...begins another journey in Istanbul...
I have neglected my blog for a few weeks, and have realised that I really miss blogging when I am unable to. Finally I sit here in an internet cafe in Istanbul... a nice one with fast internet, a large screen, ergonomic keyboard, and air conditioning.
They sat me in a corner away from most of the others in the cafe as I am currently the only female sitting in here - I just noticed now! LOL But yeah, in most areas this is how it works.. they try to sit the ladies in a quiet area so that we are not disturbed... it's a way to protect us, and I think it's sweet! I really do feel comfy in this area. Also, the best thing about this internet cafe is that it has aircon working -- this is quite rare in most internet cafes here in Turkey, especially if it ain't located in a posh area. By the way, it's currently 37 degrees celcius and I AM LOVING IT! :))))
It has only been 6 days since we landed in Istanbul, but it already feels like I've been here for the past few years.
So we landed on Saturday last week and we already had a cultural picnic with a very large community which was held in remembrance of Osman Ghazi, the leader who established the Ottomon Empire in 1453. It was a nice family day with my inlaws and extended family.
This is a show by the janissary band (mehter group) at the picnic. The "mehter group" is the band that used to play at times of war during the Ottoman era - their music was played to motivation and courage to the soldiers. (Click on the photo to see a larger version)
Then on Monday we started the week with our TUSKON tour. TUSKON is a confederation that brings businesses around the world together. The annual World Trade Bridge was on this week. Today was our last day, but we completed all our meetings yesterday, so finally free today. It was a wonderful experience and we went to so many places with the group. There was a large group from Australia (Melbourne and Sydney) so we didn't feel out of place at all. We were unable to capture any photos yesterday as we didn't take our camera, but we have some nice photos from the previous days.
I don't want to bore you with a very long post, so I'm not going to continue any longer. I will leave you with just a few photos and continue on about my journey/travel in my following blog posts.
How does that sound? :))
I haven't started shopping for stock just yet, but I will be giving you insights of those too, and I think it will be the best! I'm going to try and include fashion from Turkey with photos, so we'll just see how that goes. :))
Mwah!!!
This was taken at Miniatürk - it's an open-air musem in Istanbul where the miniatures of all monuments/touristic attractions in Turkey are on display. The detail is just amazing. It is also wonderful for those who are unable to travel all around Turkey to see the the actual places. I am standing in front of the miniature Sumela Monastery that is actually located in Trabzon in the Black Sea Region.
That's my hubster in front of a temple located in Antalya. I can't remember if it was the Artemis Temple? I need to check that! Down on the far left is a city in Manrdin. It's amazing and I would absolutely love to live there! They are the traditional stone houses in Mardin. For those of you who watch Turkish soaps, this is where series Sila (Cansu Dere, Mehmet Ali Alakurt) was taped. On the bottom centre is the Mostar Bridge in Bosnia, and bottom far right is the Bosphorus Bridge (a miniature of course). :)
The large photo on the bottom is our group from Australia. The group consists of business people (I don't like the use of businessmen lol) who have attended the TUSKON convention to meet and do business with other businesses in Turkey. A lovely group of people... We Aussies are different, down to earth, have a great sense of humour... something which became more clear in contrast with a large group of people (thousands) from all over the world. The large photo is from the opening ceremony. The top far right and far left photos are from our boat tour of the Bosphorus. The far right photo is from the Rumeli Fortress. I look forward to attending a concert there this summer. Should be an experience! The top centre photo is taken from a little cafe at the Gulhane Park. I just love it htere. Awesome view. You also get tea served in pots. It's a wonderful experience for those who love tea.. I don't drink tea but also enjoyed the view. This park is very close to Eminonu (we actually walked down) and Sultan Ahmet (Blue Mosque). If you are in Istanbul, do pay a visit. This park used to be where Sultan Abdulhamid Han gathered the people and made public announcements.
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