Comments on: Istanbul

By: The Great Big Carnival of Cities | nerd's eye view

The Great Big Carnival of Cities | nerd's eye view — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:36:33 +0000

[...] are more mosque photos of Islamic architecture on Itinerant Londoner – he’s in Istanbul, another place name that activates the [...]

By: Istanbul round-up « Itinerant Londoner

Istanbul round-up « Itinerant Londoner — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:05:59 +0000

[...] case you missed any of the previous posts, here’s links to: The historic sights of the city Cruising down the Bosphorus Why visiting in one of the hottest months of the year may not have been [...]

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:34:45 +0000

Thanks for visiting Stevo – although I didn’t see toddlers playing in any of the Mosques, they mainly seem to be a place for prayer (with tourists kept to the back). But I know what you mean about the similarity with Thai wats.

By: Stevo

Stevo — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:25:32 +0000

Great piece, I’ll have to add another destination to my “must see” list.

The mosques must be similar to Thai wats. The same thing struck me in Thailand, the great empty spaces in religious buildings. I watched toddlers play in one wat while their mother and grandmother prayed. Not something you would see in a western church.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:35:06 +0000

Xander, I agree totally – I was in Chatuchak market in January, and it was much more impressive and exciting experience, and there was a lot more I wanted to buy, too.

Cuckoo – yes, I expect if I had to live with it I may feel different, but for a holiday it was great.

By: Cuckoo

Cuckoo — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:54:51 +0000

Pictures are impressive. Istanbul is on my “before I die” list. ;)

“often with multiple calls from different mosques overlapping. I thought I might find it annoying but it’s a beautiful sound,” Well with 2 mosques in my neighbourhood I have different views. For a day or two it is ok to hear those ‘alien’ sounds but daily 5 times is a bit more to the ears. Don’t you think so ?

I think in no time I’ll start chanting the same. :P

By: Xander

Xander — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:25:44 +0000

I love Istanbul- it’s really one of my favorite cities, and definitely my favorite corner of Europe. I never got to visit the Basilica cistern though- your photo really makes me wish I had.

I had similar feelings about the Grand Bazaar. It felt like a rather underwhelming place, and to be honest I didn’t see anything that I wanted to take home. Somehow, the whole place felt sort of staged- rather different from Bangkok’s teeming Chatuchak market, for example. -X