Showing posts with label City's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label City's. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Lady Kokkino

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Love them, hate them, you cannot help but see them!



If you ask me, I do not like seeing them everywhere in Istanbul. The photos that including them are kind of not my liking. Maybe the ugly shots that cast a shadow in Istanbul's beauty, however it is the fact of Istanbul life:



Of late, they are on the roads. Like any city in the world, main road flower-shops in down town can be little expensive. We know, things are cheaper if they sell. Shot the gypsies (above) on the Bağdat Avenue when I went for shopping this past weekend. Means red in greek language, kokkino is very popular New Year flower now, that they are hurrying up to sell them.

Not selling only flowers, they can also pick old furniture and old iron stuff. They tell your fortune reading up your coffee cup. They sell lottery tickets. They are interesting musicians who sing and play their accordion in the streets, so they are always hopeful to collect some money if people throw them a few cents from their balcony.




I would like to ask, if we should believe in bloggers?

Since I started the writing work on this community I became aware of one fact, important. Bloggers are chasing the "beautiful things" and sharing the only "best photos" of their town/city. Why is it so?

For example, is Rome a beautiful city? Have been to many times there. Of course Rome is not a beautiful city! Rome is not about fountains, squares, cuisine but also life and public fact sheet! Who shows us those sad Rome/Italy photos in a blog? Nobody. I do not want to talk about the southern Italy, Calabria region. How I was very disappointed when comparing north and southern parts of the same country. What about Paris, Wa DC, NYC, Tokyo, London? I saw the not so good parts of those world cities. Marrakesh in Morocco? I saw really poor and horrible photos of Morocco that made me said "oh my God!". If you read a Marrakesh photoblog, she tells it as a heaven on Earth. Who believes?

Another example. What about Turin in Italy? When I read a Turin daily photo blog that is being managed by Pietro, his blog here, there is no any bad photo of Turin life. All the photos are to say to the visitor as if Turin is a wonderland.

My one wish for bloggers is to be honest and, if not that, to be transparent. Share all the beauty and ugliness of your living zone. Because the world is not a fantasyland. Blogosphere should not turn to be a fantasyland under your pen.






Monday, December 27, 2010

Megakent

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Istanbul is a city of three:


S E A

Underground Basilica Cistern


Ferry Mooring Rope (cool vintage green and texture!)


Galata Tower


Arnavutköy Ferry Pier (the Bosphorus)


Maiden's Tower (the Bosphorus)


P E O P L E

Traditional Mosaic Lamps


Handpainted Ceramic Plates


Decorative Handpainted Ceramic Hanging Balls


Traditional Slippers


T I M E


Baroque-style Historical Buildings in Nişantaşı








Non siete per caso uno di quelli che abbiamo tentato senza riuscirvi di trasformare in un cittadino di Istanbul?

Istanbullulaştıramadıklarımızdan mısınız?




Thursday, December 23, 2010

Sometimes It's Just One Word

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There's plenty of same news for weeks! Today I woke and read again:

sport events were canceled. temperatures dipped to -22C/-8F in Scandinavia. endless traffic jams. thousands of travelers sleeping in airports. freezing ducks in the lakes. ice storms affected as far south as Italy. heavy snow blanketed the French capital. problems in transportation in northern Europe. late trains in rail travel. deaths in central Europe from deep freeze. snow even in Australia. freezing much of the US. many travelers waiting in our Istanbul Atatürk Airport for their EU connected flights. snowy chaos.
Ouffff!


Right under of our nose, Europe is freezing however Turkey, in one word "boiling". For example today we felt it 20C in midday! In the south of country people swimming! I wear my shoes with no socks. It is true, the air has moved out the of the arctic. Replaced air in the arctic is warmer, and as a result the air is getting warmer than the same date as previous year. Feeling unlucky and lucky, at the same time, see why now:


morning sun, not flash of my camera!


Early this season I bought them with a big heart-beat. Super long, suede, leather. Wore only 2-times! Today I replaced my très chic boots to the deep back side of my wardrobe.

Just because...









All I need is: strawberry, cruising in a yacht and my flip-flops.



Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Time To Invest

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These questions arise. Do you have any idea?

(1) Where am I going to?


(2) What's stopping me now?


(3) How do you measure delight?


(4) What fuels you?


As how we look matters, it is important how something looks matters.
Being a woman or a man, looking younger or older, that matter as well. Whether I like it or not, I use my senses to make decisions. Personal to environmental conditions, things have an impact on maximizing the flow of my creative juices.

Within a few minutes walking from my home, I face to a pretty nice pink dressed this building that is located in the corner like a candy seller. Most of the time, I forgot its commercial identity because I love pink! I love the old house converted, renewed identity, smart money house:




Göztepe branch of a leading Turkish Bank, Türkiye İş Bankası. Actually the Bank's logo color is dark blue, not gold as seen above. But the outlook is very nice pink, you see. Looks like there is no logo that the Bank hides behind. Other branches of the Bank are in logo colors, but this one in my neighborhood is different having a freedom to look and dress as the management pleases.

When I look at things that we can change like how we wear, many questions come in my mind. The take home message for me is that we should be true who we are, and also remember that how we wear changes how we feel to impact what we do.

!mportant

The Asian side of Mega City Istanbul is becoming a financial hub as of new year 2011! Capital Ankara headquartered Turkish Central Bank, the Istanbul Stock Exchange, many financial institutions, headquarters of all Banks will be moving in my living zone to Ataşehir that is ten minutes drive from my home. So Gov't is aiming Istanbul to make the strongest candidate as a regional and global financial center in the region between London and Tokyo. As you can imagine, buying up lands in this area are boosting the prices. Is there any country which is seriously quickly changing each new day with a different headline on the news, one of the fastest rates of recovery from the worldwide recession?

How does this all come out?





Sunday, December 19, 2010

Voice Of The Angels

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When I head down the Istiklal Street of Beyoğlu disctrict on the European part toward the Tünel Quarter, there is a gorgeous greeting just few meters away from St Anthony Church that I love standing on the stairs and looking at this beautiful golden mosaic, depicting the Santa Maria standing on a seashell carried by two angels:








Santa Maria Draperis Church is only one in Istanbul to have the signature of Sultan, that plaque located above the door. The Ottoman Empire's Sultan Abdülhamid II gave his permission for the construction of that church and Rıdvan Pasha, the mayor of Istanbul supported the construction.

Being one of the oldest and holiest Roman Catholic icons in Istanbul, the Santa Maria was built by Genoese Nicolo Draperis in 1584, who was the famed merchants in Galata. Interior of the Church is also interesting and colorfully ornamented, I love it! Sculptor Lorenzo Gerotti brought the marble used for the altar from Italy, and worked on the main hall which both the altar and chancel area feature late baroque and roman catholic styles. Sources say that, this Church survived the great fire in 1881 with a very little damage while other churches in the town were destroyed. Then, Architect Guglielmo Semprini supervised the re-building and renovated.

Apart from being a fine mixture of western and Ottoman architectural forms, Santa Maria Draperis Church stands as unique senthesis of tolerance and appreciation between religions, Christianity and Islam. I am very lucky coming from a beautiful City that is really crossroads and best example for the values.

Turning down the page for 2010. Will we be able to see good tolerance and understanding in 2011's world? Who's the best; hindu? buddist? christian? ateist?
Why religion still important problem? What's the point missing, respect or tolerance? Should I select my (blog) friends according to his/her religion?

Unfortunately the same problem exists on this "blogging" community!

A bit of my Joan of Arc soul would like to fight for it...



*you can enlarge my photos*


Tuesday, December 07, 2010

After A One Hour Walk

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One of those perfect Sonbahar (:autumn) days. Warm in the sun and warm in the shade. Enjoying the beautiful yalis (:mansion) by the Bosphorus on Asian side (I live) and dancing with the flowers. Walking is the best way to taste of the town and way of getting around that does not pollute, improves my health, save my Liras, and unlike driving, might even result in unexpected and spontaneous interactions with my neighbors and friends of nature..

-- click to enlarge my photos--
-- west meets east via bosphorus bridge --


When back to home, it was nice to warm inside with chrysanthemums I picked on the Bosphorus side. Would be nicer to insert a few tealights floating and use my Blue-Eye glass vase as a lampshade in dark evenings. Also some music? Addicted nowadays to this written in the stars from tinie tempah..

-- following does not enlarge, no click --









Autumn is about to finish here, and we enjoyed the 99,75% autumn under the blue sky with gentle sunlight.


Saturday, December 04, 2010

Da Voi Scomparirebbe!

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art = sanat

nature = doğa

woman = kadın



(replicas of jewelery used by ancient Anatolian Civilizations;
ottoman tile and kilim motifs in silver)









Do not be afraid to wear your heart on your sleeve, and let others how much she means to you:) Forget the season and remember life is jolly because of Kadın.

My images of today are daily & seasonal which come from: europe (the gallery), and asia (all others) that I live on with. If you are a good visual thinker, this article will help you a lot, go direct to imagine the Queen City. If not, remember ALL of those fantastix are disappear; best is come closer, to Istanbul, in person:)






Saturday, November 20, 2010

Fenerbahçe Parkı

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There was an ancient lighthouse garden at the Fenerbahçe cape. So the name of this so beautiful park "Fenerbahçe" comes from fener meaning 'lighthouse' and bahçe 'garden'. Located on the Asian side at the shore of the Sea of Marmara, it is also one of the upscale districts in the City, having the same name like the park, Fenerbahçe. A few minutes walking from my home, I always like come here and take tours inside. One girl + Two Season + Twentytwo shots:























FP is actually home for 'everything', particularly for historically important trees!
One of them is above; Pistacia Atlantica [Sakız ağacı in turkish]. It is the natural species of Turkey. This tree is 250 yrs old!







The blueer part of this beautiful Fenerbahçe Parkı is here:
Romantika Café. The great delight is to stop here to take some drink/gelato viewing the matchless islands and all around, just splendid. A note to yourself, spring and especially summer are the times the Park returns to be an oasis for every kind of greens and live events, guitar concerts, more..!







Above is the only tree coming from the Imperial Garden of Majesty Grand Sultan in the Ottoman Empire, known as the Lawgiver, Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566)! Cupressaceae [Servi ağacı in turkish]. This tree is 450 yrs old!



The tree is giving small berries in rosé wine color on these days (below), soooo beautiful.









Season? I am not able to name it... Calendar says it is November in Istanbul in my photos. To me, like "no trenchcoat" warm! Summery goodness:)



~You might enlarge my views taken on 11/18, pls click on.