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HP & the HBP - Movie Review
The latest of the series, harry moves towards his 6th year at Hogwarts, read the NY Times move review on the below link: http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/movies/15harry.html?hp
I Should have posted this along time ago...
Everything must come to an end, and so does this, Day 5.
Having had purchased a handful of tackiness, I was thankful for the extra backpack tugged in my suitcase. I landed with my luggage at the reception, were I left them to tour the Sultan Ahmed area one last time.
I cannot believe I haven’t mentioned their Kebab yet, it’s true, everything they tell you about Turkish Kebab is true, that is if, and only if, you know where to eat.
Having the image of an outdated fast-food chain, the Pudding shop’s front does not do it justice; they offer the best treatment of Kebab along the Sultan Ahmad street, go for their lunch specialty, which consists of extremely thin layers of kebab meat layered on top of each other, and some toasted bread, heavenly!
Turning away and back to the guesthouse, I had an hour or so to pass, I walked down the road and appreciated the marvelous views of the Blue Mosque one last time, which surprisingly is what am going to miss most about Istanbul…
*****
Having traveled with as few of expectations as I could foster, I now believe in guesthouses as a viable alternative to fancy ass hotels, I also believe that traveling alone can be a pleasure of its own, you are not obliged to keep up with anyone’s schedule, OR, have the burden of having someone run by yours, it showed me that there is a big difference between Being Alone, and Being Lonely, thankfully I only got to experience the first.
Thinking of it, and of how busy our lives can be, we have lost the grips of being alone with our own selves, my advice to you, dear reader (if any), is to take the time and enjoy the company of your own self, you never know who you would end up with, but you are going to be your own companion till that last breath escapes you…
Love
Ahmad
Leaving shopping till the last day, I headed towards the much anticipated Grand Bazaar...
Grand Bazaar
True my nature; I forgot my cam’s battery, so no Pictures for today, Eh!
Not wanting to sound stupid or something, i did not understand what the Bazaar is all about, Yes there are a lot of antique shops, leather shops, tacky Turkish memorabilia, but so does the entire rest of Sultan Ahmad area, and honestly, for better deals.
Spending 2 hours or so within the Bazaar, I must say that Turkish salesman (yeah, no saleswoman of any sort) can be quite childish sometimes, I mean 5alas, I don’t want to buy means I don’t want to buy, their reaction; they get SAD, WTF????? You try to rip me off, am not going to buy, grow up!
A part from my visit to the Bazaar, I had to cancel another cruise through the Bosphorus, and kept to my room for the rest of the Afternoon, the evening again was for an outing and another dinner in a very nice Turkish restaurant.
Tugging into my bed, I thought of tomorrow, and of leaving Istanbul!
Love
Ahmad
Eyüp
Basing on Menteen's high recommendations, I set to explore Eyüp, which is more accurately pronounced (Ay-eup), armed with my trusted map and some pocket money, I rode the tram to Eminönü station, from where i was supposed to ride the zigzaggy, boat ride to Eyüp.
Surfing through the Bosphorus is an experience to savour, the views on both sides are amazing, and the great thing is that you can pinpoint the places you haven't been to in your travel planner. Anyho, the trip took approximately 30 minutes, and you know what’s cool, the boat, aside from tourists, is actually a transportation channel for locals between the two sides of the Bosphorus, i mean come-on, its only 1.5 TL (and that’s cheap!).
Eyüp is basically conservative Istanbul; you notice that directly after crossing the street, no one is trying to ram Turkish rugs down your throat, or some overly-expensive goat leather jackets, which is always a welcomed change. The "area" of Eyüp is kind of split in two, the coast, and the mountain area, to which you can either walk (it’s exhausting), OR, take the much easier route; telefreak (cable car), it'll only take you like two minutes, and again, very cheap.
Let me add something here, I love how they are clever enough to match the tokens you use for the metro, with the ones you use for the tram, and with also the ones you use for the telefreak! (But sadly not the bus).
Anyho, up in the mountains and i was like "Take my breath awayyyy, ayyyy, ayyyy", you know the song... Breath-taking views (see picture above), which you can enjoy with what else, a glass of Turkish apple tea.
Chora Church
According to my guide, this church is a regularly forgotten part of Istanbul, and I could understand why! To actually find it I had to walk for over 2.5 hours within the old conservative part, and that was the fun in itself, you know how they say it’s the journey that counts, here it is literally true, this is the part of Istanbul you don't get to see, people are so nice as well, I must have asked for directions a million and one times, and by the time I reached the Church, I had no power in me for a 2-hour plus exploration.
The church is convenient in that way, it only took me 45 minutes to check it out, since it is quite small, but the mosaics are to savour, i love the one by Jesus holding an infant, which according to my guide book, is actually Mary's Soul!
Coming out of the church, you can have a lovely toast and cheese with some tea in the opposite restaurant.
The Evening
Being extremely tired of all the walking, i had only a couple of hours for an outing in the evening, I could not do the Spice Bazaar since it was closed by then, so I went to Taksim again, and hidden at the end of street, is a gem of all restaurants (can't recall its name), were surprisingly, Turkish cuisine is not its best, nevertheless, the dishes it served sure made its way to my heart & appetite.
I cannot miss walking in front of the Blue Mosque and not sit down and stare, there is something about it that is just mesmerizing. You know once I read someplace that to meditate you need to focus on something but not focus at the same time, like stare at the stocks ticker on the bottom of a TV channel but not follow its contents, a sort of a blind stare, this is exactly what the mosque does to me, you do not think, you just stare...
Sigh! Am going to miss it...
Am done for tonight, Night,
Love
Ahmad
TopKapi Palace Museum…
Being heavily advised to visit the TopKapi palace, I went through the Map several times till I was able to locate it, situated just beyond the Aya Sophia. I packed my map, Lonely Planet’s guide to turkey (a must have, thanks Amto! :)), some money and off I went.
The TopKapi palace is split into four courts, starting with the first, you are welcomed with vast spaces of lush green fields, and to the right the Marmara Sea blooms into view with an air of royalty. Walking through such spaces you start to realize that Istanbul is a romantic city, love is in the air, couples holding hands everywhere, cuddling together on benches and whispering in each other's ears, it surely is a place to create a memory.
On entering the second court things start to get more interesting. To enter this court and anything beyond, you need to buy your ticket, a must have if you want to avoid the scams of tour guides is to rent the audible guide which will guide you through every step in the palace, which I thankfully did acquire, moving through the second courts you get a sense of the size and power of the Ottoman empire, the kitchens on your right sometimes did prepare meals for over 10,000 people a time! On your left, you find the harem and its individual tickets.
Social rituals are a huge part of the late Ottoman culture, and that is apparent in the Harem, or the family headquarters, here, the Sultan, his wife(s), mother, and concubines (sometimes counted to more than 300) gathered and lived as a family, princes got their education and prepared to face the possibility of ruling the empire one day. The lavish settings throughout the harem and especially in the mother's quarters emphasize her importance even in political manners, were her authority was unmatched by anyone other than the Sultan himself.
Leaving the harem you enter the third court of the palace, which holds some of its greatest treasures, whether in the treasury, were gifts from other countries and empires were presented to the Sultan, Or the gifts that the sultan himself gave away to the grave of prophet Muhammad. Continuing within the fourth court DON'T miss passing through the Privy Chambers: The Sacred Trusts Section, it has a collection of Islamic history that you cannot find anywhere else in the world (maybe only in Madina & Mecca), from the earlier keys of the Kaba'a, to the swords of the prophet Muhammad, parts of his beard, to even his footprint when he ascended to the skies.
Ending with a beautiful view of the Marmara Sea in the fourth court, you can enjoy lunch or an early dinner at the only restaurant in the palace (I didn't, by then i only wanted to go home, the palace took me over 6 hours to go through!). Without much thought, I headed home, to my sweet refuge, the guesthouse.
An outing to the True heart of Old Istanbul!
Determined not to waste a second of my stay, taking a shower and resting for a while, I got ready to hit the streets again, when Menteen, the guesthouse owner, suggested a night out in Old Istanbul with some Argileh. While I don't smoke, I went along for the ride, if nothing but his good company, and his stories of scuba diving and east Asia, The scene was a much welcomed relaxation after the morning's wondering.
Sleeping like a baby, I dreamt of my visits to EYÜP the next morning.
Love
Ahmad
It’s the colorful, diverse, loud & outspoken Istanbul... And it never fails to deliver!
Our journey, my friends, starts with an extremely early wake-up call to the airport, with the flight leaving Queen Alia's airport at 3.30 a.m., having had the luck of a cat at the end of its 7th span, I was seated next to a notoriously famous specimen, the cheap travelling businessman, who has the amazing capacity of sleeping during the most turbulent of circumstances, 5 minutes abroad the plane and BAM! He is fast asleep and snoring.
Keeping my mind in perspective of the short length of the flight, I fought against focusing on the sweet melodies of our friend. The rest of the flight was uneventful, aside from the tiny portions of cat food presented, and the grumps of the stewardesses (am kidding, they were okay!), we landed in sleepy Istanbul a quarter to 6.
After clearing my way through Visa and passport check, I got introduced to the 20-sth driver; "Taher", who's knowledge of English broke down to "Yes", "No", & "I Don't Know". Taher drove me down to the guesthouse where I had my reservation, and it turned out to be the cutest house ever! Cramped off course, tiny beyond measures for sure, but the air it has could not have been better delivered on intention. For me, it was what Istanbul is all about, simple, colorful, & historic...
The Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia & Basilica Cistern...
The first views of the Blue Mosque; i.e. Sultan Ahmed’s Mosque, are Marvellous, its size, architecture, the harmony of its six minarets (Ma2athen), and the swirling birds cracking the dawn of the sun from behind was a view to savour, its moments like this that I thank the prodigies of Japanese parents who brought us Digital Photography, my camera was in full action mode, trying to capture every second of the experience.
Enter the mosque, and you will understand what the hype is all about, the Islamic artistic flare of Sedefhar Mehmet Ağa (the architect appointed by Sultan Ahmad the first to build it), The Sultan originally commissioned the construction of the mosque to counter the historical Aya Sofia did wonders, every single detail was amazing in its own right.
My visit to the mosque came to its end shortly, having had the time to explore what i managed to, i headed towards Aya Sofia.
Before we start with the Hagia, I want to point out that the Blue Mosque is still active till this day, which means that prayers are still performed there, while Aya Sophia is now considered a museum after its history of serving both as a mosque, and a church, which I believe is the reason behind its majestic charm, the combination of both of the faith backgrounds gives it a special taste.
Going through the gates, you are greeted by an Enormous hall were large, Sorry, LARGE round paintings (for a lack of a better word) of the words Allah, Moh'd, and the rest of the khalifah's are outrageously presented in Gold Letters over Green backgrounds, Continuing to the upper level of the museum, you are encountered with earlier work from the museum's pre-muslim era, with mosaics that showed beautiful artistic drawings.
Turning to the underground Basilica Cistern I must say I was not enthusiastic when I finally found it, there was nothing to show for it above the ground (during that point I did not know it was underground), anyho, I reluctantly paid the admission fees and went in.
It was like I left Istanbul, and dived down to one of the secret passages of Dan Brown, mysteriously red-shaded, with fish swimming in the spooky shallow water, and ending with the Medusa Heads (one up-side down and the other on its side), if you ever go to turkey, don’t miss it!
Taksim - Istikal Street
You would think that all of those historic sites are sitting in the heart of Taksim, the much talked about area of Istanbul. Will if you are like me, and are basically a virgin to Turkish culture and geography, then you are madly mistaken, see all those historic sites are on one side of Istanbul, were the others are sitting a couple of metro stops away, the difference in attitude clearly affirms Taksim's persona as the Posh Istanbul.
Being extremely tired, I strolled with dragging feet along Istikal street, were a million and one Cafe's, restaurants, stores, and antique shops reside. The place is fun for a night-out; I preferred the historical part of Istanbul.
I will back with more updates soon, and no, I don't miss Jordan yet (but i miss me family!).
Love
Ahmad
The below is from Robert Mager (1984). Preparing Instructional Objectives,
Once upon a time a Sea Horse gathered up his seven pieces of eight and cantered out to find his fortune. Before he had travelled very far, he met an Eel, who said, "Psst. Hey bud. Where 'ya goin?"
"I'm going out to find my fortune," replied the Sea Horse, proudly.
"You're in luck," said the Eel. "For four pieces of eight you can have this speedy flipper, and then you will be able to get there a lot faster."
"Gee, that's swell," said the Sea Horse, He paid the money, put on the flipper, and slithered off at twice the speed. Soon he came upon a Sponge, who said, "Psst. Hey bud. Where 'ya goin?"
"I'm going out to find my fortune," replied the Sea Horse.
"You're in luck," said the Sponge. "For a small fee I will let you have this jet-propelled scooter so that you will be able to travel a lot faster."
So the Sea Horse bought the scooter with his remaining money and went zooming through the sea five times faster. Soon he came upon a Shark, who said, "Psst. Hey bud. Where 'ya goin?"
"I'm going out to find my fortune," replied the Sea Horse.
"You're in luck. If you'll take this short cut," said the Shark, pointing to his open mouth, "you'll save yourself a lot of time."
"Gee, thanks," said the Sea horse, and zoomed off into the interior of the Shark, there to be devoured.
The moral of this fable is that if you’re not sure where you’re going, you’re liable to end up someplace else, and not even know it.
my thoughts of the world
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I find it difficult to introduce myself in a couple of sentences, attributes and habits are ever-changing.
I can say that at the moment, I am fascinated by two things: People, and Cooking! Enjoy the Blog, and drop me a comment...
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