Türkiye ya! Türkiye surprises the Croatians

By Colum Brummet,
All This Is That Sports Editor

On our first night in Istanbul, there was a huge semi-final game in the Euro league soccer tournament—Turkey vs. Croatia. It was the best soccer game I have ever seen. Croatia scored the first goal of the game in the second overtime with 3 minutes left in the game. Turkey's team was on a mad scramble up the field to score a goal and force a shoot out. Once again, Turkey had scored a last second goal. It was amazing!





Turkey's penalty shootout victory over Croatia in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 at Ernst Happel stadium, Vienna on Friday


The bar in Istanbul erupted and people were running around giving cheers and high-fives. I had never been so excited over a team I knew nothing about. I could not even name one player.


Now, Turkey still had to win the game! It went to a shoot out and Turkey pulled it out for the victory. As soon as the shoot out was over, a Turkish victory song started blasting in the bar and everyone was celebrating and dancing, shouting "Türkiye!"


We walked out to the street to see the celebration. There were thousands of people walking up the street waving flags chanting "Türkiye Türkiye Türkiye!" It was extremely crowded and almost felt like the beginning of a riot. Everyone was walking towards the main square.


When arrived at the main square, people were lighting flares, throwing beers through the air, and doing anything to express their happiness. Del and I hung out there for a while and realized that these people were going to be out all night going wild, so we decided to call it a night.
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The Blue Mosque in Istanbul

Click to enlarge the Blue Mosque




Keelin and Claire put their head scarves on for a visit to The Blue Mosque - click to enlarge

The Blue Mosque was built by a Sultan--Ahmet I. His architect began construction in 1609 it was finished by 1616! That's amazing to us because we have seen so many Basilicas and churches in England, Spain, Italy and elsewhere that took literally hundreds of years to build. Or Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia that is still unfinished.



Compared to Aya Sofya, The Blue Mosque is light and spacious and airy. Architecture had come a long way in those years and they learned to support a dome much more efficiently. There are hundreds of gorgeous stained glass windows, in the Blue Mosque, but very few in Aya Sofya.

It sounds like the Sultan and architect wanted to directly "compete" with the Aya Sofya (they are across the street from each other). They wanted to construct a bigger dome, but that was logistically not possible. However, if you read about Aya Sofya, the dome has collapsed numerous times and had to be rebuilt many times over the centuries.




click to enlarge the courtyard


Instead of competing with the mosque across the street, they created an elegant and beautifully proportioned mosque...with six amazing soaring minarets. Prior to that time, no sultan had a mosque with 6 minarets. According to a sign I read, six minarets put it in direct competition with the Mosque at Mecca, and the architect worried he would be punished.

In the courtyard, are many ablution fountains, where you wash your face, arms, neck, feet, mouth and nose before you pray. [Ed's note, there are ablution fountains all around the streets of Istanbul, just for general cleaning I guess]. The marble courtyard is serene and beautiful.

There is a door on the left hand side which is entrance for local people. The rest of us visitors and infidels go around to the other side to enter. You are inspected as you go in, and remove your shoes and put them in a plastic bag. Women are checked for head scarves, and men and women must wrap a scarf around their legs if their knees or shoulders show. Inside, you walk on a plush soft carpet and gaze at the worshippers, praying toward Mecca. The interior is completely covered in gorgeous blue tile, with abstract symbols and calligraphy. Mosques do not allow the depiction of living beings like Catholic churches do. A leader centuries ago decided living creatures distracted you from worship and prayer.

This was an amazing juxtaposition to the Aya Sofya, with its tumultuous and turbulent history, domes falling down, and its transition from Basilica to Mosque to museum. It was a soulful house of worship, and it radiated peace and devotion and surrender to a Higher Being. I was moved.
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Αγία Σοφία - A visit to Aya Sofya a/k/a Hagia Sophia

Del, Claire, and Keelin in the vestibule of Aya Sofya--click to enlarge


Click to enlarge - Keelin and Jack in front of some excavated columns,
pediments, and other marbe artifacts from an earlier church on the
same site that was later destroyed

We took the train to Aya Sofya this morning to see the one-time patriarchal basilica that became a mosque later in life, and is now a museum and archaeological exhibit. It is most, and justly famous for its unbelievably massive dome, now considered the height of Byzantine architecture. It was built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the church of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the home of the Eastern Orthodox Church for almost 1000 years. It was built in the sixth century.

Later the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople and plastered over most of the Catholic imagery (like a Fresco of Jesus with Justinian and Constantine) and added typical Moslem features like minarets and a mihrab (an alcove that points toward Mecca and may be there to help prayers to pray in the right direction). So the church has had many lives and religions and is a most interesting polyglot. It was the main mosque of Istanbul/Constantinople for hundreds of years and served as the model for other, later mosques. Like the one across the street--The Blue Mosque, about which more later.




Click to enlarge. Claire and Keelin by the "Stele of St Gregory Thaumaturgus" that is said to have magical powers. You put your thumb in the hole, turn 360 degrees, and if a drop of water falls on your thumb--well, you're in luck, Friendo.


Click to enlarge - The mihrab--an alcove that points toward Mecca that may be there to help prayers pray in the right direction [ed's note: totally Jack's speculation]

The partly destroyed, but still stunning mosaic fresco of Jesus with Constantine and Justinian at his sides. It was uncovered after being plastered over for centuries. This was amazing.

Click to enlarge -- Aya Sofya from the steps of the Blue Mosque (about which more later). I'm going to bed.
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The Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, and a boat ride on the Bosphorus Strait, separating Asia and Europe

...click photos to enlarge...

After a somewhat sleep-jangled start, we went out to breakfast at a restaurant four stories up, on a rooftop, with a view along both shores of the Bosphorus Strait. The food was good, and I especially liked the fresh French bread and fresh-squeezed sour cherry juice. Then, we went to visit the Spice Bazaar, the Grand Bazaar, and take a tourist boat, along with hundreds of Turks, around the Bosphorus Strait.

The spice bazaar, while still functioning as a local fulcrum for purchasing bulk goods, also clearly now caters to tourists, selling many goods no local could ever want, or need. The spices looked great!

On the whole, the merchants were no more aggressive than you see in any other market in Mexico, or even Seattle's public market. There were hundreds of spice merchants, but also many people selling soccer jerseys, chess sets, hookahs, fezes, etc.


The Spice Bazaar


Turkish Viagra for sale


Perfectly groomed mountains of spices

After our walk through the spice bazaar, we decided to take one of the many boat tours around the harbor and got on a boat the Turks were taking, avoiding the more expensive Euro-American tour. Shortly after boarding, Keelin read in her tour book that the boat ride was 8 hours long, and would involve a two hour captive stop at a restaurant! This boat did not even have a bathroom! After passing the bridge, and slowly turning around, we realized this would actually be a much shorter trip.

I could go on and on about this strait and its history of the strait, but if you're really interested, check out this footnote [1], a/k/a satellite data cluster.


Keelin on the tour boat


A view from the boat

A pasha's mansion on the Bosphorus

Twierdza Rumelli

The Bosphorus bridge between Asia and Europe

The strait in a satellite view


An old Pasha's mansion on the Strait

[1] From the Wikipedia: As the only passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the Bosporus has always been of great commercial and strategic importance. The Greek city-state of Athens in the 5th century BC, which was dependent on grain imports from Scythia, therefore maintained critical alliances with cities which controlled the straits, such as the Megarian colony Byzantium.

The strategic significance of the strait was one of the factors in the decision of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great to found there in 330 AD his new capital, Constantinople, which came to be known as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. On May 29, 1453 it was conquered by the emerging Ottoman Empire. In fact, as the Ottoman Turks closed in on Constantinople, they constructed a fortification on each side of the strait, Anadoluhisarı (1393) and Rumelihisarı (1451). They later renamed the city Istanbul.

The strategic importance of the Bosporus remains high, and control over it has been an objective of a number of hostilities in modern history, notably the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878, as well as of the attack of the Allied Powers on the Dardanelles in 1915 in the course of the First World War. Several international treaties have governed vessels using the waters, including the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits, signed in 1936. In the conferences during World War II, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin openly requested the concession of Soviet military bases on the Turkish Straits, even though Turkey was not involved in the war. This incident, coupled with Stalin's demands for the restitution of the Turkish provinces of Kars, Artvin and Ardahan to the Soviet Union (which were lost by Turkey with the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) but were regained with the Treaty of Kars in 1921) was one of the main reasons why Turkey decided to give up its principle of neutrality in foreign affairs and join NATO in 1952. In more recent years, the Turkish Straits have become particularly important for the oil industry. Russian oil, from ports such as Novorossyisk, is exported by tankers to western Europe and the U.S. via the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles straits.

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Istanbul: The Galata Tower

Our apartment in Istanbul (nee Constantinople) is just around the corner from the Galata Tower...

The tower was built as Christea Turris (Christ's Tower) in 1348 during the expansion of the Genoese colony in Constantinople. It was part of the fortifications around the citadel of Galata. The two hundred foot tower was the city's tallest structure...back in the 14th century.

The conical cap has changed over the years, but otherwise but the tower mostly stands as it was built. During the Ottoman empire it was used as an observation tower for spotting fires. An urban legend says that in 1638, Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi flew from the tower with artificial wings over the Bosphorus.



For my part, the tower makes it easy to find our apartment, which is tucked away on the hill among the windy cobblestone streets. And even the most non-English speaking Turk can point out its direction when I ask in my bizarre half-Spanish half-English speech.
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Istanbul: Arrival, recovery, and exploration

the "living room"

We have arrived and even slept, after a fairly brutal journey here. By the time we finally arrived at the Bereket apartments, we were ready to stop. We had been in the air and waiting around airports for about 24 hours. I unpacked and fell into bed rapidly. Even though it was 1 AM, the youth went exploring the neighborhood, and made friends over beer with some kids at a hostel. When I was in Morocco in the mid 80's, we had to seek out alcohol in the Jewish neighborhoods. And if anything, Turkey is even more Moslem. Well, more on that, anon. Even Keelin--normally the first to fall out--managed to stay awake a few hours (since she slept on the longest flight).

The facade of our apartment

A driver met us at the airport and took us to out apartment. They had a bowl of fruit, a jug of water, and a bottle of quite good red Turkish wine (a nice 2006 blend of Cab, merlot, and aligante) waiting for us.

entrance to our apartment

I sit here sipping some bad "3 in 1" Nescafe (sugar, instant coffee, powdered creamer, all in one "product," which reminds me of being in Greece when Nescafe ruled. I am listening to the twitter and chirping of birds (and one hungry cat) and delivery trucks as Istanbul begins to wake up. About two hours ago, I was awakened by the sound of a Muezzin calling people to prayers at the mosque. This is exciting, and I am having trouble not waking people yet. This is not normal on a family trip--I am always the one up until late, sleeping four hours past everyone else.

Our apartment is on a very narrow cobblestone street (and it's carless!). The apartments is extremely light, with some views of the Old City. Around the corner is the Konak Patisserie & Cafe which I am itching to try as soon as everyone wakes up!

view from the bedroom

Our apartment building, a five story walk-up was built in 1885 and has been (seismically too I hope) restored, with ten foot ceilings, fantastic ornate plasterwork cornices, well-worn hardwood floors, some brick walls, burnished old wooden window frames, rear-facing Romeo and Juliet balconies, nice bathrooms with big tubs, a washer, a serviceable kitchen, and satellite TV, a CD player, and (!!!) a high speed Internet connection, which is why I am writing to you at 6 in the morning.

More soon...after all, all I've done in Istanbul so far is drink coffee in my apartment and write to you, Friendos.

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Arriving in Istanbul Thursday night

Our itinerary: Depart Seattle 3:00 pm Wednesday. Arrive Calgary 5:00. Wait for four hours. Fly to London overnight. Wait two hours. Fly to Istanbul, arriving 11:00 pm local time.

I'll write and send pictures when I can...
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On the road to Turkey

click to enlarge

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Will C's Homage to President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho

Click to enlarge President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho
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Video: The Old 97's - Blame It On Gravity - The Story Behind The Album

A video on the making of the Old 97's latest album, Blame It On Gravity. The album is very good, and it sounds great!


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TBTL: Too Beautiful To Live: Give it a listen

I keep bringing this up, but you need to listen to Luke Burbank and Jen Andrews on TBTL (Too Beautiful To Live). I am not going to go into any details--if you live in Seattle, tune in Kiro 710 AM from 7-10 Weekdays (with a best of on Saturday), or go to iTunes, or to TBTL.net. These people are reinventing radio.
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Old 97's rock the Showbox in Seattle

The Old 97's played a rockin' show Saturday night in Seattle at The Showbox. The bands that opened--Hayes Carll and I Love Math were also Texas bands. I was not such a big fan of either I love math ( the Old 97's drummer is a member) or Hayes Carll's band. Musically they were very good, but neither bands had very good singing chops...especially when you knew what was to follow. But the audience and the ten people I went to the show with all loved them.

This is my 4th Old 97's show (Stubbs in Austin twice, The Gorge at George, Wash., and Seattle), and it is my favorite so far. They played five songs from their new album, Blame It On Gravity, and a lot of songs from previous albums: Lonely Holiday, Question, West Texas Teardrops, Rollerskate Skinny, Up the Devil's Pay, Designs on You, Barrier Reef, Melt Show, Big Brown Eyes, and a bunch more. Rhett Miller was his usual hip swinging, smoldering glancing self, and the girls and women in the front, near the stage treated him like a latter day Tom Jones (although no undergarments were thrown). The band was in fine fettle--great guitar and drumming, outstanding vocals, doing their dance between serious rock and roll and power pop with a tinge of country. It was a 4 1/2 show between all three acts, and then at about 12:40, the band finished up. And then came back for two encores, totalling about eight more songs. We left happy. I love these guys.

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