zoolThe Galata Tower. A nice feel to the neighbourhood walking up to it, this shopfront workshop with craft sessions caught my eye, you can go and make your own mosaic lamp for €35
Vast, lavish mosques each with a different illuminated banner, they are "mahya", made with LEDs now, previously with oil lamps, strung for Ramadan. The messages are quite humanistic
Spookily quiet bazaar district, mediaeval layout, chaos architecture, populated by stray cats and late-night workmen, quite suddenly emerging into a glossy district of silver workers. Telling myself i don't need any silver. Looking forward to seeing more of this in daylight :)
A duet or duel between the two big mosques in Sultanahmet Square, recording the lunchtime call to prayer from a little park in between #soundscape #audiofoto
Wandered over to the tourist core in my plan-less state, explored the gardens of the Topkapı palace and the squares around the Hagia Sofia but felt no impulse to go into these places
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BClhane_Park - the big column was left there by the Romans in the 4th century ago. Now reading that i missed a whole museum of Islamic Science and Technology nearby; having seen glimpses of those instruments and devices in the equivalent Western museum in Oxford recently, have to try and return there
Making a conscious decision not to go into curated spaces, just take what comes aesthetically
Did briefly go into one mosque, not with deliberate intent, was drinking tea in a patch of sun until it sank behind it, felt appealing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Hagia_Sophia - built around the same time as Hagia Sofia, originally a church. Very solemn and open feeling. The courtyard opposite had artists' studios around the edge, bought a small print of whirling dervishes. They do shows, that doesn't appeal much
The oddly quiet neighbourhood i arrived in yesterday was bustling by morning, it's dominated by shops selling craft supplies and makes, you squint down into a basement and see a half a dozen styles of sandals on a desk, a room piled with sandal bases, or a tiny mall connecting basements
Most of the upper floors must be used as warehouses or workshops. Explored the other direction to find a more living area this evening, ate at a hole-in-the-wall döner place, drank unexpectly rose-scented tea
Sarah Dal@ultrazool it has been years since I've been, but I found the Islamic Science and Technology museum very sterile, lots of incredibly beautiful objects (I feel like most of them were replicas) in immaculate cases. For me, I much preferred the Rahmi Koc Museum of Technology - more bustling and busy https://rmk-museum.org.tr/istanbul/en
gasman@ultrazool I can practically smell the spices wafting through the air 🙂