From the dyepot

Here are the silk  fabrics and threads I dyed up a coupe of days ago in Persian Carpet. Fabric all ironed, threads all twisted into their skeins and ready for labeling. I always get a great sense of satisfaction seeing a tatty hank of threads all twisted up smoothly waiting for their labels and the only ironing I ever do is my fabrics before they are packaged!

 On Sunday I dyed up some silk/viscose velvet in my Rust colourway to fill an order. So while I had the dye made up I also did some cotton gauze and some cotton and rayon threads as well. They just need their labels now.

I also over dyed some Sari Ribbon in Tarragon and Ice Green.

Home at last and back to work

This is the sight that greeted us at Tullamarine Airport last Monday night.

One of my older sons Tarin and his girlfriend Katrina had come to pick us up. One of the advantages of having grown up children! I haven't caught up with my other son yet,(yes I have three of them!) as he has been working in country Victoria this week.
I am back in my laundry dyeing, trying to clear the back orders. Yesterday it was Summer Pudding silk string. Silk string is fantastic for hand made glass beads as it has more body than silk ribbon. This will be in my ETSY shop shortly.

Today it is Persian carpet in silk string, sari ribbon,stranded silk thread. tissue silk, crinkle silk chiffon and silk scrim.

All waiting to be spun in the washing machine so I can get them dry. The washing machine has been on high rotation lately due to two suitcases of dirty clothes in addition to what was waiting at home already!

Nearly home

Our hotel in Istanbull was in the old quarter, we had a room on the third floor and access was via a steep, marble spiral staircase.

It was a beautiful sunny morning and so we were able to have breakfast in the garden which borders an ancient Turkish Bath House built in 1483 .

 

Before our evening flight to Dubai, we spent time at the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art. Well we did have a sleep in as well! We passed these tiles embedded in the pavement on our way there.

The Museum had a fantastic collection of 13th and 14th century turkish carpets which lined the walls in this display.

A set of beautiful doors made of copper panels.

 An old brass oil lamp.

Of coursewe  found time on the way back to collect our suitcasesd, to taste some Turkish pastries for the last time.

And at last we are back in Australia at Perry's apartment in Fremantle. It  felt so good to be horizontal last night after a day in Istanbul and two flights which meant being vertical for 31 hours! He seemed pleased to see us as well, maybe becuase we were paying for dinner!!!

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At last the Grand Bazaar

Last night we had dinner and a show at the little eatery across the street. First the clay pot was brought out on a pan full of burning charcoal.

Then a hole was pierced through the dough top and the foil underneath and the juice was poured into a bowl.

Then the top was rewrapped in foil and a cloth wound tightly around it.

It was then upended and tapped sharply with a large knife just above the line you see near the bottom. The the top (which is actually the bottom) is broken off with the knife in one swift movement.

And this is the deliciousness inside.

Chicken, lamb, tomatos, onion, eggplant, banana chillies and red pepper, yum. It was way more than we could eat and for the princely sum of AUD$15 each. Worth it for the entertainment alone. Of course there was the usual complimentary turkish bread and dip to start and apple tea to finish. But there was definately no room for baklava that night.
Today we went to the Grand Bazaar. It has 21 gates, 17 inns, 66 streets, 4,000 shops with 30,000 staff and is visited by 1.8 million people every day. It is huge with alley ways and streets going off in all directions, very easy to get lost in, but an absolute must see for anyone travelling to Istanbul.

This afternoon we went for a trip up the Bosphorus which is the waterway that seperates European from Asian Turkey and ends up in the Black Sea. This guy obviousy was not a mechanic as when the boat would not start they got a spare battery and he connected the wrong lead to the terminal resulting in a shower of sparks in the hold with the not too clean deisel engine.

Then we had to make a stop on the way for fuel, again access to the tank was in the passenger cabin!

But we saw a different side of Istanbul from the water and we were dry despite rain for about an hour. What is more we made it back to shore without getting our feet wet. Turkish people are extreamly friendly. Several times we have been standing on a corner consulting our map (street signs are frequently missing), and someone will ask us if they can help. I also was offered a seat on a tram today when we decided our feet needed a break, It is a long time since this has happened in Melbourne. Tourism here is traeted very seriously, they even have special tourism police in addition to the regular police force and while waiting to cross the tram track this morning a policeman gave way to us! 

Mosques, museums and more

It was a very big day today. The first part of the morning was spent at the Blue Mosque which gets its name from the mainly blue Iznik tiles which decorate the interior. According to the records 21,043 tiles were used. It was buit between 1609 and 1616 and caused quite a stir as a mosque with six minarets was considered sacrilegious. A kind Turkish man, who hoped we wanted to buy a carpet took our picture in the courtyard.

It really is an enormous space inside. The main dome is supported on four giant marble pillars and is 43 metres high, 23.5 metres in diameter and filed with light from 260 windows.

Next stop was the Haghia Sophia. More than 1,400 years old, it started life as a church. which in itself was built over two earlier churches. In the 15th Century the Ottomans converted it into a mosque and it is now a museum.

The central dome here reaches 56 metres and was designed as an earthly mirror of the heavens. The walls are panelled in marble and inlaid mother of pearl. In the upper galleries there are some remnants of 9th century mosaics.

Work has had to be carried out over the centuries including some flying buttresses to help support the weight of the great dome.

We were in luck as there was a calligraphy and illumination exhibition in the museum which finished on the 15th. The work was truly astounding, such fine detail in some of the work, I am afraid my photo can't possibly do it justice.

And here is a close up.

 

After a late lunch, we visited the Suleymaniye Mosque, built in the grounds of a palace between 1550 an 1557. The dome diameter of 26.3 metres and a height of 48.23 metres which makes it second in size only to the Hagia Sophia. We had an extended stop here as a thunderstorm reared its ugly head just as we were about to leave,

Once again is is beautifully painted inside. We made the trip back to the hotel via the Spice Market which dates back to the 17th Century and is known locally as the Egyptian Bazaar because it was built with duties paid on Egyptian imports. It is a real feast for the senses wandering between its aisles.

Then it was down to the Galata Bridge which crosses the Golden Horn. It is often described as the worlds greatest natural harbour being a flooded river valley which flows into the Bosphorus which separates European Turkey from Asia Turkey. It certainly is a very busy stretch of water.

Istanbul and the Topkapi Palace

Most of the day was spent at the Topkapi Palace which was built beyween 1459 and 1465 as the main residence of Mehmet II. It consists of a series of buildings contained in four enormous courtyards. There is a series of  carved calligraphy tablets along one of the covered walkways.

Most of the rooms including all the rooms in the Harem have their walls covered in really beautiful hand painted, hand glazed ceramic Iznik tiles which were produced between 1459 and 1520. The predominat colour in the ties is cobalt blue and white.

The Palace is constantly being refurbished and some sections were closd during our visit. Where tiles are damaged or missing then the surface is plastered and the original design is hand painted onto the surface. I had to look at this design very carefully as it was on quite a large section of wall and I was certain that they must have used a stencil!

Many of the rooms have shelves and cupboards that are covered with doors that have exquisate mother of pearl inlay.

What was left of the afternoon wasspent at the Basilica Cistern. This is a vast underwater  cistern dating back to 532. There are 336 marble columns each over 8 metres tall and  originally held over 100 milion litres of water.

And on the way back to our hotel a glimpse of the Blue Mosque which we will visit tomorrow.

Madrid to Istanbul with a nap in Dubai

We reluctantly left Madrid yesterday flying down the Mediterranean Sea at times skimming the North African coast, to arrive in Dubai very early in the morning.

Emerites have a very clever way of taking care of their travellers with connections in Dubai. You can check baggage all the way through to your final destination, arrive in Dubai, be met by a hotel representative, whisked through security and straight to your room. No passport control, no customs and no waiting for luggage. Your room is available for 24 hours from check in and this is the view from our bedroom window the next morning,

Looking right down on the first class lounge. Empress Zoe, our hotel in Istanbul is right near the old city wall and most of the sights in the old city are nearby. Our room is in the ochre coloured  building in the middle, we have the top two windows and have just missed out on seeing the wisteria flowering all over the outside of the hotel.

There is a wonderful leafy courtyard which I hope will be warm enough to have breakfast in tomorrow morning.

When we left Madrid yesterday it was 33C, when we arrived in Dubai at 1am this morning it was 31C and when we left at 11.20 this morning it was 40C. So we are enjoying the milder climate in Turkey where it is expected to be 22C with showers. Not far from here are the old city walls and a crop of new houses built in traditional Ottoman style.

We had a stroll through the surrounding streets before dinner and have seen some wonderful examples of calligraphy on some of the older buildings.

And just before entering for the night we nipped up to the rooftop terrace to see what the view was like and this is part of what we found.

A day in Sergovia

Last night there was a huge crowd in Puerta del Sol, most of them wearing red and white. Apparently a soccer team had won something and they were welcoming them home. The Spanish are very, very passionate about their soccer.

Today we went to Segovia, on a slow train, this time it only reached 250 kph! Segovia is most famous for its Roman aqueduct. It is more than 2000 years old and was built without mortar or cement. It was still in use early in the 19th Century and stands more than 28 metres high and 16,220 metres in lentht.

The cathedral is a massive Gothic structure dating from 1525 when it was built to replace the old cathedral which was destroyed in 1520. I was particularly taken by the flying buttresses.

While I was waiting for a certain person to finish photographing the cathedral I heard an odd noise overhead. I looked up and saw two storks in a nest high up in a tree.

 The Alcazar which was built in the 11th Century on the site of a Roman fortress is like a castle in a fairy tale with turrets, towers, ramparts and the remains of a moat on the side that is not sheer cliff. One of the rooms had a glass fronted bookcase containing some old books which were like a magnet to me!

This is the site that greeted us when we turned up for our trip home, snow in the background and our lovely comfortable high speed train waiting to whisk us back to Madrid in less than 30 minutes.

And yes we did have a final goats cheese, tomato and spinach salad for dinner and even suggested it to the diners next to us who turned out to be a couple from Sydney on their first night in Madrid. They have just been to Turkey and were pleased to pass on some sights not to miss, so we were able to reciprocate with must see sights in Southern Spain.