Back in the Sand Box

I am finally back in Bahrain, “the sand box” as D puts it.

Unfortunately for me, this time I don’t seem to be flawlessly flowing back into Bahrain time.  I have spent 3 nights awake when I should have been asleep.

Before you send me an email with all the tricks on how to avoid jet lag, I have already tried them all.  REALLY!

In Florida, I was decorating and getting a condo ready so D and I can stay there. Our lovely daughter BSB is expecting a baby the end of January or beginning of February.  I am planning on being there from Christmas until the end of February so we decided to purchase a condo on the East Coast of Florida.

Hopefully this is the last bathroom I will paint myself.  Not fun, but the color turned out awesome! I am taking my own picture in the mirror. This picture will be used to remind myself why I need to make sure I have the hired painter putting on the right color.

The decorating was work, but visiting with BSB was GREAT FUN.  We shopped, talked and took pictures of “the bump.”

The little bump!

My camel toy and Randy's first toy, the turtle.  They were having a lot of fun.   LOL

Brittany researched stroller's for a couple of months before selecting this one.

Our grandchild's first camouflage. He will be all ready to go hunting with Dad.

For me one special part of the trip was being there on Halloween. I have not been around large groups of kids on Halloween since we built a house in the woods and BSB went off to college. It was great fun this year.

This looks crazy, however it was even more crazy than it appears.  

On the airplane trip back to the ME, I had a very surprising sunset shot out the window of the airplane.  As we were going over Kuwait, the sun was setting with a blaze of color on the horizon.  It is not an excellent quality photo, but something I will always remember.

My flight path returning home went right over Kuwait.

The most unusual sunset shot I have made.

So, I am back in the saddle.  Hot breakfast every morning for D and healthy meals every night.  Last night I cooked my first lamb.  It was not difficult but I think I will try a different recipe next time.  This one was with pomegranate and a bit sweet for our taste.  

My first try at cooking lamb.

You never know, I might become a cook yet. . . Ah, no way. Just not in my DNA.

Cheers,

Brenda

Added treat for you, here is the first sunset at our new condo that is on the East Coast of the US.  Not bad.

Let's Talk Turkey - Number Three

Our last tour in Turkey was of the Sultanahmet Camii Mosque or better known as the Blue Mosque.  It is called the Blue Mosque because of the blue tiles that cover the upper floors. Unfortunately these floors are not open to the public and we could only glimpse them from the main floor.

The Blue Mosque was amazing.  The detail in the domes and the ornate doors were impressive.

We were fortunate to secure a private guide to take us around the long lines into the mosque. This mosque is a functioning house of worship so it was closed for prayers several times a day.  I researched prayer times in advance so that we would know the times it would be closed.

There were many mosque in Istanbul. Five times a day you can hear the trilling call to prayer, also known as ezan. During this time the voice of the bellowing muezzin, the man who calls the Muslims to prayer from a minaret, can be heard over the loudspeakers at different mosques in the city.

Though this symphony of sorts was impressive from anywhere in town, the most extraordinary one was the battle of the call to prayer we heard between Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii Mosque) while walking down the street back to our hotel. If you are reading this in an email you will need to visit my blog to view the video.  http://brendahyde.blogspot.com

We experienced many wonderful foods during our stay in Istanbul. Our dining experiences were indeed a significant part of the holiday fun. Just picking out a restaurant was an adventure.  Every corner held another long street filled with visually exciting opportunities for a flavourful experience.

Another great street filled with restaurants.

Our favorite fish dish during a great lunch.

Great presentation of a vodka tonic.

Delicious appetizers.

For our last dinner in Turkey we chose a restaurant located in the historical area of Sirkeci on a long street lined with restaurants and coffee houses.  We ate in the top floor dining room that looked out over the Aya Sofya Museum  Hippodrome and Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii Mosque).  The moon was full giving us a great photo opportunity.    

For our meal we enjoyed the drama of a popular dish (although not originating from Istanbul) called Tesi Kehap.  Ours was lamb, which had been roasted in a clay pot. The clay pot is brought from the oven to the table in a flaming dish, and with a flourish, the waiter breaks open the clay pot for all the dinners to enjoy.  Inside is a wonderful combination of: lamb, carrots, celery root, onions, garlic, and potatoes. If you want to enjoy the excitement, watch this video of the presentation of our dinner. If you are reading this in an email you will need to visit my blog to view the video.  http://brendahyde.blogspot.com

I guess this is Istanbul's version of Steak Diane.

The restaurant was filled with lanterns. I loved the visual explosion of color and shape.

This reflection of the lanterns in the window was even more beautiful and interesting.

My favorite photo of the trip is not going to be one that you would expect.  It is a photo of Baghdad.  Yes, Baghdad, Iraq. It is my favorite photo from the trip because of how unique it is.

Our flight home took 4 and half hours. We were about half way home when SW suggested we look out the window of the plane.  The pilot had just announced we were flying over Mosul, Iraq.  I turned on the map of the flight path to see where we were flying and sure enough, we were flying through Syria and Iraq.

Here is Baghdad as seen from the window of our plane. The photo is not as good as the view really appeared.  There were many more lights in Baghdad than I would have thought.

I had no idea we would fly through these areas!  I guess I just never thought about how we would travel to and from Turkey. I assumed we would not fly over areas of the world that were at war.  

Realizing where we were located at that moment made me a bit nervous.

We snapped shots of Mosul and Baghdad out the plane windows.  I don’t think that will be something I will ever do again in my lifetime.

Turkey was wonderful and truly a once in a lifetime experience. The food was great, the people friendly (even though they definitely did not speak English) and the history amazing. It was another successful adventure.

Cheers,
Brenda

P.S. After my last blog I received a request for all my videos to be posted on YouTube so they could be viewed.  I hope all my family and friends can enjoy my videos so I have uploaded all the video I shot in Turkey.  You can easily access them on my YouTube channel.  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UClw2ujYhQXf8hfH4GL36fGQ

Talk Turkey TWO

As I spend time living in the ME, I learn more and more about the history of this region and how the it became what it is today. It is a millennia-old civilization that has thrived in some of the world’s harshest conditions.

Istanbul was an amazing area with strong ties to the people and cultures of Saudia Arabia and Bahrain.  There are 14 million people living in Istanbul. I find that alone amazing.  However the rich history of Istanbul makes the city even more amazing.

Looking out over the European side of the city. Istanbul is inside both Europe and Asia.

Turkey was once known as the Ottoman Empire.  Hittites, Phrygians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Crusaders, Seljuks, Mongols, Ottomans and others have all left their works of art, architecture and culture in what is now the Turkish homeland.

READER ALERT - This is a long blog, but there is a surprise photo at the end. DON"T CHEAT and go there now. Read the whole blog.  :-)

Before we left Bahrain for Turkey, DW and I visited the Turkish consulate in Manama, Bahrain to pick up travel books about the area.  Going to the embassy was DW’s idea and I was resistive because I was afraid we would get lost in the back roads of Manama.  She insisted and I was very happy I went with her.  Actually, we did get lost, but we found our way out thanks to two very nice Arab men that directed us the right road.

When we arrived, on a whim I asked if the Ambassador was in and available.  We had met Ambassador Hatun Demirer, at an American Woman’s Association luncheon only a couple of weeks previously.

DW (middle) with American Ambassador Thomas C. Krajeski and Turkish Ambassador Hatun Demirer, at the AWA meeting.

We were extremely lucky, she was in.  She came rushing out to meet us and gave us the 3 kiss “Turkish” greeting. She explained every area has it’s own greeting with kisses on the cheek. In Turkey you have 3 kisses on alternating cheeks.

D and I are taking Arabic lessons and our teacher told us that the custom in Saudi Arabia is one kiss on each cheek. I am still trying to find out if the Bahrainian "kiss greeting" is different.

It was very lovely to see Ambassador Demirer, again and we felt especially excited to be going to visit her country. She is a great ambassador for Turkey.

There are several places in Istanbul that everyone recommended we visit.  Even Ambassador Demirer insisted we must see these and we did see them all.

Aya Sofya Museum. 
This museum was consecrated as a church in 537 and covered to a mosque in 1453.

The view inside the dome of the Aya Sofya Museum.

Windows inside the Aya Sofya Museum.

This was our view of the Aya Sofya as we ate lunch.

Doug and a sleeping friend just outside the museum.

Topika Palace.
This is a group of buildings and structures.

Many of the mosques and buildings built in Istanbul used recycled colums and stone from other sites. This seemed to be a theme in many of the historical sites.  No one is sure where all of them came from. It was very interesting to see these different kinds of stone and wonder how they were able to move them from Italy and other sites to come to Istanbul. Along the path leading up to the Topaki Palace there were "extra" pieces from other historical sites that were open to the public. We wandered through them, sat on them and touched many of the old carvings.

Doors to the Topaki Palace.

Gold door inside the Topaki Palace.

Mosque of Sultan Ahmet I.
Called the Blue Mosque by foreign visitors because of its interior tiles, it disappoints if you're looking for lots of blue because the blue tiles are mostly on the inaccessible upper floors. Otherwise, the mosque is among the finest examples of Istanbul's wonderful imperial Ottoman mosques.

Ceiling view in the Blue Mosque.

Multiple arches and domes that were amazing.

Basilica Cistern.
The Basilica Cistern is a subterranean structure commissioned by Emperor Justinian and built in 532. The largest surviving Byzantine cistern in İstanbul, it was constructed using 336 columns, many of which were salvaged from ruined temples and feature fine carved capitals. Its symmetry and sheer grandeur of conception are quite breathtaking.

There is a great description of the Basilica Cistern on this web site:  http://www.lonelyplanet.com/turkey/istanbul/sights/other/basilica-cistern

Coastlineof the Bosporus Straight. 
According to the Encyclopedia of Earth, the Bosporus or Bosphorus (also known as the Istanbul Strait) is a strait connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara (and beyond it, through the Dardenelles to the Aegean Sea/Mediterranean Sea). Together with the Dardanelles, the Bophosrus forms the Turkish Straits which separates the European part of Turkey from its Asian part.

View from the boat.

We had a wonderful cruise on the Bosporus and it was quite beautiful. One stop was at a hunting lodge used by the sultans.  This house had no bedrooms. It was only used as a stopping over place to rest and regroup.

Stairs to the "huntng lodge."

Every place we visited, D and SW would spend a significant amount of time discussing the structure and how the building might have been built.  I found it very enjoyable to listen to their conversations and see the historic building from an engineer and architect’s point of view.  Really, how did they build those arches in the year 537?  AMAZING.

SW and D discussing the Aya Sofya Museum.

Discussing the Cisterns. Did it get LEEDS certified?

Studying the Topaki Palace.

Inspecting the ceiling in the Blue Mosque.

After our Bosporus cruise, we decided to walk from the boat back to our hotel. It was not a long distance and it would give us a different view of the area. Previously we only took a taxi when we wanted to go to the port area.

Leaving the docks, we walked through an area that was both a bus terminal and subway station. When we first walked up to the area I was overwhelmed with the number of people. 

One of our many selfies at the port.

To reach the other side of the busy street, we would need to go under the street through a tunnel.  I really was not prepared for the crush of humanity in this small space.  At first I thought I might panic as I was shoved along in the wave of people going to the other side, but finally I just gave in and “went with the flow.”  Now I have a much deeper understanding of that saying.

This video is over 3 minutes long.  It is as long as it took us to move through the tunnel. It is a very interesting experience. I don’t think the video gives you a complete feeling of the movement of the crowd, but you can sense the closeness of the others and how little control I had over my movements. I was very happy to reach the other side of the tunnel.

One night we had a wonderful dinner in the trendy Restaurant 360 overlooking the entire region and the Bosporus Straight that runs between the old city and the new city. SW took this picture of the people crowding the street using his cell as we walked home. I am not sure what enhancement he used, but you can feel the people "dancing in the streets."

Street scenes along the way to our hotel gave us some very good pictures of life in Istanbul.

Our last night was a wonderful time and I will share that with you along with my favorite photo of the trip in MY NEXT BLOG. 

Cheers.

Brenda

In the Cistern there was a "Disney" opportunity.  Here is the Sultan D and his harem.