I was very sad to say good bye to Rose this morning as she left early on the shuttle to the airport. I’m now on my own for a few days before I head to Israel. I decided to spend the day in the northern part of the old city.
The old part of Istanbul is on a peninsula that is bordered by the Golden Horn, Bosphorus Sea, and the Sea of Marmara. The peninsula was protected for almost a thousand years from invaders by the landward walls constructed in the 5th and 6th centuries.
View from the eastern most segment of the wall
The walls
The original wall on the right and the reconstructed part to the left behind. Experts are upset how new it looks especially for a Unesco sight.
Close to the walls is the Church of Our Saviour in Chora (aka Church of Chora). It has some of the best preserved mosaics in the city. Sorry if you are bored with all the mosaic pictures – I find them fascinating that they are made out of tiny pieces of stone that make these lovely varied pictures.
My companion at lunch
After a relaxing lunch in the sun (which included many cups of apple tea) I walked back to the southern part of old city which took about 2 hours. It was lovely to see the residential neighbourhoods. Because it is Sunday there were so many people on the streets visiting friends, running errands, and children playing.
Ottoman architecture – wooden houses with the pop-out windows on the second floor
This evening I treated myself to a nice dinner as it is my first solo evening. I find it hard to go to a restaurant on my own and sometimes you get very strange looks from both the staff and other patrons. It was nice tonight though. I had a vegetable kebab that is cooked in a sealed clay pot. They then break the pot to get the food out.
The clay pot came out on a special table the put in the middle of the pedestrian street. It was on a flaming plate – I think for presentation rather than to keep it warm.
He held it upside down whacking it with a small hammer
The pot was broken apart and pored into a bowl
The yummy end results!
What a wonderful travelogue, Louisa (I’m thinking of the last three posts in particular). You do a fine job. May I comment–I think you were in Asia the whole time you were in Anatolia (Aegean Coast, Cappadocia).
Hi Louisa – how exciting to be in such an ancient city – didn’t this used to be called Constantiople?? There is a funny old song about it too!
The mosaics are lovely and so wonderful that so many of them still exist!!
I was wondering about the clay pot – do they make a new clay pot for each meal?? Seems wasteful – and does anyone ever get hit with flying bits of crockery??
And where do you know Rose from? University days?
Mmmmmm…apple tea
That dinner looks amazing!! What an experience for all of your senses. I agree with dad, you do an amazing job of travelloguing!!