The 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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galata_Tower

https://www.highlightsinistanbul.com/

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

Allowed myself to be tempted into a particularly pretty sweets-and-spices shop, be plied with tea and samples of Turkish delight, and emerge with a fancy presentation box full of thick rolls of the stuff, weighing almost a kilo, which they thoughtfully shrink-wrapped to prevent me from noshing up immediately. So i'll bring fancy Turkish delight home to share with loved ones, and stop looking at it here

A lot of day, earned the right to drink tea in the hotel cafe and attempt to shader code :)

I made this lamp! With a bona fide effort to place all the tiny glass beads by hand, towards the end of the session gave in and shoved the rest of the gold ones on with a spoon, as previously instructed. The lamp now has a big base which i *might* be able to pack

Sticking the mosaic to the glass bulb is done with clear silicone gel-glue like you'd use for plumbing. There's glass-cutting gear and scraps in the hacklab...

Wandered back the route i'd taken on Friday night, chance to see it all in daylight, and found Taksim Square covered in police presence, layers of kettling barriers, Gezi Park full of buses to cart people off in, if needed, and water cannon parked round the corner

No-one seemed alarmed, no event obviously going on, the news suggests it's International Womens Day that merits this treatment!

https://www.turkiyetoday.com/nation/istanbul-closes-major-roads-and-metro-lines-for-international-womens-day-events-3215805

The workshop was in part an appointment with myself to get out of Fatih; as spectacular as the area is, it's all tourist service.

Walked back to the bridge through the eerie bazaar mid-morning, found it still mostly shuttered at this end. The traders there are unhappy, selling derived goods no-one wants in an internet age of Temu on one hand, Instagrammable experiences on the other. The old town's heart failing, its fabric decaying behind shutters. You wonder how long it has been becoming this

Another #audiofoto #soundscape walking through a section of the bazaar covered with a tin roof. It's a nice mode of use of space, half open. You guess the covered market is a gesture of feudalism, tax the contained edges. You wonder at how life is being lived, all the other things that do not involve selling objects which could happen there

Our high streets are in some way the same. Differently phrased activity below. Above, the same space of absence and decay

Ate supper after sundown in the blissfully quiet and calm Art Cafe tucked away behind the Little Hagia Sophia mosque. It's full of paintings, some clearly by the proprietors, and like sitting in someone's living room. The people are all lovely smiles, there are peaceful cats in there. An oasis of contrast to the rest of the area.

Bought a cup of something called "salep" on the walk home, best described as a hot liquid nougat with nutmeg on. I can still taste it. Never again