WOOOO HOOO KATHE (ARTMIZ) …YOU WON A GORGOUS GLASS TURKISH EYE PENDANT!!!

Note: I am shipping all the winner’s items so far, this coming Monday

Kathe we found yours at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul and it is stunning!!  I put a  sterling bail on it so it’s ready to design with.   It measures about 2″ across and is fused glass done in huge furnaces

“A strong element of many cultures, Evil eye jewelry is primarily found in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. According to the belief, these reflect or absorb the envy of others, thus eliminating ‘evil eye’ effects such as bad luck.

The perception of the Turkish evil eye is common with other cultures but more interestingly, even though the evil eye belief dates back for thousands of years, the Greek Orthodox Christian Church does not dispatch the concept.

Finally its worth mentioning that these pendants are not only used as personal jewelry but many people also hang an evil eye pendant in their car and in other areas for good luck. However today these pendants are also worn by many as items of fashion rather than for any other reasons.”

The port on the Bosphorous Strait was filled with cruise ships from Greece and all over the planet..I took this photo from a taxi window as we sat in traffic on the way to the Blue Mosque

Yummy…this guy was making hard candy over this hot cauldron. He was lifting a string of molten goo as we walked by.  Then it went over shaved ice to instantly harden the candy.  We were being hounded by a carpet salesman as we walked to the mosque so I didn’t get to stop and buy some….and I regret it!!!

I love how this photo turned out

There is no doubt this was taken in Turkey.  I loved the door and window decor here

No No…Please no photos!!!

By the Blue Mosque….handmade Turkish carpets  waiting to “fly” off the shelves

Here’s another beautiful shot from the underground aqueduct I loved so much.  I could have stayed down there all day.  It was such a break from the heat and the history absolutely enveloped you!!!

Starbucks Turkey mugs

This was at the Palace on the hill.  It is the remnant of an ancient cistern (above ground aqueduct of sorts).  The textures were beautiful and such varied materials

I just love this!!!

This shot in color is just as beautiful but converted to black and white like sterling silver

Sitting at the base of the Blue Mosque for lunch.  It took dozens of shots to get this flag the way I wanted it

Are these windows yummy or what????

Remember “Bead Guy” outside the Blue Mosque?? This is a little better photo of him closeup

BATIK CHOW tshirt by electra_cute
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Its our final full day in Istanbul and we packed it so full of historical sites , we are absolutely exhausted!!   The Blue Mosque pictured above is one of the most distinctive sites in Istanbul.   It is the blue tiles on the inside of the mosque that lend to the name , but the outside is just as spectactular!!

It was touristy as all get out which is the reason we chose to put it off till the last minute.  Luckily this is low season and not too bad as far as tourist sites go.  The Turks are so polite too….never any of the push peddling of wares except for the Turkish Carpet salesmen who each are from wherever you tell them you are from….it’s so fun to BS them and they are good sports when they find you have been just as manipulative as they are

Above is a guy roasting chestnuts and corn…yummy!!

Our favorite line from a vendor was today.  He said “if you are looking for a place to get rid of your money…come in and see my rugs”  Now THATS HONEST!! lol!

These planters were so unexpected in front of the Mosque

One of the spires on the Blue Mosque…can you believe that blue sky and how we lucked out on the weather..especially after those terrible floods here 3 weeks ago

Bling had to stay outside the Mosque because she forgot to bring a head scarf and long sleeves…no biggie..Steve went inside and did a video and took photos we will show  and Bling later!

Steve discovers a new way to scratch a kitty without getting bit or starting to itch ..he’s so allergic.  The cats followed him around like he was their idol

That’s shortie me alongside the Egyptian Obelisk…this was so impressive

A closeup of some of the detailed hieroglyphs

A cutie bead salesman by the Mosque

We are now heading to the Mosaic Museum

The streets were dotted with vendors with colorful wares

This museum was AWESOME…the Byzantine mosaics were unearthed and restored…each tile only a bit larger than 1/4″

The color was actually the stone color and not paint

Looking down at one of the floor panels from above

The 3 bears were my favorite.  The mother bear is plucking pomegranates out of the tree and tossing them to her baby

Time for a Turkish Tea break!! We found the most awesome cafe and we were the ONLY ones there.  We sat right under the Blue Mosque and lo and behold the Call to Prayer started about 20 minutes after we arrived.

GO TO THE UPPER LEFT  COLUMN OF THE BLOG TO HEAR FOR YOURSLEVES WHAT MILLIONS COME TO EXPERIENCE IN PERSON!!

Here is the cafe right under the dome

The cooles thing is this cafe is the excavation site of the mosaics!

Now back out and about to head to the Roman Cistern

Some colorful scenes enroute by foot

I loved this fountain.

How cute is this

Talk about a statement!! Its the only thing purple I can recall here

The ancient Cistern of Roman times was surreal!!  Click here to read about the history..it is fascinating as was the site.  I could have stayed there for hours

Weird photo I took with a long exposure!! Almost like aparitions of the past

Fish were swimming in the water.  I had goosebumps the entire time we were down there.  It was like being transported back in time

The columns were massive and intricately carved…this is all under ground

The perfect mirror reflection

Here’s those pale pomegranates I was telling you about yesterday

Our last stop was the Topkopi Palace on the top of the hill overlooking Istanbul

Look at the interesting markings on this kitty!!

I’d love to know what kind of tree this is.  It had maple shaped leaves

Lots of gold gilt everywere

Of course I see the walkways as art!!

And look at this rooftop!

Bling has hit the wall…she needs a break and a brew before we return by subway to the hotel

And one final pit stop at the local Starbucks to get our Istanbul mug to add to our growing collection!!!

Another beautiful day in Istanbul starts out with an equally inspiring sunrise at 5:30 AM

Immediately after breakfast we set out by subway to the Grand Bazaar which is one of the oldest continuous markets on the planet .  Over 4000 stalls!!!

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO BOO IN THE UPPER RIGHT OF THE BLOG FOR MORE SHOPPING INFO TOO!!

Turkish Eyes were everywhere made of fused cobalt colored glass.  Hanging one above your doorway at home or at your business is said to keep evil away in Turkish customs.  I have one of these to give away as part of the post adventure drawing!!1

Here is a shot of what the entrance to the Bazaar looks like.  Most of these photos are not well executed because of the light and crowd conditions, but still give you an idea of how huge and varied this market is

Scarves and locally made textiles were everywhere

Here are some leather goods

The Turkish silver and gold jewelry booths  was never ending!!!!

Some lovely silver above

Here are the scarves again!!

A Fez dispenser

Water pipes are a very popular glass item at the market.   We love the huka bars where the men smoke tobacco around a table from these pipes.  We finally saw a woman at a huka joint but only after we arrived in Turkey

I wanted EVERY one of these stunning beaded lamps!! What a display

A great little hat display…loved the head forms too

A quick snack of a cold kebab of some sort and a coke

We bumped into an entire street of button and buckle shops!!  This was not  the  tourist area but a place where local business people bought their wares

A shop jam packed full of colorful jewelry

Cutie Steve had to have a photo of this sign….we sat in front of this store for a quick break and cup of Turkish tea and Steve said he’s renaming my business to what the sign says!  His shin is now bruised…but only a tiny bit..hee hee hee

Tea and Baklava…I prefer the smaller tradtional cups for the Turkish tea which I showed you all before but these were very cool too

Treasures!!

Belly dance supply booth

This booth was all traditional instruments

Wood inlay chess, checker, and domino boxes…Very nicely done witth Mother of Pearl

Hand woven textiles made in Turkey

More Hukas

Typical of the archways throughout the market

Steve is back in the booth buying me a special necklace!!! I’ll take pix tomorrow when it gets light outside

Hand painted porcelain tiles are a popular art form here

And Pomagranate symbols are super popular too.  Today I saw a yellow pommie wiht a coral blush!! Oh how gorgeous they were!!

These jewelry photos only represent a small fraction of what is out in this market

Me with the artist who made the pendant Steve got for me!! This guy was so nice!!

This is more of the silver I bought yesterday.  This is their Bazaar location

The prices were 6x higher here than  what I paid!!  I will go back to the first guy tomorrow

Uh oh…caught in the act at one of the bead booths!!

Bling says she’s geting very hungry.  See she has her own Turkish Eye amulet??

So once my crazed shopathan is over we sit down to eat  at a street vendor.. OH YUM this was tasty!!

Here  they are preparing the kebabs in the tgraditonal way

And back out into the market….we are heading for the spice market

Turkish evil eyes but the sinful quantities!!

Here are some hats from a felt artist who does her own felted jewelry too!!! We were very impressed with her work.  I will do an entire post on her later

Here are a few of her pices

Here is the felter with a bunch of her necklaces to the left

Now comes some insanity.  We were attempting to leave the market and head to catch a taxi and got side tracked for about an hour on a local group of narrow streets

This is the area I mention on the AudioBoo where it was the locals shopping market.  All sorts of dry goods where here

Now this girl stood out like a sore thumb..great tattoos!

Talk about a contrast between tattoo girl and these ladies

Now we come to the spices

Here is Steve buying fresh dates…OMG we got 3 different varieties and they all taste like the finest caramel you can buy!!  Sweet and slightly chewy.  Not dry like the supermarket kind we see in the US

Mystery dried fruit

Spices went on for blocks!!

Dried and cured  meats are very popular over here

Powered mint tea!! Thsi was tempting but we need to be careful what we take through customs in Europe

Here are the cheeses  I mention in the Audio boo.  Kasseri chees is soooooooooooooo yummy

Aren’t these little colorful pots charming??

The fish were extremely fresh at the spice market

This man was shredding Kasseri cheese

An iphone shot of a few of the beads I got today

My gigantic sterling and turquise pendant that Steve got for me today

For now I’ll sign off…the computer screen is going blurry so it’s probably time to quit.  i’LL CATCH UP WITH YOU ALL TOMORROW!!!

This is what we woke up to at 5:00 this morning…we dont’ shut the curtains as to not miss the spectacular sunrises that Turkey has to offer!!  Who needs to sleep in when you have Turkish coffee and tea to keep you fueled for the day!!

And we are off and running ….back to the shopping areas to find my silver again!!!  HI HO SILVER…AWA
YYYYYYYYYYYYYyYY!!

Some more street scenes on the walk to the side streets

Uh oh…panda slippers!! I’ ve never seen whole body ones before.  Only heads on slippers!! Wish I had room to bring these home!!

Some wild jewelry at an accessory shop.  The styles here are varied and unique to Turkey

This fat dog was tagged in his ear like a cow!!   Later in the morning there was a disturbance on the street and the dog went yelping down the street and past me at the jewelry store.  Poor thing seemed to just be extremely scared .  The police came to where the disturbance was but we never did figure out what happened to upset the fat dog

This place reminded me a bit of our Claires Boutiques in the US

This candy looked sooooooooooooooooooo tempting!!  The Turkish Delight was sold here  too

Heres a much better photo of the Halva you saw the other day.  We bought a 1/4 lb of the pistachio hal va and it is fantastic.  The texture is not nearly as dry as the imported Joyva brand and extremely moist and flavorful..This was lunch

Beautiful scarves everywhere we walked….this shop had an orange, red and cobalt hand embroidered tunic I am going back to get!!  We had just left the jewelry store where I went on an insane buying binge!!!  Keep scrolling down to see the carnage!!!

A quick break after jewelry shopping…Steve trying a local Turkish beer.  He’s feeling much better today..still stuffy and a bit tired so we are just taking it easy this afternoon

Check out that ring!!!  Having myself a pineapple orange lime mocktail!!  OMG I look like I was run through the ringer in this photo!!!  Hand me the Turkish Towel!!! I worked up a head of steam shopping for jewelry!!!

This store cracked me up.  Lots of fun clothes…very bohemian in style

As I’m shopping for clothes, Steve gets wrangled across the street into a shoeshine.  As I go over there to join him, he says I need mine shined too.  Keep in mind my shoes are black leather…Steves are stinky old tennies that are broken in for the trip!!! Sorry Steve but those shoes have seen better days.  Steves shoeshine boy worked like crazy and got the suede to actually SHINE!! LOL!! I’m looking at them now and I don’t know how they did it but the shoes don’t look half bad!!

More beautiful scarves

Another funky ear tag for identification.  We havent’ seen many street dogs who didn’t belong to someone thank goodness

OMG this place cracked me up!! So I took the photo on the fly because I loved the colors!! When I loaded the images I realized this logo is an upsidedown cartoon of a french fry with his “ketchup” coiffed “hair”!!!  This place sells nothing but frenchfries which they love here in Turkey.

A lovely old building!!

Yet more scarves!!!

I thought you might like to see their Burger King sign..I looked at this and though….yes…my friends would like to see the Turkey Burger sign !!!

Now we arrive back at the room.  Time to break out the wine the hotel left for us and eat the Halva we bought along with the fresh plums left in the room.  We love this hotel~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok…are you ready for a Turkish jewelry show!!!!!!  Here are about 1/2 of the rings I purchased.  All this jewelry you see below are reproductions of traditional Turkish designs, created in a pewter like alloy which is strong, beautifully crafted and relatively lightweight……and a fraction of the cost of sterling.  You can hardly tell the difference.

Here are some of the rings glowing in the Turkish afternoon sun on our balcony

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh each necklace is a treasure in itself!!!  I bought a number of them to share…a few pictured here …but now I want to keep them all so let me know if you see something you are interested in and I can go  back for more if I need to

These are big bold beautiful designs.  I took the wooden suit form out of the room onto the balcony and padded it with towels to mimic a lifesize mannequin so you can get a feel for the scale of these pieces

Each one is completely unique.  The person who sold them to me was so awesome.  I gave him my card and I now have his too.  His company does top notch work .  Each jump ring is finished and soldered….the clasps are sturdy and smooth working…the artistry and finishing among some of the finest I’ve seen anywhere. They proudly make certain I understand that these are NOT made in China but Turkish workmanship!!….and I believe them!!!

This huge focal hangs from a 1/2″ wide leather necklace!!!   The pendant is about 6″ long

Another leather necklace with a massive 5″ long focal

Ohhhhhhhh yummy!!! I couldn’t stop myself from saying “I’ll take it” to everything he showed me!!!

What an elegant piece this one is.  Those circles are each about 2 1/2″ wide

And then there are the bracelets!! Each just as special as the necklaces and rings

This is a very cool bracelet.  Each one is fully adjustable with a high quality lobster clasp and chain

Loved this one…lots of detail and beautiful workmanship

How am I supposed to decide what to keep and what to let go !!!!????? This is harder than beads to make decisions on!!!

We are now  getting ready to go to the lounge for some appetizers and beverage to hold us off till we figure out where we will go for dinner which will be our first real meal today…Im getting mighty hungry with only Halva and coffee and a glass of wine in my system!!

So there is just a sneek peek at a few of the items I purchased on our shopping trip today.  We never did make it down to the kitties again but will try tomorrow.

Till tomorrow my friends!!!!

Buyuakada Island off the coast of Istanbul is the place I mentioned about a month ago to my regular blog readers where only horses and carriages are allowed as well as bicycles.  The small island is a getaway for residents of the large city of Istanbul.  Everyone including ourselves gets there by Ferry Boat which takes about 2 hours with 5 or 6 stops on other islands

The little archipeligo of islands are absolutely breathtaking with scenes out of storybooks !! The electric blue water juxtaposed against ane even bluer sky…..dotted with islands of emerald green and those terracotta rooftops made for some of my favorite photography opportunities so far.  These are just a FEW of the photos we took and video as well yesterday to give you a “flavor” of the trip.

We were gone from 10:00 AM till after sunset.  It was such a relaxing day to spend after so much rushing around for the past 2 weeks.  The timing was good as Steve seems to be coming down with that 24 hour bug I had flying from MPLS to Amsterdam.  Hopefully when he wakes up today he will feel a little better.  It’s just a sinus thing but annoying to say the least

Riding on the Ferry

Just one little Island of many.  It reminds me of some photos I’ve seen of Greece

I knew the moment we arrived this was my kind of place.  This umbrella was over the pay toilet area…You buy tokens to use toilets in Turkey

And then the first of MANY MANY MANY MANY kitties appeared.  The Turks adore their kitties and it is becoming very apparent that they most likely keep them healthy and happy as pets as well as rodent control.  Not a single mouse or rat was to be seen anywhere in the main city or on this island

Part of the boat trip above

The ferry passengers were feeding the gulls and I got 100s of photos from the deck.  I cant’ wait to go through all of them.  Some doing the most amazing acrobatics to catch the food.  The entire boat was exclaiming OPA!! each time a piece of bread was caught.  It was truly an amazing experience

We are just getting ready to hop on our carriage.  Each couple or family gets their  own and can get a short town tour or the entire island….we chose the whole island for the price of about 30.00 USD for both of us.  It was a steal for the views we got

There were hundreds of carriages waiting for all the new Ferry arrivals but once everyone had thier ride arranged, the carriages dissapated onto the streets and alleyways and we rarely encountered another one on our 2 hour ride into the hilltops.  Above is a bad photo but you can see horses grazing in unfenced pastures at the top of the island

And these are the views that would have been worth far more than 30.00 to get a photo of!! Most people took the short route through town.  We are SO glad we chose this route and we were the only ones up on the overlook

Steve was on video camera duty…you can see a bit of him to the  right

It just doesn’t get any better than this!!!

Here the carriage took us by the rows and rows of stables where the horses are kept at night.  Our brace of horses looked excited to see the stables and the young drivers had to slow them down on the descent  to prevent a runaway carriage.  The trail we were on up there was very narrow and no fences with a sheer drop down into the ocean.  It was a bit hairy a couple of times but the drivers knew what they were doing and the horses very healthy and strong

Someone stole the video camera from Steve!

A little graffiti in one of the most unexpected places!  There were a few beautiful old homes up on the hilltop too

Check out this great mosaic on a street corner….we are almost back down the hill now

Our drivers were about 16 or 17 and loved to pass the slow old timers.  OMG it was no different than teens in the US kicking up their heels and drag racing cars.  They thought they might scare us a bit but we were laughing and going Woo Hoooooooooooo.  They loved it and turned their radio on to some great Turkish music after that.  It really added to the atmosphere!

When the ride was done we gave the boys a tip and they were so surprised.  They looked at each other….then at me and Steve.  We have them the “thumbs up” and they were genuinely blown away that we would give them extra money.  We are finding Turkey is quite different from Egypt in that respect.  Egypt tipping is expected…..here they have actually refused to take a tip like we have encountered in Japan

Here is one of the handsome senior drivers.  The carriage business is a family one and the carriages themselves are only handmade for the residents on this island.

We are now pretty hungry and decide it’s time to head for the waterfront cafes for a bite to eat…it’ is now where we start to find out just how many cats this island can hold!

What a pretty thing.  Every part of the island had obvious feline family units because of the similar markings and features

Ali Baba was on our boat handing out info about his establishment so we decided….what the heck….the place looked very nice and was right on the water

The food was outsanding…we had octopus ceviche and hot peppers stuffed with a feta cheese for a mezza (appetizer), then split a mixed meat Kebap for our lunch with wine for me and beer for steve.  Not a cheap meal but not overly expensive for such well prepared food with entertainment!! The cats were under every chair!!

And no wonder the cats liked it here….this is an example of what the seafood was like.  Fresh caught that day

We noticed a number of little shops on the island carried this cat food..What a cute label

The fish cutting table was a popular hangout for the feral cats

This ivy covered home was amazing….the Mediterranean climate is perfect for plants.  78 degrees again this day and not a cloud in the sky

I love this street kitty looking on down the road

It doesn’t get any more “Turkish”than this

These kitties were watching the residents inside eating their dinner

Here is an example of a blue cobalt fused glass “Turkish Evil Eye” which the residents hang over their doorways for protection.  I purchased a number of these good luck amulets which will be a part of the drawing after our trip is over

Loved the colors and patterns here

This kitty had beautiful eyes!

Bouganvilla covered most of the homes and stores.  What a beautiful sight.  I can’t even get one to winter over n a pot

Extremely fluffy paws on this beauty.  One of the few longer haired cats we saw

There were about 5 of these similar dogs on the island that I got photos of.  Look at the eyes….they were pale greenish yellow.  Now the thing that struck me as even odder is that the dogs were all laying in front of shops, in the alleys usually and they didn’t react a single bit to people stepping over them and walking around them.  I told Steve at the time….they must be part Chow the way they act.

Well now that I have looked at my photos more closely I am convinced these dogs were all blind.  I’m guessing a genetic issue since all the dogs were like clones.  They were well cared for and each lying next to a shop or home….but it would explain the oblivious attitude.  Deafness is another thought .  Sometimes eye color can relate to deafness.

A little old man was carting around this cute dog

These fish were fresh they were still flopping in the fishermans cart

I want one of these breads so bad!!!!!!

Does anyone remember the book called “The Silent Meow”?  This reminds me of that expression

It was getting late in the day and we decided to sit at waterside at an open air coffee shop and wait for the Ferry to arrive for our 2 hour journey home at sunset.  Here is what that Turkish Tea looks like in the traditional cup it is served in.  This tea is extremely strong, served with 2 sugar cubes on the side, and is meant to be served piping hot.  You hold the cup by the very top rim ….a finger on teh thick bottom to prevent burning your fingers.

As we were enjoying our tea, this teenage kitten comes up to the neighboring table and starts to rub up against the chair of one of the local patrons…a woman in about her 70s.  Eventually the kitty was on the empty chair next to her …pawing at the lady’s handbag.

In many countries when we see this , usually the proprieter of the establishment shoos the cat away or the patron gets annoyed…NO not in Turkey!!!!  This lady reached over calmly , opened her bag and pulled out a handfull of kitty kibble and sprinkled it on the ground.  There was nothing sweeter than seeing the residents taking such wonderful care of these cats.  But like Diana and others have commented…..it’s a shame there couldn’t be a spay/neuter program in place

Waiting their turn for the kitten to finsh eating

The sunset on our journey back

So Diana…from the comments going back and forth about the kitties…you would have a choice of many!! lol!  We are actually going back to that cobblestone alleyway today to see if brown tabby kitty is still there.  I want to take a lot more photos and pick up some unbelievable Turkish silver jewelry I found on that street!!!  You guys will freak out at these designs!!

The Grand Bazarre is today too so we wil get there by subway.  We tried that last night and they have a wonderuflul transit system here.

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying all of your comments and wish I had more time to answer each one.  The blog posts take me about 2-3 hours to do and by the time I”m finished we are usually rushing to get in a bite to eat or leave for a new adventure!!!   Keep the comments coming my friends!!!!  I’m so tickled you all are enjoying our travels….I can “hear” it in your comments and that alone makes me want to post all the more.  The sharing is as much fun as the journey itself

ALSO CHECK OUT THE NEW AUDIO BOO….SOUNDS FROM THE FERRY TRIP