Beyoglu, Galata Bridge and Süleymaniye Mosque
Time to venture into the new city across the Golden Horn. We took the tram and then the furnicular to Taksim Square. From there we walked down Istiklal Caddesi – the shopping street that one sees in every large city. Though this one has a vintage tram line down the centre (see left).
Essentially at the end of Istiklal Caddesi one finds the key landmark for this part of the city (short of 
mosques as it is); namely, the Galata Tower. It dominates the skyline and offers a decent view of the city. My guide says that the entry fee is extortionate.
The area has many side roads with antique shops of the unkempt variety. There are also so examples of wooden houses, many in a state of disrepair, though some are receiving some 
attention as in this fine example on the left.
We then walked back into the old city across the Galata Bridge which takes the metro and the road. There are some cafes built into the structure; we were hungry so risked one of them. Not really recommended. At the road level, men fish off the bridge.
Once across we found ourselves once again passing through a bazaar of sorts. Literally hundreds of small shops, largely doing textiles and homewares. Astonishing. The up to the Süleymaniye Mosque. Clearly a lot of work has been done on this building. It is stunning both inside and out. It was another feat of engineering comissioned to challenge the magnificence of the Hagia Sofia. I offer a couple of pictures to illustrate the grandeur, but it needs a better snapper of photos than me to capture the true magnificence of the interior particularly.
Istanbul – The Bosphorus and Spice Market
The sun came out today prompting us to think that a boat ride along a part of the Bosphorus was a good idea. We walked to Eminoenue where a good number of ferries arrive and depart to and from Harem across on the east side. There we were sold a 90 minute boat ride up the Bosphorus for 20 Lira. The boat turned out not to be quite what we were shown and the timings were interesting to say the least. And it was very very cold, but the views were stunning in the sunshine.
We advise, take some food with you onboard and expect some waiting around and no commentary.
By late afternoon we alighted and headed into the spice market. The spice market is colourful, aromatic and non-threatening. We found a cafe where we could get a hot wrap and some tea and then later another service variation on rice pudding. Heavy. We then took the metro back to Sultanahmet to finish thawing out in the hotel after the river experience.
There is a splendid fountain separating the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. At night it is illuminated green, blue and red. A perfect backdrop for a photograph.
As we walked to a cluster of restaurants we observed a frisky dog visiting a kebab shop, tail wagging, asking for food. The kindly man directed the animal outside where it waited patiently in anticipation. A few pieces were cut from the kebab
hanging, as they do, in the window. The pieces were placed in the street on a piece of paper whereupon the dog rejected them!
Istanbul – The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar
The Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia dominate this part of the city. They look at one another with 2000 years of built history between them. One is a living mosque, the other a museum having been both a mosque and a church. The Blue Mosque is blue by virtue of the blue tiles that adorn the walls. The dome (left) is vertiginous. However, the mosque is not as blue as the name suggests, but as a place of worship, one is in awe of its scale.
The Hagia Sophia was designated a museum in 1934 by the state’s founder, Ataturk himself. I suspect February
is not the best time to visit as it is a naturally dark and cool space. But the scale is incomprehensible and the remnants of the mosaics stunning. There are two levels for visitors – ground level where one finds the alter, and a mezanine where one finds the mosaics coupled with an elevated panorama. The mosaic on the right – the Virgin receiving a model of the new church from Justinianus and the city from Constantine (10th Century).
The columns below are pervasive around the building, but have some beauty in their detail.
The Grand Bazaar is as one would expect. Large, Byzantine (of course) and challenging. However, it is not a Souk similar to what I have experienced in Marakesh, for example. The Grand Bazaar is merely a glorified shopping centre, complete with cash machines for those caught without enough currency. We visitors are always at a disadvantage when it comes to bartering, but we came away with a few items at prices that we can live with. Lots of textiles, leather goods, spices and trinkets. Very busy, of course.
Today the sun shines. Time for a go on the ferries along the Bosphorus.
Istanbul – some observations
I’m enjoying a very short sojourn in Istanbul. We are staying in a hotel located in the shadow of the Blue Mosque looking out onto the Mamara Sea into which flows the Bosphorus.The district is called Sultanahmet. It is connected to Taksim Square, another centre of interest, by a modern tramway. Our hotel is the newly-built Magnaura Palace Hotel. Extraordinary place. The breakfast room is on the roof with a fabulous view. Would recommend.
February is optimal in terms of travel and hotel deals, if not the weather. It has rained today and the temperature is around 8 degrees. As one might expect, there are a lot of very friendly people, largely men. The desire to sell is high. There are also large populations of feral dogs and cats.
Eating is very easy for vegetarians. Vegetable casseroles and Kebaps are ubiquitous and come in at about 20 Turkish Lira (about 8 pounds). The wine is excellent. In particular we enjoyed Yakut. We’ve also tried some of the Turkish dark beer, EFES. At 6 per cent proof, it is strong. But it has lots of flavour.
Tipping is expected at 10 per cent. Service is, however, to a very high standard. There are a few well maintained and clean public toilets. Charges were 1 Lira – about 35 UK pence.
Picture – Blue Mosque, Istanbul, 28 February 2012
Horsemeat
The discovery of horsemeat in ‘value’ burgers in UK supermarkets comes as no surprise. Whether the ‘mafia’ – as alleged by yesterday’s Guardian newspaper – is at the root of it, who knows? And any debate about whether the British have a problem with eating horses is a red-herring. The safety concerns are, of course, a factor. The content of manufactured food is supposed to be traceable. Clearly the inclusion of horse renders the contents far from traceable. Rather amusing really. Though the question is, what type of horse has been included. I do not mean the difference between a pony and a cart horse. I do mean the difference between one full of drugs or disease – or both – that should not be in the food chain and those that are not.
Rather, the issue is about price. Animal protein is expensive to produce. Using traceable meat particularly so, even if it is mechanically re-configured, or whatever they call it. The pressure on food producers is to cut costs in order to produce – for many people – affordable meat products. The pressure often comes from the supermarkets – and it is no surprise that it is the discounters and those offering ‘value’ level products particularly affected here. That said, there is no evidence so far that ‘premium’ products are not also contaminated.
Maybe this is just a critique of global capital. There are so many non-UK subcontractors in this story, one can see how messed up is the food industry. The eventual supply has been traced to Romania (via Cyprus and the Netherlands and France). Why Romania? Arguably, there are still many working horses there. Perhaps more importantly, the cuts in funding for trading standards departments in local authorities has reduced the detection capabilities.
I do not eat meat, but I do often cook from scratch – beans, vegetables and fruits. It takes time to prepare and cook, but I am pretty sure it is cheaper than cooking with meat.
Picture source: Wikipedia (Waugsberg)
Gerald Scarfe cartoon
So, Rupert Murdoch has apologised for the publication of an offensive cartoon in the Sunday Times. The topic is Israel’s relations with its neighbours and the wall it is building in order to keep them out. “Good fences make good neighbours” as the poet Robert Frost wrote.
The cartoon depicts Benjamin Netanyahu building the wall himself – the mortar is red and what looks like some Palestinians have been built into the wall. I am not going to post the cartoon – readers can see it for themselves here: http://fromthetopcom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/gerald-scarfe-cements-hate-on-holocaust.html
The Today programme on Radio 4 this morning pitted cartoonist Steve Bell of the Guardian against Stephen Pollard of the Jewish Chronicle debating – of sorts – the issue. Quite heated in places. Listen here.
The question is, are we talking about Jews – and hence being anti-semitic – or are we talking about Israel and the Israeli government? At the very least, when a country defines itself coterminous with a race, the depiction of a key player in the story – in this case Netanyahu – can be seen as an attack on the race more generally. On Holocaust Memorial Day, particularly so.
Update: 1 February 2013 – Media Lens has now evaluated this case. The assessment is at the following address. http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/alerts-2013/717-cartoon-politics-rupert-murdoch-the-pro-israel-lobby-and-israel-s-crimes.html
Maybe campaign goes youth again
Marlboro’s Maybe campaign has re-introduced youth (possibly heading toward the boundaries of legality again with the advertising authorities in Germany). A ‘Maybe’ may not fall in love, it seems. The couple featured in the advertisement (left), seem to be spending romantic time out of doors. Maybe they have emerged after some physicality, giving the unshaven man some time to light up and demonstrate to his beloved that he does not intend to live long. Lovely sunrise, though.
Meanwhile, JSP seems to have de-emphasised the ‘glide’ technology that featured in their 
advertising towards the end of last year. They are just going for the no additives approach. The poster is a bit dull; I spotted this one through a snow covered roof at ‘sunrise’. Not a romantic location at all.
Finally, Pall Mall continues its advertising spend. I have not seen any big posters recently, but the ubiquitous cigarette machines are clearly suitable locations. This one captured today at Munich Airport (left). The spring flowers make a nice touch.
David Cameron’s speech on Europe
Long anticipated and it did not disappoint. It takes a lot to be criticised by former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, but Cameron has elicited a damning response.
“I think it’s a huge worry in circumstances where you put on the agenda the prospect of Britain leaving. Why would we do that? We don’t yet know what we are proposing, or what we can get negotiated. We don’t yet know what the rest of Europe is going to propose. This referendum will happen in four or five years time, if the Conservatives were re-elected. Why not wait and see what we actually get out of this, play our part in shaping the new Europe, but why be in the situation where now you are putting on the table the prospect, four or five years time, of Britain leaving so that we can no longer answer the question, when we are negotiating, is Britain going to stay a member of the European Union or not? We can’t answer that question any more.” (drawn from Andrew Sparrow’s Guardian blog).
Let us unpick that. We – and anyone who trades with us or invests in the country – no longer know if the UK will stay in the European Union. Should the Conservatives win the next election, that will represent at least 5 years or so of uncertainty. It will precipitate the end of the Union between England and Scotland, putting back on track the campaign north of the border to break free, even though an independent Scotland would need to reapply for membership to the EU (until now a disincentive to break free).
Why is David Cameron such a poor strategist? Even though many in his party – and many outside – loathe the EU, the EU remains the largest trading bloc for the UK. That is strategically significant.It is also the case, that a lot of what these people dislike are good things like the working time directive; 48 hours per day is long enough for anyone to work per week. There is a lot that is wrong, but Cameron has now dug in even deeper and diminished the UK’s influence over what is wrong. Not only will the UK not support efforts in Europe to support the Euro (see post: https://weiterzugehen.net/2011/12/10/26-to-1/), but now we are effectively leaving. On that basis, why negotiate with the UK? Moreover, as Blair said in his response, threaten to leave and someone will say “go on then”.
I had to laugh (though it was a painful speech to listen to) when he said that transport metaphors should be dispensed with – cast into some waste bin, only to serve up a platter full of them himself as he ‘progressed’. Astonishing.
Onward Marlboro Maybe
Filed under: Cigarette advertising | Tags: Germany, marlboro, maybe
Comments (2) 
The Maybe campaign goes on. New for 2013 is the poster on the left. In Marlboro Country, no doubt, the occupants of a car on the freeway gesture. I had to look up what the gesture actually means. It is called the Corna and seemingly has modern satanic origins; though in this poster it is more likely to mean “rock on”. If seen at a football match it may be an unpleasant gesture to the referee.
Suffice to say, the occupants of this vehicle are not ‘maybe’ers’. They know what they are about. Maybe.
Hand gesture info from http://www.languagetrainers.co.uk
Kate Windsor’s portrait
Filed under: Art, Royal Watching | Tags: Kate Windsor, royal portraiture
Leave a Comment The newly unveiled portrait of Kate Windor has proved to be quite a talking point. As usual with these matters. The subjects themselves are always delighted with the result. The Royal loyalists are always disappointed. The artists are castigated for being unfair; they present a distortion of reality, the true person.
Whilst this new portrait is as near as a photograph one is likely to get, the comments remain that it makes her look old; or as the Sun newspaper put it, looking like Ian Botham, former England cricketer (cue opportunity to post a picture of Ian Botham onto the newspaper’s website). It is also the fault, it seems, of the National Portrait Gallery for promoting the use of photographs by artists. Also, bad choice of artist. In this case the artist – Paul Emsley – is very good at doing animals.
Mrs Windsor and her husband are, true to form, said to be absolutely delighted by it.
What is great about art, and particularly portraiture, is that we get an opportunity to see the sitter through the eyes of another. I’m no artist, but I have been a life model and seen many depictions of my own body; I was always fascinated at how different emphases, light, angle, colour, perspective, etc., impacted on the outcome. It is not for me to say whether the likeness was true. In this case, if the artist thinks Kate Windsor has bags under he eyes and and Ian Botham’s nose then she has. I was not there when she sat for the artist, nor have I seen the photographs that he used.
Artists are artists because they see what most of us do not see – or in Kate Windsor’s case – be allowed to see stripped of normal media management. If I had the opportunity to talk to Paul Emsley I would be inclined to say that I do not really like his portrait because I cannot see the point in hyper-reality. But even then, Emsley has subverted the perfection of the Kate Windsor fascade. That seems to be a problem for the ‘critics’. But that is the point of art.
Picture: screengrab, Sky News
