Istanbul, Turkey was a place that I had only heard, and knew about because of an artistic friend who made her home there. Nothing what I had imagined, every experience was a cultural experience from getting off the plane to getting back on the plane. I arrived late in the evening and took a chartered van to my hotel giving me the opportunity to take everything in, and get to my hotel without any doubt. As I rode through the steep and narrow inclined streets I was overwhelmed with the traffic, and people. Istanbul was no Tokyo.
My room and hotel had an amazing view of the city. I loved getting up in the early morning and experiencing a mega city at the tips of my fingers.
Seeing the flags draped all over large and small it was a unique experience being in the city, a place unlike another place I had been before.
Getting around from place to place was somewhat difficult at first. Had I not experienced Japan, and Tokyo I would never have gotten to many of the sights that I had intended to visit. Though the technological element wasn’t there as it is in Japan, the experiences I had payed off. I spent some time memorizing the various metro routs and tram stops, but I was still unsure about crossing over Asia.
I abosoultely love this picture. Behind each street, and each corner held a jounery all it’s own.
I never tried any of the corn although it looked delicious I did however enjoy seeing all the street vendors. I took a moment and wondered how many people would be out of business if the city had instead gone with vending machines, or would they be a fail.
Seeing some of Istanbul’s most iconic structures was not only humbling but experiencing a cultural radically different then that of my own it was truly life changing.
A tower that dated back to 900 A.D. left me speechless as there was nothing in my own home that I could relate to. In my own home town the early 1800’s were as far back as I could think of.
Istanbul had it all when it came to history, even Egypt was present in the collection of works.
A blend of all cultures, races and religions, Istanbul was truly a place where the east meet the west in a beutiful portal of humanity living side by side one another in someone of a tolerated understanding of peace and acceptance.
I think out all my world travels this picture and experience ranks among the top five. Seeing Christ and Mother Marry along side the Muslim calligraphy of the Hagia Sophia was humbling and awe inspiring. To think that such diverse elements derived from the same idea could be placed together so peacefully and harmoniously.
Unfortunately the Hagia Sophia was undergoing reactivations along with many other places I went to visited
I love the day in the life feel this picture brings to mind. I also started noticing the overwhelming number of stray animals.
When I stand back I look at the beautiful architecture that stands how how it has inspired others in their works of art.
The underground basilica cistern was truly quite the unique experience, especially when I consider that it was built during Roman times. I would have loved to see Istanbul when it was “Rome” along with it’s rich and diverse history present now.
Under construction it still an amazing experience but all the reinforcements and banal work being done diffienly took away a piece from the over all ambience.
The night life in Istanbul surprised me. Unlike many parts in Japan where the day ends around 10:00 P.M. Turkey goes on into the early morning upwards of 4:00 A.M.
I found that the people of Turkey are all about business and work hard at making a living for themselves and their families. With the Turkish Lira “TL” not as strong as the other currencies it wasn’t uncommon to get several recites when doing business. You would get one for the U.S. Dollar, the Euro and the TL. At one point I was able to pay for something with a 100 Yen note that I had left over. The difference is paid back in TL.
This was very reminiscence of Kyoto, Tokyo and the open air markets. I found the food, coffee, and tea to be amazing. Along with the Beer, but of course being close to Germany, they had Becks on tap. As for much of the merchandise it was far from being high end in most cases, something I would constantly run into.
Another picture that I absolutely love depicting an ally with was nothing more then a simple day in the life. This is an ally that I am not use to seeing or experiencing. I intend to do a series depicting the various ally ways from around the world and reveal many various aspects about our culture and idenity.
I can see why some people lived here and loved every minuet of it. There was a world of art behind every turn and an experience to had and taken in. In a city as old as Istunbul problems of space, remodeling and construction are unique and prose their own problems.
This was a new Mosque being built near down town Taksim square. I felt lucky to see the mosque in its beginning stages to that I might later look and say I remember it when it was just being built.
Taksim Square is the heart of ideas and of revolution for the city and country. A history I was unaware of and seemingly unknown. I took a moment to reflect of all the things I did not known making me feel smaller and the world so very much larger.
I can’t say that I fell in love with Turkey in the way did for Japan. Still Istanbul was one of those moments in my life like I ran off and how a memorable journey that would forever change my life.
I found it neat and sort of cheeky various departments selling their goods and wear. Basing my experience on Tokyo and other cities in Japan I was use to seeing a world of every model, every color, and every shape being offered, not a limited selection. What i did note about that disparity is that there was no need for such consumerism. For outside of Istabul the world quickly changed along with the dynamics and demographics.
You could tell the city was old, and had history. The trams that ran though Taksim Square were a treat and a novelty. Now that I have seen them in person I long to see this city covered in a blanket of snow.
One thing I learned is that spite Istabul being host to many different culturies relgions and idenities there was still a few things that everyone spoke. One of those being the Iconic image, histroy and knowledge of Che Guevara. The other being everyone spoke the idea of cash. In many occasions when I was ready to pay large sums of money for something, it wasn’t long before I was speaking with someone in English, drinking tea, and exchanging currency. I was worried at first when I thought of wearing my own Che Guevara shirt, but was surprised when i received the warm welcome that I did.
Every place of business had someone out front waving people in taking offering up their stores food or merchandise. I ate several times at Taksim Doner and made some incredible friends in the process. People of Istanbul loved me. Often the people of turkey would ask walker byes come have a beer and a hookah. I was always like, Yes, of course, how did you know.
Walking to Galata tower was amazing. I couldn’t help but think of how things might have looked during the time of its inception. Today it offers a beautiful and unique view of the city.
A place that unfortunately has no handicap access to the top, even for the well fit climbing the spiral staircase is quite the obstocal. Inside can also be found a cafe and diner, but also a viewing area, and a free fall wind tunnel.
Several thing that blew my mind while at the Grand Bizarre was that you could buy gold and silver. Gold and silver shops were as common as rug and tea shops. Another thing before entering was that you had to go through security before entering. Over all my impression of the Grand Bizarre wasn’t the hype that everyone had led on to believe, at least in my opinion.
Truly an element and staple of the culture of Istanbul, having tea in these iconic plates and cups is an experience all it’s own.
One thing I was not expecting walking into one of the book stores that I happened to come across was that of masters and margarita along with several odd titles. I think more then seeing these book for sale was when I saw someone at the tram stop reading “A Clock Work Orange.” I wondered how the invented language translated across Turkish
I had the wonderful opportunity to see my artistic friend while in Istanbul. Thankful for the opportunity to see a friend, and have her help me navigate from Eastern Europe to Asia and then back was more then nice. Though I would be missing the opening of her solo exhibition i was how however lucky to go on a day behind the scenes of day in the life of an artist before the show. For people who think being an artist is romantic and a dream job, there is unimaginable work that goes into the making of such a showing.
While visiting with my friend I did not miss out on the opportunity to take a class taught by here not only in English but also in Turkish.
Another one of my favorite picutres that I took that truly shows off the culture and idenity of not just the people but Istanbul it’s self.
One thing that i was amazed by was the amount of stray pets that inhabit the city, especially in the Asian part of Turkey. I watched a unique experience play out before me regarding the stray animal problem.
At the gallery I watched this cat that lived inside go about it’s lazy day, laying in the window watching the day pass by. I saw in the office it’s litter box, and its, bowl of food and water. As I was there in the gallery with my friend I watched the cat streach it’s self using the glass of one of the larger pieces standing up against the wall. Upon walking out I stepped over a kitten sitting there at the door meowing. We stopped and said hi to the kitten before we were again on our way without a second thought to the cat. How nice for the cat that lives indoors gazing at art passing it’s day with out worry or thought.
