Tuesday, August 27, 2013





Beauty and Mystery is Everywhere 


 Returning Home to Seattle and Vashon

We have traveled to the Middle East and Turkey and seen many exotic things that amazed and enlightened us. Goat markets, sand dunes, ancient mosques, Petra caves, where Jesus was buried and Mary sprayed her breast milk on the wall. What more is there to see? We return to Seattle and our home on Vashon Island. Will it all seem too new, too mundane, and too uninteresting? Our friends Judy and Andy are coming to stay with us from Oxford, England. What can we show them that will be exciting? We have nothing religious to offer and no ancient architecture. But one wet morning we take them to the garden under the sea... it has its own mysteries and magic.  Judy writes a poem about our experience. How can it be this is the first time we have seen this beauty right in our backyard?  


Under the Vashon Ferry Dock 



Low Tide on Vashon
Judy Molyneux

Low tide on Vashon
Amongst the pylons
Under the bridge to the ferry
Drenched In the rain.


Dark damp dripping down
Squirting geezer through
Black sand of the Giant Clam
Untouchable burrowing down




The art gallery decorating
The forest of posts all in lines
We gradually see them becoming
Denser and denser as we walk on.



All sizes of star fish Splayed in groups
Above the ground In clumps on posts.
Left behind by the dropping tide Dead or alive?
The tide is turning,They will survive.



Deep rich purples, lustrous glistening
On rough rubbery flesh. They do not move
Or respond to touch. They cling to the posts:
hosts of tentacles immobile, hosts off stars.





And interlaced are varying colours,
Blood red stripped through with conker-brown;
golden glow almost yellow, peeling off the post
Are these spikes teeth, a mouth?



And here's a cream mess hanging from wood to sand
No tentacles. is it glue, is it slime, is it alive?
Untouchable, And here's a blob on the ground.
Prod with toes, it recoils.



Shining orange anemone twins sit together
Glowing in this dark place
And near by some fine minute tentacles like mycellae
with a washed white empty crab shell.



Reflecting in shallow saline with floating weed
A secret water garden In miniature
through my phone camera lens. Living art
In a forest of pylons beneath the bridge to the ferry.







Carolyn Photographer 
Judy the poet and Andy her husband 





Sunday, May 5, 2013

Bospherous Boat Cruise

Bospherous Boat Cruise




Seth and John spend the morning planning the next phase of their trip. At noon we head off for kebabs and the 1:30 cruise down the Bosperhous River. It is a relaxing cruise where we sit and watch the shoreline of mosques, palaces, and million dollar homes (French Beroque style) and restaurants from the boat.  We cruise under both bridges arriving at a small fishing town where we have another fabulous salad. It is sunny and the views are breathtaking. 

We walk back to our apartment and I pack to return the next day to Seattle where John and Seth plan their next adventure to Cappadoccia. We have another lovely dinner and afterwards Seth and I head for a restaurant that is said to have the best baklava in the city. Surprisingly at midnight it is packed with families and people who have their tables piled high with baklavia. My favorite is the chocolate baklava. We fill a box full of different sorts of baklavia for me to bring home to friends. Back to my hotel, hoping I will wake up at 2:30 to catch my 3:00 am taxi to the airport. I hate to leave this wonderful country and am more than a little envious of trip Seth and John are about to take. 

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Views, Towers and Cabs



Views, Towers and Cabs
Mummy in Archeological Museum 

Today we have planned to take  a boat cruise down the Bosphorous to a fishing village.  Unfortunately we have to move out of our sweet apartment because others had rented and paid for this place months ago. Luckily John has found on the web another apartment that is only 2 blocks away so we should have time to check in and make our 1:30 boat cruise time. We are told our next apartment has a great view but we must hike up 5 floors to get there.  Sounds enticing… we pack up and despite the proximity of the new accommodations John recommends we take a cab because these brick, stone roads are deadly to pull his luggage along… seems the wheels on his suitcase swirl sideways crashing his case.  So we hail a cab .... something we should have learned by now is not wise but we seem to need many learning trials. Thirty minutes later we are still driving in circles down narrow steep roads that are usually one-way in the wrong direction. Seth is sitting up front with his phone which has a navigational map trying to tell the driver where to go.  Of course, the driver doesn’t speak English and has never heard of the street or the apartment we are going to. Of course, the navigational map is incorrect and doesn’t have all these little alleys marked nor does it have Siri speaking to you. We sit waiting behind garbage trucks and other lorries delivering grocery goods to stores.. trying to figure out where we are going. Seth keeps telling us we are going in the wrong direction. Several times the cab driver turns around taking us down one-way streets in the wrong direction.  Finally, we all agree we need to bail and start walking although we are now further away then when we started. Getting out of the cab we have a moment of relief until we try to hike up these hilly streets with backpacks and suitcases, a large backgammon board, groceries and John’s suitcase. John decides he needs a coffee...

 Seth and I leave John at a coffee shop and forge ahead in the search for our new apartment. Seth has his suitcase, backpack and the groceries. I am wearing my backpack and pulling both my suitcase (which does have good wheels and works well on stone roads) as well as John’s suitcase and my  large camera bag. Little did I realize how difficult John’s suitcase was on rough roads… I trudge along mostly dragging his suitcase, barely missing cars and imagining I am climbing a mountain and need this exercise. Seth finally suggests he leave me along with all the luggage and backpacks on the side of the road while he tries to find the apartment. He is gone for 15+ minutes and during that time several very large trucks try to turn exactly where I am standing. I eventually push the entire luggage under a parked car thinking that at least it won’t be run over while the truck narrowly makes its way around the corner.  Yikes.. is Seth lost? am I lost? Eventually he comes back to confess he has found the meeting place which is very close to where we started.  We hike onward to an apartment door, which is locked. A man comes to meet us and asks Seth if he is John. He says the person who was supposed to meet us has left because we were late. Moreover, he cannot let us in our apartment because it is being cleaned. He suggests coming back in an hour! We won’t make our boat departure.  After some negotiation he agrees we wait 30 minutes and offers to take care of our luggage ~ which is on the sidewalk. Seth is a trusting soul while I think we are about to be robbed? I take my backpack that has my computer in it, thinking if I lose everything at least I will have my computer and passport!

Back to John who has had a double espresso and I find I am in luck because they have decaffeinated cappuccino. I think the day is improving!  We return to the place where we left our luggage which is now gone and the same man turns up. Hurrah.. he takes us to another place where we hike up 79 stairs to our apartment. We open the door and WOW it has an amazing view of the Bosphorous, bridges and the mosques we have been visiting.  Our luggage has also been transported here. I should be more trusting.


After unpacking we take the tram back to the Old Market ~ I am looking for tiles and John wants to look at kilims.  As soon as we arrive the merchants seem to know John is looking for a rug. They have just the perfect rug for him, special price and have lived in America so they tell him he is part of their family.  These men are definitely the most aggressive of all merchants in this market. We are looking for a special rug store described in Rick Steve’s book as having non-aggressive merchants who will teach you about rugs. Seth and I take off leaving John with the lovely carpet merchant recommended in the book.  We wander about for half an hour and go back to pick up John who has rugs spread out on the floor. He asks if I like one of them but is uncertain about the color and size. I’m not sure I am up for this purchase as returns would be very difficult, let alone how would we take this home. We decide our bazaar energy is diminished and head back to enjoy our new apartment view.

John goes straight home while Seth and I research the boat trip possibilities and schedules for the next day. We return via the upper bridge and I watch and chat with some fishermen. They look so relaxed, unpressured by the city and tourists and at ease chatting with each other… one would say they have captured the essence of “mindfulness” or “being in the moment”. 






Seth and I decide to climb the Galata Tower which is not far from our place. This tower was built in 528 during the sovereignty of the Byzantine Emperor. It is 61 meters high and according to our book has a fantastic view of the Bosphorus and roof tops from the European to Asian side.  We have to wait for 45 minutes to go up but the view is definitely as described… well maybe it is only a slightly better view than our apartment view which has the advantage of a cold drink, Turkish delight and not so many tourists pushing each other along the narrow edge and yelling at each other to stop taking so long to take a picture. We head back to try to return to the peaceful moment. 








Monday, April 29, 2013

Viagra, Spices and Water Pipes


Viagra, Spices and Water Pipes


We slept in again this morning getting a late start. It appears we are on a European schedule of late nights and late mornings. I love the idea of eating at 10 pm since Istanbul is alive with people and music at this time. The joyful noise of partying seems to abate about 3 am.  





Today we decide to walk under the Galata Bridge rather than take the tram. The day before we walked home on the upper bridge roadway where we had seen many fisherman and even little children (all males) fishing and indicating success with their buckets full of wiggling fish. 




One elderly Turk winked at me and asked me to take his picture showing me his mustache and carefully pruning it into the right position.  



I wondered if these men were fishing for fun, or some extra cash, or picking up women. This time as we walk under the bridge we see scores of fishing lines and every few moments one is pulled up with a wiggling mackerel on it. At one point I saw a pail go up that seemed to be filled with some little fish. Anchovies?  Seth wonders if they pull too hard or the winds blow if the lines will snag us.  It is a beautiful view from this level across the Bospherous with many ferries filled with tourists zigzagging to and fro (like the mackerels) with the backdrop of mosques set against the blue skyline.  





There are many restaurants on this level selling fish sandwiches that consist of fresh French bread with an entire fried fish inside.  Well maybe the head has been removed.  We stop for one of these and of course a Turkish coffee that according to John is not up to his standard.  He believes it is powdered Nescafe and therefore offers it to me.

 




Today we decide to head for the Spice market because Seth tells us we did not see the full market yesterday. Everyone is up for this but I think one of us is after some natural Viagra. Indeed we discovered we had only barely smelled the Spice market previously and what I see today exceeds anything I expected. I would actually just like to spend the entire day here taking photographs. The colors and exotic ambience is intoxicating even without the energizing Viagra. Apparently this market was built 350 years ago to promote the spice trade and it still essentially serves the same purpose, as there are lots of locals here as well as tourists. 


I first notice dozens of stores selling all varieties of Turkish delight (also labelled as viagra) and each one allows you to sample various varieties. I try a few and decide I really like the version that is made with pomegranates and pistachios. Thus I buy a pound hoping it will improve my cognitive functioning. Who’s worried about sex at this age? 


Huge slabs of turkish delight cut according to size wanted 




The fresh roasted nuts look fantastic and there is a version of every kind of dried fruit that you can possibly imagine. 


Nuts 

I decide I like this market much better than the Grand Bazaar and hope to come back with a girl friend to take a cooking course so I know what to do with the spices. I see I can spend a small fortune for the saffron but hesitate to buy it since my cooking is so simple and unadventurous.
  
Saffron


We go on to view dried vegetables, green peppers and natural sponges hanging from the walls and tables full of colored olive oil soaps designed to keep your skin from aging. 







Soaps 


I see one vendor demonstrating how to make dolma-stuffing eggplants with rice and raisins. Then there are sacks of green powder that I find out is henna traditionally used for skin care and also needed by women to stain the palms of their hands before they get married. There are multiple herbal teas, which advertize their ability to keep you calm and relaxed. It seems that for generations and regardless of culture people have been trying to stay young, relaxed and energized. 


As we leave the market we stop to satisfy John’s coffee needs because he finds a shop that has an espresso machine and he is sure he will not be getting Nescafe. He orders a triple espresso and Seth and I order Moroccan herbal tea that is delicious.  Where can I find this tea in the market?


Next Seth takes us to a very old mosque, which he had seen the previous day and thought we should also see. It is called Rustem Pasa Mosque but only gets one star in our tour book whereas Spice market got two stars. However, I think the Spice market should get three stars and I am beginning to learn not to treat the guide book as infallible. This 16th century mosque was also designed by Sinan (who designed Suleyman Mosque my favorite one) and is located above the old market. It looks dilapidated outside but when you enter you are overwhelmed by a barrage of wall-to-wall Iznik blue tiles which are simply awesome. I take many pictures and want to return to the market to buy some tiles.















Now Seth and I head for the Istanbul Archaeological Museum while John goes to the Topkapi Palace because we tell him he mustn’t miss the Harem or the tulips. The sarcophagi collection carved from marble and in seemingly near perfect condition stuns Seth and me. 



Alexander Sarcophagus is the star exhibition and I believe this museum was built to house this 4th century BC sarcophagus. The scenes of battle and hunting in marble relief are really beyond belief and you can imagine them charging into the room with you. 



I also liked the scarphagus of mourning women. These women were professional mourners who were hired to cry and wail at funerals. These women’s gestures and emotions also seemed realistic and life like.


Farewell Scene 
In addition, I was also mesmerized by the Roman portraits (330 BC-1st century) and find I am always drawn to faces more than landscapes.  I click away taking dozens of digital pictures. 



Hermaphordite 

Ethebe Athlete

Alexandra the Great

Athenea


















What is interesting about these sculptures is that they are not idealized beauties but present real looking people with real emotions. Both Seth and I really enjoyed this underrated but impressive museum. It is simple, elegant and presented in chronological order and seemed to integrate a lot of the things we had seen in Istanbul so this was the right time to see this historical syntheses on our trip.

Seth and I head to a quaint lounging type restaurant on the street nearby to wait for John and we order tea and a water pipe (aka hookah). I have never tried a water pipe and but obviously Seth has had much experience as I observe his perfectly rounded smoke holes.  








Apparently these water pipes are not filled with marijuana but with low-nicotine tobacco leaves mixed with molasses and dried fruit or herbs. Apparently this fruit-infused tobacco contains zero to very little nicotine, is not addictive and provides no buzz. The tobacco you inhale is cooled by water and filtered allowing you to breathe it deeply. There is one hose connected to a metal body and we each get our own personal, plastic mouthpiece.  Seth models the correct behavior and I take a try. I inhale and blow out smoke but nothing emerges except my choking.  I realize there is a technique to this skill. Seth explains how to curl my tongue, frame my mouth opening, use my jaw muscle and tells me to breath in deeply. I try again…and can only laugh at my ineptness. 

John arrives and takes a turn. Since he used to be a pipe smoker I expect he will be quite skilled, however he cannot produce smoke rings either.  In background of this restaurant is music by the Beattles and Elvis.. memories of the 60’s flood back and we talk of those days.  Actually after awhile I confess I do feel a bit buzzed… hmmm… what was in this tobacco?