Excursion To Istanbul

So, I got a notification in the mail on December 25th that a package was waiting for me in Istanbul from USA. That meant my parents.
Well on December 26th my Turkish dad, Baba M took me to Istanbul and showed me how to get around a bit on the Metro system in Istanbul. An invaluable lesson.
He is sick, and I needed to be home by 4 or 5 because Long Rock is going to be home at that time. So, I we couldn't do any sightseeing. Well I love Istanbul so much, I did what I call Window Sightseeing. (Similar to Window Shopping)
And here are the lovely pictures that I took from this adventure with Baba M

I want to call this the Fatih Mosque In Istanbul it is easy to find and  near Tramways and Metro stops.

Another part of the Castle Wall

From the Autoban to the Marmara Sea: View from my bus.

This is called Lake Büyükçekmece (pronounced Bookcheckmege the e sounds like the e as in "egg")

My Day With Long Rock

Today I went to Silivri. This city is really fascinating to me. I really like it there and I had a wonderful day with Long Rock. We have been feeling blue lately so it was nice to go and spend time together and not think about what is making us down and out. We laughed and talked and laughed some more. 

  Here are some pictures of that day. 

I will have a link of Silivri so anyone can read about it. 

 If you want to go visit, I would suggest Silivri Park Hotel, as it is better than other places and it is a pretty good deal staying there. You can get to the bus station in Silivri and then from the bus station either get a cab or have the hotel come and get you for a small fee. 

 Anyway... I like this city... So here are today's pictures. Read About Silivri Here!!!

Silivri Harbor: These ships will go to other islands.

Update on Friends Wedding Flowers

About three months ago I made the Wedding Bouquet for a friend. I was told before hand I would be able to use all the supplies at the Floral Shop. The Florist (a man: he owns the shop) said that they had everything... So, I trusted that they  had everything I needed.

   Well, let's put it this way... When I need flowers for my wedding, I will know that  I will have to plan ahead to get some vital things that are not even heard of here.

  Here are a list of basic things I needed for the Flowers

• Flowers
• Floral Tape
• Wire
• Ribbon
• Corsage Pins for the Groom's and Best Man Boutonniere
• Clippers

 So, Before hand I bought the clippers, which were garden clippers because they did not have floral clippers. That was not a surprise. However, the fact that they had only flowers, and not all the flowers as promised, however, nothing else was on the list. I was really annoyed as they had no idea what I was even talking about. Has anyone ever done a corsage or boutonniere with NO wires, no floral tape and no pins, no starters for the corsages??? 

 Unheard of... BUT... I had to. 

 It was so hard and frustrating. 

I had to wrap her flowers with no tape. They tried to give me regular office tape and I smiled and said no thanks. 

With that,  sadly I was not able to get pictures of my creation... But I do have a couple her family took. 

 Here they are

The Flowers I made for her

Christmas in Turkey

I went to Istanbul about 6 days ago because my parents sent me a package and on the 21st of December Turkish Customs sent me a notification saying that I need to come get my packet. 
 Interesting. My mom wrote down the price of everything right, but they here in Turkey write it differently and so they said that everything was worth over 1,000 Dollars so they were holding it in this office for me. 
  Well, It was not worth that much, but you can not argue with these people, oh, well, I have been wanting to go to Istanbul Forum for a long time. I really like Istanbul. I would love to go more often actually. 
 Anyway
 So I went with my Turkish mom and dad to this Huge Mall, after we got the package. 
  I then did not get a lot of pictures of me this season, but I did however get some pictures of the mall. 
 I made a Christmas gift for Long Rock this year. 
I made him a special dinner. 
The dinner was a hit to him. It was not received warmly by anyone else in the family though. Just... That is all I will say about that.  
 I just have been feeling like things I try to do just get lost. 
Turkey Celebrates New Year much like we celebrate Christmas. Lucky us... We have two separate Holidays in one week! I love Christmas. I hope Long Rock gets to come to USA with me to see how we do things there. 
  I guess I am more homesick that I thought
Anyway
 Here are some Christmas pictures

Istanbul Forum, beautifully decorated

I love Christmas Trees

This is how I spent Christmas Day... Baking Cookies. How I miss doing this all the time

Long Rock loves these Cookies the best. I had to make some for him.

I decorated the table so pretty.

Merry Christmas World! Santa Claus is a Turk!

 Yes, you read right! Santa Claus is a Turk! I have decided that since I am in Turkey and celebrating it from so far away, I would write about my experiences as an American in Turkey. 
 Many of us Christians do not realize how Turkey is actually our Holy Land second to Palestine. This country is rich with Christian artifacts and History, and yes, a little unknown fact is that Saint Nicolas is a Turk!
 Saint Nicolas was born in Ancient Greece known as Lycia and the city called Myra. Myra is now the Modern Day Turkish city of Demre. There is also a city named Antalya where a monastery was named after him and he did travel and reside there, too. It is not far from Antalya. Demre is now also in the modern Provence of Antalya, and not far from Demre, so it all makes sense that he went all over Antalya.
  Now, many many Christians all over the world actually have him as their Saint. Russian, Eastern, Greek Orthodox all highly regard him, and same with Lutheran, Catholic, and Protestant Christians. 
 He was known for his gift giving and this is why we use him to this day in being Santa Claus, as a tradition he started. 
  Why do we use him this time of year? Very easily explained. He died on the 6th of December, in the year 343. They had as a tradition a feast for his honor and this is why we use him specifically. He was also canonized on his birthday, so many believe. 
 What we do know of him was that he was the Patron for those falsely accused, children, and many other people. He was a Bishop and a Presbyter in Antalya and Demre and did in fact perform a miracle that was documented in Antalya's port. There was a ship that came into port during a heavy famine while Saint Nicolas was a Bishop. The Bishop had asked the Saliors to measure the wheat that came in the ship and the sailors grew very annoyed that they would have to measure for the Emperor of Constantinople. Bishop Nicolas told the Sailors while he understood their frustration with the Emperor, if the Sailors where honest in all their business with the Emperor, they would have an abundance of business, and that was a promise. The sailors did as Bishop Nicolas of Myra asked and they were shocked. The wheat on the ship had multiplied and the Sailors were able to give the Emperor much of their shipment, but still had enough for the townspeople and were able to use the over abundance for growing wheat for that following year. 
There are many stories  of his kindness. Born of very wealthy parents, but they tragically died in an epidemic when he was a boy, he had a kindness to children and poor families with children. He had been known to leave money and small gifts for children in the cities that he was Bishop or passing through, and often at night, so remain anonymous, and create an excitement for children. This tradition is carried on all over the world for little boys and girls on Christmas Eve, the wonderment of Santa Claus coming and leaving toys has been a traditon that started here in Turkey. 


In 1073, the Seljuk Turks slowly took over Turkey. We now call this the Ottoman Empire because of one man, the first Sultan named Osman. (Ottoman is Osman in Turkish)
 When the Seljuks had a great battle here in Turkey, they took Nicolas' remains to Constantinople, and then for years it was a mystery where it went. Many stories said that they were stolen but years ago, the Turkish government found they were stolen and taken to Italy. They found the remains were confirmed that in fact it was The Saint Nicolas and as of 2005 the Turkish Government asked for the remains to be brought back to Saint Nicolas' birth town, and resting spot, which he intended to be buried as in a letter that he wrote himself as to what he wanted done with his body after he died.
 Why do we use this Saint of all Saints for December and Associate this Saint for the Gift Giver in December? 
 That is easy to explain. He died on the 6th of December of 343. He was 73 years old. Now, there is a feast on this day in honor of him, many Orthodox Christians Celebrate Christmas on this day, much as us Americans Celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December.  So, if you think about it, our world actually honors a man that lived almost 2,000 years ago who was Christian and A Turk, and lived his life in gift giving and being honest good and kind and we carry on his traditions in wonderful Christmas time. 


 Whatever happened to his remains in this Modern day, Saint Nicolas had changed the world, and changed it for the better. I love the fact that Saint Nicolas is from here. Christians all over the world should know that OK, yeah Greece is cool, but Turkey is where the really cool Christianity starts. This is where it all happened once a long time ago. There are artifacts that really surpass anything anywhere in All Things Christian. Think about it, Saint Nicolas, The Apostle Paul, Virgin Mary's final resting place, Constantinople, Anitoch, the list goes on and on! 
 Below are some really cool pictures of this Saint Nicolas, our Santa Claus, a Turk

I took this. It is in Bodrum, at the Bodrum Castle:   Saint Nicolas! Interesting how this came about here! I wish I knew the story!

Another picture of me with St Nicolas! I want to go to Antalya! Long Rock wants to take me

Usually St Nicolas is painted with Jesus Christ over his right Shoulder. He was kind to Children, the Falsely Accused, He tried to buy Slaves Freedom, And Women Regarded him as Compassionate. He was also loved by the Sailors and he was kind to them. He liked sailing, It was told

I like this depiction of Saint Nicolas!

I have seen this painting on Cards, Have you?

And the final picture. Another depiction of Saint Nicolas

I found some more pictures

I thought I would post more pictures I found the other day! 
  Let me go back. 
 About 10 months ago, maybe 9 months ago, I can not remember the exact date, Long Rocks dad was using the  PC and for some reason he decided to open it. Sadly, it broke the hard drive when he did that and we (long rock and I) had all of our Istanbul pictures that we took in the PC Hard drive. (sooo bad... I am pro putting everything on disc... Wonder why?) And so, I have been trying to sort through our pictures over the last two years. Long Rock insists I use the ones on FB but I know there are others that I want to see... Oh Well, anyway... I found some of my first summer I spent here. 
 I am excited to find them because Shahira came to visit me and we stayed in Istanbul for a couple of days with just her and I. We had the time of our life. 
 I wanted to show you some of those pictures from that summer: The Summer of 2010
Here are some

Me with vandalized stone girl

The Blue Mosque

Little Shops near the Topkapı Palace and walking towards Gülhane Park.

The Cistern, one of thousands here in turkey. This is the famous one that is across the Street from the Aya Sofia, where the Medusa head is

The Ceiling of the Cistern

That's right... Medusa. This thing is huge too! And there is no explanation as to why she is down here and why she is on her side

This one is her upside down. I was in awe... Shahira really liked looking at this too

Shahira was a sport. We wanted a discreet pic of us, she was too embarrassed to get in front of Medusa... I really wanted one with the Medusa though

Me at Gulhane Park. The trees were huge but reminded me of the Eucalyptus trees in San Diego. These were Eucalyptus. The Park used to be an area for sports because the Sultan loved sports

Another view of Topkapı Palace. This is a Geographer for the Sultan way back in the 1400's

Byzantine wall. Note the writing on it. I was fascinated with it

Aya Sophia. This was awe- inspiring. Really. This was Jesus sitting on a throne, with St Peter and John the Baptist kneeling at his feet, with Mother Mary and John the Beloved or St Paul on either side up in the corners. WOW!

Aya Sophia again. This one is a dome that has Islamic writings in Gold. When the Roman Empire fell, and Constantinople became Istanbul, Aya Sophia was a Cathedral made into a Mosque. In 1923 when the Empire of the Ottoman fell, Kemal Ataturk made this Islamic removed from here, which has been taken years to restore.

Everything is Islamic and Christian. It gives such a different beauty to this building. It is really a place of reverence

You can clearly see all the Islamic Scripture yet all the amazing work of the Christians. Interesting, a lot of the work was covered under black paint.

Blue Mosque

The huge Islamic writings behind me says Allah It was magnificent to be in there

Baby Jesus and Virgin Mary. Just gorgeous

This is at the Topkapı Palace. Interesting. I had come earlier with Long Rock but this section was closed. the bottom right of the picture is a Byzantine wall, above I have close ups. This wall is really big, sometimes up to 12 meters in height and wraps around a lot of what is now Istanbul but Constantinople

OOH! What are THOSE? Blueberries? (asked Shahira! ) I laugh every time I see this picture

Shahira loved going in this "room" that we were entering, until I told her what Sünnet meant in Turkish. We Westerners have a different way of circucising our boys than the Turkish, the Balkan Countries, and other cultures, I guess

The ceiling of the Sünnet Room

Where they performed the Sünnet on all the Sultans and their sons

Outside the Topkapı Palace

Old Train Station

Soo happy to get a Cinnabon!!! I love that stuff

We were going from Asia to Eruope... On a boat. They are really cheap here. Only 1-2 lira

I love her Necklace.

We went to a part on the Asian side of Istanbul from a boat one of our days. We saw this statue, it is about a war from a long time ago

Dolmabahçe Palace, This is the Gate Entrance. Ottoman Baroque Style

Clock Tower in front of the Dolmabahçe Palace

This Mosque is near the Sea Side in Ortakoy. WE liked going here. There was little shops and we ate at these little restaurants here

Taxi ride back to the Air port :(

The Next day, Long Rock and I went on a excursion all over Istanbul

We found another cistern. Above there was only a padlock. This is what it looked like inside. I really wanted to go inside... It looked so amazing. Long Rock Said NOOOO!!!  :D

Sokullu Sehit Mehmet Paşa Camii, This was built in the late 1500s and Minar Sinan was the Architect . We were looking for the Greek  Orthodox Church and found this little Gem.

Here is another picture of it

In the walls

So, as much as I love Turkey and the Turks. They are HORRIBLE at directions. I mean ... HORRIBLE. They can not tell you how or where or anything... Really. We walked for hours and hours and hours looking for this sweet little place. When we got there I wanted to cry. It was closed. We were annoyed because everyone around us would tell us a different way to get to it. I am really good with directions. I can give them well. These people can not. I noticed that in my teaching class too. I don't know if it is a cultural thing, but dang! They could get us lost in a paper bag... And Long rock Is Turkish!

Another picture of this really interesting looking Church

We stumbled upon an Armenian Chapel. I was so interested. I went in with Long Rock. This one was interesting because there were no pictures, no paintings of Christ to be found. I wanted to ask them why... I would love to donate one to this Church, You know find one in USA and give it to them... But I am not sure if they do not want any or if they can not find one they want on their walls. Or If they were allowed to put any... I was hoping to ask but I did not

Le Creme d'le Creme. The night we were there it was a Friday night. I was sad and crying because Shahira was gone and I was not sure when I would see her again. Long Rock offered to take me on a walk in the town. We went walking near the Blue Mosque when we saw that something was going on... What a wonderful find! We watched the Mevlevi Rumi (only in The Western Hemisphere they are called Whirling Dervish)

I loved it so much

I was in total awe watching these men twirl, meditating

I thought this was really cool looking. Long Rock and I went to another part of Istanbul, I forgot what it was called, on a Ferry. We asked the hotel if we could keep our bags there, they were nice and did not charge us and we were able to roam the city for a few hours before heading back to Corlu.

View of Istanbul from where we were.

There is what a ferry looks like. They are relatively inexpensive

New Mosque

Blue Mosque and New Mosque

The Grand Bazaar

Me looking at things at the Grand Bazaar

Copper... I really wanted to buy some of this

The First Bank in Istanbul

Another view of the first bank in Istanbul

The Mosque near the Istanbul University.