Proud of Turkish women

Turkey, though a Muslim country, is far more liberal than I expected, as you see women involved in every type of activity.

At least in Istanbul.

There, I  saw very few covered heads outside the mosques and even saw a few girls in really short shorts on the streets.

We supported their fund raising effort, buying bracelets with Palestinian flags 

The only real distinction I saw was in the mosques where the prayer section for females is not open and they have much smaller spaces for this.

     Modesty clad Indonesian Muslim women. That's how I visualized Turks too😊

Clearly the type of reports you see about women in Muslim countries, does not prevail in Istanbul.

It was great too, to see that the majority of people active in Sultanahmet Square, in Istanbul, not only to publicly standing with and showing support for the people of Gaza where especially women and children are being massacred by the Israelis, but they were also raising funds to help feed them.

For as you know, a vast number of Gazans are being starved to death too.

For it's not too many places outside of campuses, that you see every day people showing concern about the terrible massacre occuring in Gaza.

 At this venue, the dominant leaders were definitely ladies.

Later the women were joined by a formal group of men for what appeared to be speeches and some kind of concert.

Proud of them.

Istanbul-Asia

Istanbul, the beautiful exotic city which is over 3000 years old, has a population of more 20 million, of which 2/3rds live on the European side and a third on the Asian side.

Our tour group comprised of two Jamaicans, two Austrians, and a British Couple. It was a friendly group led by Turkish students, Emre who lives on the Asian side and Burrak who lives on the European side. It was a wonderful tour.

I didn't find an 'Asian' look as over time, as both sides appear to have integrated totally so look rather similar.

However, I personally prefer the Asian side, as it attracts far fewer tourists, so is less congested.

There are  three distinct sections, Muslim, Christians (mainly people of Armenian descent who were mostly followers of the Roman Catholic faith) and Jews. 

However we were informed that while this was how it was originally, its mostly older Jews and Catholics who remain now.

 The synagogue was recently vandalized due to the Israeli genocide in Gaza, so it is being repaired.

As Turks tend to be mostly Muslims, every square has several elegant mosques. 

In the olden days,  Muslims knew when it was "prayer time" based on the position of the sun. The plaque above shows how.

The Bosphorus Strait seperates Istanbul's European from the Asian side. Numerous ferries take residents and visitors across daily. It's about a 20 minute ride.

You get a great view of European and Asian Istanbul from the Strait

A community garden. You can only reap if you sow!

Fresh sardines. Had only seen tinned ones before😊

Where you wash up before entering a mosque 

The European side behind us.

A Turkish submarine heading to the Black Sea

Six streets converge here

A street of lamps

A Christian church 

Omg. Why?

 Look at this beautiful Airbnb unit.

It even has motion detector lights so when you get up in the nights you don't have to feel around for light switches.

Love that aspect. In fact, love everything about the unit.

It is flawless. 

The owner is a wonderful person too but best of all, it is in walking distance of  Sultanahmet Square and many exotic places, like the Blue Mosque, museums, hotels, restaurants and also near the grand bazaar.

But there is a garbage problem outside our beautiful home, in the general vicinity of Fatiah, which is where our Airbnb is.

However, the good news is, this is not an Istanbul problem, just a Fatiah problem as we did a hop on hop tour and the rest of the city is pristine.

I am sorry for my Airbnb owner, for with the environment in which his beautiful unit is located, repeat business will be non existent!

Such a pity.

Yes you guessed it. It is in the middle of isranbul. Bu I can't recall seeing a dirtier place in my life!

But guess what. It's in