Postcards From Susan: On our own in Istanbul

Our first objective was the Ethnographic Museum, which had been under renovation the last two times we visited -- roughly 15 years apart. This time it was open, although we discovered that the most popular parts of the old museum -- displays of different types of villages -- were not yet included, and possibly would never be reopened. In fact, it is now known as the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts.

But the renovated museum displayed plenty of art of historical as well as artistic significance.

The displays included cartoons telling epic stories and fables of Turkey's past.

There was a Ramadan market set up in the Hippodrome in front of the museum

We passed the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque every time we went to or from our hotel.

For the first time we visited the Yeni Cami, a mosque built by the mother of a sultan, the person with the most power other than the sultan himself. The photo above is taken from the side of the mosque, showing the far side of the spice market -- the place where non-tourists shop. In addition to gardening supplies and hardware, there are birds and animals for pets, and some destined to be dinner.

Yeni Cami seen from the Mamdi restaurant, showing the spice bazaar.

We were so close -- a visit to the sadly quite touristy spice bazaar was required.

Tom refused to trade his hat for pistachios.

Rustem Pasa mosque.

Rustem Pasa is known for its tiles. There must be several dozen designs included inside and out.

On the exterior wall is a panle of original tiles, some of which are missing from theft or damage.

From Rustem Pasa it is an interesting walk uphill to the mosque of Suleiman the Magnificent.

Since our fist visit to Istanbul in the 90s, I have wanted to visit the tomb of Suleiman the Magnificent. I had read that his tomb is located in a small structure in the cemetery adjacent to his mosque. his tomb was rumored to display his turban -- the largest permitting in the empire.

The first time we visited the tomb was closed for renovations.

The second time we visited, ditto.

The third time the tomb renovations had been completed, but the cemetery gates were chained shut.

This time... the gates were open, and the tomb was open! The nearby tomb of Roxanna, his famous and controversial wife was closed, but we were delighted to finally visit his tomb. The small building was crammed with local people who regarded with a mixture of touristy interest and respectful, religious reverence.

The small building was decorated like a mosque, with a row of caskets of various sizes.

Mission accomplished!

We took a walk the long way around the cemetery to reach the entrance to the mosque itself. The tombstones with turbans on top are for men; the other designs are the ladies.

I'm always surprised to see stained glass in mosques.

A group of young people stood inside the bar between the visitors and the faithful. They spoke various languages and had reading materials and small korans , also in various languages. They were there to answer questions since this was Ramadan. My questions were fairly mundane -- such as why they suspended ostrich eggs throughout the mosque. (Answer: they repel spiders.) But we listened to questions from other visitors.

One pair of visitors asked why the women are separated from the men during services. The answer, which I had never heard before, is that the service requires that the faithful stand with shoulders touching. Since the women do not like to touch shoulders with men they do not know, they prefer to worship in their own area. Interesting.

On the advice of our tour guide from our visit two years ago, we spent a day in the Beyoglu part of the city, starting with the Pera Museum.

The visiting exhibition was the work of Grayson Perry, a British artist, whose work was original and captivating. It included a documentary, which was at least as interesting as his work.