (with happy people walking along!) and having vision cut off by the first hills. already older more intact walls then rome possesses appeared though, and the taxi drivers only comment was to point out the large fish market. hostel cute and little, enormous windows and free internet, what more could you ask. i was able to wander by myself for an hour or so right away, enjoyed the setting sun - last sun i'd see for 5 days, so it goes....

very easy path of least resistance up the main tourist street, hostel 2 minutes from the Hagia Sofia and the beautiful Blue Mosque (pictured) the main tourist draws.... trying to get off the main street i headed down a precipitous hill and realized the only people i saw were males. looped around the block back to the heckler-ful but reassuringly mixed-gender main drag, past jewelery and upholstery sweatshops, and gem shops... interesting. located someplace to eat and returned with tony. the meal was great, lovingly prepared on a grill in sight, wierd tomato candle decor, so it goes. a charming 'tradition' that we nevertheless didn't have repeated while there was having the host pour out parfume on our hands and a towel to wipe. did make my hands reek all night. 

Utrect, Nederlands

Hmm just an artsy pic i wanted to post. walk continued on and on and on, another break with particularly good conversation in a rather parisian bar... one with padded benches set up around an interior fireplace! particularly exciting for our frozen selves, we proceded to design out a fantastic restaurant incorporating fire at all the tables... it'll happen one day.... tony said he actually saw a restaurant very similar to the one we planned in a magazine in istanbul.... just tapping into the zeitgeist I guess.... it was a fun break. we were back to the (hideous mall of a) train station just after dark to spend our last evening bumming around the amsterdam scene, cutting it short to make the overly early start to istanbul the next day bearable. 

Bridges

This was the universal dutch bridge apparently, rather pretty. the river/canals in utrect were quite a lot bigger then in amsterdam. Utrect was much quieter, very peaceful, long rows of brick houses. Had a very cool time with my ipod - orbital a slightly techno-instrumental band, a cool song messing with time signatures, tempos, and glitched beats. the stretching of time involved in the song contrasted with the absolute regularity of matched footsteps through normal european housing divisions was pretty special. Beautiful textures of cobblestone pavement, rugged brick, quiet empty streets and sunshine through the day. Had a short bit of sun/snow shower here as well, took refuge in a rather randomly stylish bar with a live band playing sinatra, wonderful pause. 

Utrecht! Sun 12 Mar o6

I forgot to mention our yesterday's breakfast of pannekoken, the dutch thin pancakes, with some kind of loganberry topping... very very good. Sundays breakfast was similarly yummy, apple and cinnamon filling this time in another cute little restaurant.... mmm...... checked into a decidedly more hippy hostel for our last night (late booking can be a nuisance), then on the train to utrecht, home of the lovely rietvelt house. another day of much much MUCH wandering, 6 or 7 hours straight of walking. The Rietvelt house was much as i expected it to be, obviously recently restored, obviously needing continuous maintenence, but beautiful in its plainess and abruptness. we didn't get to go inside unfortunately, but a long contemplation and 3d goggles installed on site gave us a very good idea.