28
October, Istanbul
Haci Mimi
Apartment 53TL
We had planned to visit Dolmabahçe Palace
today, but settled instead for a decadent waffle topped with fresh kiwi,
strawberry and banana as well as chocolate, coconut and pistachio. We had gone
to collect our serviced bikes in Ortaköy, had lunched at a little place which
supplied blankets to keep its clients warm and then decided to visit a dental
clinic we spied across the road from the restaurant. Charl lost a filling some
weeks ago and we hoped they could do a temporary filling, but this proved out
of the question. As the tooth is not bothering him, Charl has decided to leave
things be. All this took longer than anticipated, so we decided to forego the
palace, have a waffle in the narrow streets near the Bosphorus and make our
slow way home on the bikes. Near our waffle joint we came across the Etz Ahayim
synagogue, closed and surrounded by very high walls. We read later that the Jewish
victims of the 2003 bombings of the Neve Shalom and Bet Israel synagogues in
Istanbul, are interred here. On the way home we passed the Sultan’s Gate of the
Dolmabahçe (1856), complete with guards dressed in red standing in transparent
boxes. Yesterday we left a shirt with a tailor behind the Grand Bazaar and
today I went to collect it. Not far from his small outfit stands the Beyazıt
Tower, an 85m tall fire watchtower built in 1828. The tower is equipped with a lighting
system to indicate weather conditions in different colours: yesterday the
lights were green, today they are blue. Everywhere people are putting up flags
for Republic Day tomorrow.
Etz Ahayim synagogue
Etz Ahayim synagogue
Ortaköy
Ortaköy
Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace
Beyazit Tower