Istanbul – fond farewell

So here we are on our last day in Istanbul. It’s only been a week, but feels much longer. We had a quick trip up the funicular to Istiklal Cadesi where I went in search of a funky clothes designer in one of the buildings recommended by Lonely Planet, Midnight Express. Great building and staircase but she was no longer there.

So we moved on. Past an exhibit of photographs of a vanished Anatolia by an American woman, Josephine Powell. I had seen this referred to in an article circulated on twitter before we came here. So I was pleased to stumble upon it. She lived in Istanbul. A photograph of her flat showed it crammed with rugs and artifacts. The photos were good. Here are some photos of photos.

We then walked back to the Museum of Innocence. I was amazed at how quickly we got to it – my memory of our first walk was that it was terribly long! Anyway, we got there and it was open and we both loved it. Although it reflects the author’s obsessiveness. I think seeing the museum was enough. Don’t think I’ll buy the book. It was all a bit controlling. No pictures and no talking!

We then walked down and caught the tram back, looking forward to see the Suleymaniye Mosque. We digressed to see a smaller mosque by the same architect, Sinan, the Rustem Pasa, which was lovely

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But stopping to see it meant we missed seeing the big one as it was just closing for an hour for prayers when we arrived. No matter. It was lovely on the outside.

Back to our hotel via the University Istanbul which is nearby.

That was the end of my photographic journey in Istanbul, but not quite the end of our tourist activities. We went to the books area of the Grand Bazaar and Joe purchased some prints. These are taken from very old books and we saw some of these stacked up in one of the shops with the scalpel like knife used to extract the drawings. They are very lovely. Beautiful colours. There are some in our hotel’s stairwell.

Joe happy with his memento of the city, we walked back to the Hotel Niles. Through a local Trash ‘N Treasure type market. Lots of trash, would take some time to sift through for the treasure. Eleanor bought an apple just to watch the man peel and core it with a nifty little device. We also saw a man pour a red drink (maybe pomegranate juice) from an elaborate flask he carried on his back – quite a performance.

So that is that – all done. We are now packed ready for a 5.30 trip to the airport in the morning. And here is one final photo – of the Black Sea as we flew over on our way to Wien, early Sunday morning the 23rd of September 2012.