Christmas in Istanbul

This year I spent Christmas with my family at home in Carinthia. Not so last year, when we decided to leave all the Chrismas stress behind and go to Istanbul over Christmas.

We arrived at lovely 20 degree and wonderful weather. From the roof terrace of our lodging we had a brilliant view over the the city and Hagia Sofia. Hagia Sofia once was a Christian church, later a Mosque and today it is a museum.
I was glad we visited Istanbul in winter because there are less tourists. No hot sweaty trips through the city, no standing in line for hours. In December it was really easy-going, but yet there were still more tourits than I had imagined. 

Istanbul is just awesome. The city spans across 2  continents and two culteres, the European and the Asian are bumping into each other, so it is a very diverse place. It´s history goes back to the 6th century, and since then this significant city has had many names. Originally called Byzanz, under Konstantin the I, the city was rechristened Constantinople and today it is known under the name Istanbul. It served as the capital of four empires: The Roman, the Byzantine, the Latin and the Ottoman empire. 

But, back to our trip: here and there we could see a few windows that were decorated in the European manner, but besides there was nothing that made you feel like it was Christmas. Really refreshing ;) On the 24th we went out for dinner in an Asian restaurant. We sat on carpets around a really low table (my dad had some problems with putting his legs somewhere) and enjoyed the delicious asian cuisine. 

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Istanbul is a city of cultural diversity and history, and (at least I had the impression) .... of cats. Seriously, never in my life I have seen a place with so many cats. They were everywhere, and in great number. Sleeping in the sun on benches, on parked cars, scaring or pleasing some tourists....

 
 

During our trip we visited as much famous places in Istanbul as possible. 

Blue Mosque

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque also know as the "Blue Mosque" is the only Mosque in Istanbul that has 6 minarets ( minaretes are the spires around a mosque). As a woman you have to cover your hair if you want to go inside and see the impressing interior. We visited the Mosque around midday and dozends of male Moslems were kneeing on beautiful carpets and praying, oriented towards Mekka. 

From the Minaretts men called Muezzin call the Moslem popoation to prayer five times a day. They usually have beautiful voices and you can hear their melodic calls in the whole city. 

Grand Bazaar

To get into the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul you have to enter a tiny, inconspicous stone gateway. But what is behind is simply stunning. Hundrets of stalls one close to the other, selling EVERYTHING you can imagine. Carpets, jewellery, bags, souveniers... anything your heart desires. 

In Turkey it is a custom to negotiate about the price of the item you want to buy. I tried my luck and got a bag for a pretty good price. 

The Bazaar is huge and its not hard to get lost in its labyrithine corridors.

Our trip ended after 5 days so we went back home where  snowy cold weather welcomed us. Istanbul was a city that really impressed me personaly and I will definitely come back - maybe next Chrismas :) 

40 shades of green

Ireland, as I remember it 

 A couple of years ago my dad took me on a business trip to his favourite country - Ireland. He had appointments in Dublin, Cork and Belfast and so we rent a car and just started driving across the Island. 

He had been here many times and he told me a lot about the country and it´s incredibly awesome people. 

Here are some things I particularly remember: 

Bloomsday

We arrived in Dublin about a week before bloomsday and everywhere you could see posters that announced the 16th of July, and as a foreigner you might have got the impression of a national holiday coming up - well, not exactly. 

The Irish love their many famous writers, especially James Joyce. Actually they love him THAT much, they dedicated this certain day to the main character of Joyces novel Ulysses, Leopold Bloom. In his veeeeery weighty tome Joyce describes just one day, the 16th of July. (it is said that noone ever has read the entire novel and so far I haven´t met anyone who has ;)

Here is a picture of me in 2011

 Colorful doors 

Did you ever walk through Dublins streets? If so you might have recognised the colorful  doors. Here's the story my dad told me: I cannot guarantee it is true, since he is a pretty good storyteller ;)

When Queen Victoria died in 1900 England ordered to paint all front doors visible black, as a sign of sorrow. The rebellous Irish, however, who wanted to do everything possible to enclose themselves from England, did the exact opposite - they painted their doors colorful. 

Another  version of this story is,  that the doors were painted in different colors to help drunk people find their homes more easily ;) 

B&B

During our trip we  stayed at so called Bed & Breakfasts (B&B). This is a pretty popular thing in Ireland. Houses offer a room and Breakfast for people who stay a few nights in their town. I was amazed by the hospitality and kindness of all this people at whose houses we were staying. Staying at B&Bs is  really cheap and a great way to get to know some of the really nice people there and to get to hear their storys. (My impression was that they were all really talkative ;)

Gaelic

Even though not many Irish people do still speak Gaelic, it is Irelands official language (with English being a second official language). Road signs and signs in general are bilingual. Also, while in Dublin you will come across this phrase quite often, if you look around in gift shops. (Kiss my ass)

40 shades of green

If you come to Ireland there will be one dominating colour- green. Green, green and even more green. Beautiful landscapes, fresh, grassy meadows everywhere. Thats why it is said Ireland  got forty shades of green ;)  Johnny Cash adapted the term and made it a title of his song referring to Ireland.