It was snowing all day, snowing light and easy...
...the BBC field was covered by snow...
...a missing path...
...unlifted burden...
...a refuge under snow...
swirling little snowflakes
scattering on the cold ground
turning white carpet
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Lonely Planet - ISTANBUL WHIRLING DERVISHES
Another great thing to do while in Turkey was watching the performance of sufi dance by whirling dervishes. The dance is associated with dervishes, the practice of the Mevlevi Order in Turkey. It is one of the physical methods used to reach religious ecstasy, founded by Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi. Rumi was one of the great spiritual masters and poetical geniuses...
...the quartet for the night and the Gambus player cum singer has a great deep voice...singing throughout the show which took around one and half hours...in Arabic (the zikr) and Turkish (poems by Rumi)...
...the dance and songs much on the love of God...the music that accompanied the whirling from beginning to end ranged from somber to rhapsodical...chanting of poetry, rhythmic rotation, and incessant music induced a feeling of soaring, of ecstasy, of mystical flight...
...the rituals of the Whirling Dervishes are among the enduring as well as the most exquisite ceremonies of spirituality - an act of love and a drama of faith. It possesses a highly structured form within which the gentle turns become increasingly vigorous as the dervishes strive to achieve a state of trans...
The day I've died, my pall is moving on -
But do not think my heart is still on earth!
Don't weep and pity me: "Oh woe, how awful!"
You fall in devil's snare - woe, that is awful!
Don't cry "Woe, parted!" at my burial -
For me this is the time of joyful meeting!
Don't say "Farewell!" when I'm put in the grave -
A curtain is it for eternal bliss.
You saw "descending" - now look at the rising!
Is setting dangerous for sun and moon?
To you it looks like setting, but it's rising;
The coffin seems a jail, yet it means freedom.
Which seed fell in the earth that did not grow there?
Why do you doubt the fate of human seed?
What bucket came not filled from out the cistern?
Why should the Yusaf "Soul" then fear this well?
Close here your mouth and open it on that side.
So that your hymns may sound in Where- no-place!
by
Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi
(died on December 17, 1273)
I silently moaned so that for a hundred centuries to come,
The world will echo in the sound of my hayhâ1
It will turn on the axis of my hayhât
(Divan, 562:7)
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Lonely Planet - ISTANBUL BAZAARS
A Grand Bazaar was really grand in size and at least one day needed to discover every nook and cranny of the bazaar. Grand in size but also grand in the design of the interior...with jewellers to small cafes, carpet stores to local souvenir shops...and interestingly people drank tea all over the places holding small turkish tea glasses...
...so many men around the bazaar and not so many local women around you can see...this section can be considered as the main street of the bazaar full of jewelers and gold traders, and annual gold trading is around 10K kilogram!
...these two ladies were tourists...
...souvenirs section...
...those lights looked so fragile...
Another interesting place, the Spice Market or Egypt Bazaar, where all kind of spices can be found. Smaller than the Grand Bazaar but with so lively activities of the locals, with great sight and smell of the spices and other trading goods...here, quite a number of women can be seen around compare to the Grand Bazaar...
...sausages and dried aubergines (dark purple) hung outside the spice shop...
...spices and dried vegetables such as chilies and aubergines hung around the shop...
...nuts and dried fruits...and teas especially the turkish black teas and apple teas...
...cottage cheese and sausages...one thing the goat cheeses were very strong in terms of smell and taste...
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Lonely Planet - ISTANBUL TOKAPI CATS
As Acropolis guarded by the dogs, Tokapi Palace was guarded by these loyal felines around the ground of the palace. Now i wonder whether these cats have been cursed to roam around the palace or maybe those cats were the legacy of the Ottoman's sultans...i think the palace is an animal-friendly just like in Athens too. In contrast, you won't see any cats or dogs around the palaces in UK, except the pigeons...
...hhhmmm...you looked yummy...meow, meow...wanna lick...
...grrrrr, what a cold morning...
...am i cute?
...hehehehe...definitely...
...what? why look-look huh?
Friday, February 06, 2009
Lonely Planet - ATHENS' EVZONES
The Greek Parliament House, where the riot took place between the protesters and security forces, an unfortunate event during my visit, but did not make the safety less like any other days before the riot...however, the event only took place after office hours or over the weekend, not much visible damages that can be seen around. The interesting thing was watching the changing guards ceremony in front of the parliament, symbol of democracy, the great invention of ancient Greek.
...proudly stand to witness the riots...
...the ceremonial routine that becomes one of the attractions in Athens...the synchronize movements...
...and with interesting uniforms too...a proud tradition costumes for the Evzones, an elite group of Greek security forces...
...hhhmmmm, i guess to be one of the Evzones, you must have a strong feet to stand for a long hours and tall plus good looking too...
...maybe the Greek could not establish the DNA of this unknown soldier, so he left without a name...hehehehe...
Monday, February 02, 2009
Wintry February day...
Just a quick post...Met Office reported that the month of February will be colder with snowing here and there...and last night the snow started to fall...first small flakes then followed by big chunk flakes together with bitter wintry wind...and the snow still falling since last night...ok, need to check my snowmobile...hehehehe...
Lonely Planet - ATHENS
Another great destination during my winter break was Athens, Greece. One of great ancient cities and civilizations that shaped the world today. Athens, was once centre of Greek Empire and all the remains of this great empire can be traced throughout Greece especially Athens, and another great civilization can be seen in every corner, in between the ruins of old Greek, a great Ottoman Empire that influenced the western world, half of Europe has been under this east super power. Athens, a city where two civilizations harmonically intertwined in the life of native Greeks that can be traced until today.
...old Athens is the best place to stay, and discover the real Athens...with old buildings and people that have similarities with the third world attitudes and scenes as below par of the western standards of life...yeah, a real colours of people that you could not believe to witness in Continental Europe!
...Ottoman influenced can be seen every where as a proof of East meet West civilizations...this one is around Monastiraki Square, part of Plaka with labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture...just walk through the pretty streets packed with churches, modern art museums and ancient ruins...
...an Ottoman mosque that you can see in Plaka district...the oldest section of Athens, with rustic scenes of old architectural of Greek and Ottoman...next to Acropolis...
...welcome to Acropolis!...walked through the Plaka neighbourhood, slowly ascending through narrow cobblestone streets...up to Acropolis...
..the ruins of Acropolis...the 'Sacred Rock' of Athens. Built in 5th century BC where the modern democracy have begun...
...a breathtaking view from Acropolis...crowded with concrete jungles stretched all the way to the mountains...
...a clear sky of winter day in Athens...another view from the south of Acropolis...
...the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, which functions as a theatre...and in summer it hosts concerts, lyric theatre and dance as part of Athens Festival and this dates back to AD 160...
...the main entrance to the Acropolis...
...where you will pass through Temple of Athena Nike...i wonder if Nike got its name from here...hehehehe...
...and a great Propylaia gate...but so great anymore...
...another structure in Acropolis...second to the Parthenon, the main structure in the centre of Acropolis complex...
...the main temple of Acropolis...still under restoration since late 1970s...
...Temple of Olympian Zeus from the east of Acropolis...this enormous structure is the largest temple in Greece, exceeding even the Parthenon in size! The construction work began in the 6th century BC but it did not complete until 3rd century BC. The temple was erected during Emperor Hadrian...today, only 15 of its original 104-column remain...
...and the Temple of Zeus at the foot of Acropolis on the west side, where a vast complex of ancient Greek administrative city...guarded by so many dogs...
...Athens another great city to explore...
to explore means to learn; to experience; to understand...
A trip to Athens is a history lesson in itself...that brought me to Istanbul, my last journey of winter break...
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