WALKING ACROSS GALATA BRIDGE IN THE EVENING

The evening of the second day in Istanbul was colder and the sky grey with no sign of sunshine at all. Nevertheless, we still decided to explore this bridge and observe the activities around the place. There were too many people, crowded by both the tourists and Istanbullus (I just found this word). People were walking from both directions across the bridge and anglers were absorbed in their own thoughts while waiting for fish to bite their baits.

 

 

 

 

The bridge comprised of two levels. The roads connecting the lands were on the top level and down one level, there were Turkish restaurants with their waiters/operators trying to lure the tourists who just happened to walk by. Too busy upstairs, too stressful downstairs. :)

 

One reason why tourists choose to come here is because on a bright sunny day, this place could be a picturesque spot where you could see Istanbul from a different angle. These pictures could turn out much better with sunshine and blue sky, but I am not complaining.

I didn't know whether these people earn a living by fishing or it was just their favourite pastime. They were selling their catch to people who were walking on the bridge straight from the fishing lines. Buying fresh fish was never a problem here.

Istanbul from the other side, across the bridge

NEXT POSTING: What did we find across the bridge?

THE SPICE BAZAAR IN ISTANBUL

One of the attractions of Istanbul is its Spice Bazaar. From Sultanahmet Square, you could take a tram but we chose just to walk. We just had to walk along the rows of shops which led us straight to the market and we took about 15 minutes to arrive to our destination. Right beside the bazaar is this huge mosque and I later found out the name of this building is New Mosque.

the New Mosque

We spotted some stalls outside the main building so we went there first to have a look at what was on sale. And it was very interesting indeed. 

variety of spices

baby leeches, anybody?

one of the many pet shops

blooming flowers

very small shallots

more spices

seashells and even starfish

Once inside the Spice Bazaar building, we saw rows of shops selling variety of items but too bad, I was already traumatized to be in such a place. The shopkeepers seemed to be calling you (even by saying loudly "Malaysia? Apa khabar?"). While they were trying to attract, I found myself distracted. They would ask you to taste the candy or preserved fruits but I would refuse the offer because I did not want to get trapped in the net they were casting. Nevertheless, if you would love to shop and get something home from Istanbul, this market would be one option that you have. And you must always try to bargain for the best price.

Turkish delights

Turkish candy

 

variety of pickles

I only bought dates and dried apricots from here, a kilogramme each, and they were cheaper from the prices I would get in Malaysia.

selling flags outside the market

a building beside the bazaar

TRAVELLING TIP: While we were looking at the map mounted on a board at a tram station, someone approached us and told us the direction to the Spice Bazaar. He sounded friendly but he actually was trying to get us visit his family-owned carpet shop and luckily he just dismissed us when we rejected his idea. So be careful if someone offered his help to take you to a certain place because you might end up in a carpet shop or warehouse, like what I have read of someone's experience in her blog. Malaysians seem to be the main target of these carpet sellers most probably because we Malaysians are the ones who buy a lot of carpets from Istanbul. (I didn't.)

BOOK REVIEW - "UN AMIICO ITALIANO - EAT PRAY LOVE, IN ROME"

This is the book translated into English, written by someone with a peculiar surname, Spaghetti and yes, that is his real name. The book is an autobiography which could be divided into three sections: his time growing up in Rome and his passion for music, his journey to America and his friendship with Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of the book "Eat, Pray, Love".

If you like travelling, then you will enjoy reading this book. And after finished reading it, now I have to visit Rome and more cities in America. How books can influence people's minds. *sigh*

MOVIE REVIEW - "JACK THE GIANT SLAYER"

Here is another fairy tale that has been turned into a movie, originally known as "Jack and the Beanstalk". I guess it has become a trend to do that kind of thing these days. The last movie of the same genre that I watched was "Hansel and Gretel the Vampire Hunter" but I forgot to write the review.


"Jack the Giant Slayer" was the story of Jack who went up the beanstalk to save the princess from the giants and then they fell in love with each other. Of course in this version, Jack was much braver and his actions more heroic. There were a lot of fighting scenes, which you people will love very much and with the assistance of CGI, fairy tales were never the same again.

All in all, it was an entertaining show, the violence level was tolerable and the most exciting part was when you thought everything was over, it then continued on for a few more minutes with more fighting scenes and explosion and giants running amuck. I have been seeing too many giants already recently and I am starting to believe they do exist. 

THE SHOP NEAR THE HOTEL AT SULTANAHMET

If you have read my previous posting, you should notice that shopping in a big bazaar was not my cup of tea. There were quite a number of small shops near the hotel I was staying which sold almost the same things that you would see at the bazaar. One of the attractions of Istanbul would be its glass lamps. They came in variety of colours and sizes, ranging from those you could hang on the ceiling or attach onto a wall or to a simple one which you can put on your coffee table.

 

When I asked the shopkeeper, how could people differentiate between the lamps which were made in Turkey with the ones that came from China, he said that the colourful glasses of the local products should be much thicker.

I wish I could buy a few of those but bringing them home would be a problem. However, I still bought a small one as a souvenir (from this shop the night before I went back) and even though it was put in my luggage bag, it remained intact and safely placed temporarily on the dinner table in the dining hall.

TRAVELLING TIP: It would be very helpful for you to bring along bubble wrap plastic (and cellophane tape) when you go for a holiday if you think of buying products made of ceramic or glass, or even items which are fragile. You can buy the bubble wrap plastic from a stationery shop.

ADMIRING THE BLUE MOSQUE VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING

For Muslim visitors, the best time to visit the Blue Mosque would be early in the morning, during the Subuh (dawn) prayer. Not only there will not be any other tourists (who came not to pray) so you could have the mosque all to yourself, but you could also perform your prayer there. If all this while you could only read about it in your history books, but now you could already be a part of the history.

Once the prayer was over, people could not linger any longer in the mosque as the policemen on duty would quickly switched off all the lights. And right after that, someone would start to clean the mosque as I could see a worker had already got the vacuum vehicle running.

Later I will post a video I uploaded on youtube of the "azan" (the call for prayer) from the Blue Mosque early in the morning.