Spice Bazaar--Istanbul

The Istanbul Spice Bazaar has been in existence at this location since the building was constructed in the 16th-17th centuries(see sign in photo above). The building is owned by the Yeni Mosque next door, shown in the photo below. It is second in size only to the Grand Bazaar. It is L shaped; there is a long corridor with shops on either side, an arm and shops on the outside running up the west side of the building. There are still many spice shops but it has been infiltrated somewhat by tourist shops selling purses, souvenirs and such. Some of  the outside shops sell fish, cheese, fruit and veggies, as well as some fast foods.

The photos below are  typical shops that specializes in spices. One prominently features Turkish delight.

The photo above shows a shopkeeper weighing out a spice. There were a lot of locals buying in the spice bazaar.

The photo below is about halfway along the main corridor. As you can tell, there are many tourist type shops in this part of the bazaar.

 The shop above is featuring dried fruits.

This shop is featuring sponges and strings of red peppers..

Above is a kebab shop where the shopkeeper is cutting slices of meat to make a Doner Kebab. All over Europe you will find Doner Kebab shops run by ex-pat Turks. They are excellent!

Above is a fish market. This and the other shops below are on the west side of the market on the outside.
Below in order are a cheese shop, a fruit and veggie shop and a shop featuring olives.

The photo above shows a man with a large basket on his back talking with a shopkeeper. I couldn't tell if he was a shopper or a supplier.

This street vendor was cooking and selling corn on the cob.



We didn't buy any spices because we didn't know what the USDA regulations are regarding bringing spices into the country. It was very tempting, however.

The Frari Church, Bellini and Jesus Christ, Superstar

There is a church in Venice called the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, built by the Franciscan brothers. Completed in 1338 it is usually referred to as the Frari church. It is second in size in Venice to St. Mark's. Below is a photograph of the church showing the main entrance. As you can tell it is made of brick, and is very plain on the outside. Inside, however, is a whole other story. There are three pieces of artwork that are original and done by the artists specifically for this church. They are in situ in the positions they were intended to be.

The first of these is behind the main altar, The Assumption of Mary, by Titian. Unfortunately both times we were there it was largely covered by scaffolding for cleaning. The photo shown here is off the web.

No photos are permitted inside the church. What we could see was brilliant, particularly the reds.

There is also a statue of John the Baptist, carved out of wood by Donatello in 1438. It is the only Donatello in Venice.

Giovanni Bellini painted an altarpiece for the sacristy in 1488. The center of the tryptych is Mary with the Christ child standing on her lap. This is a wonderful piece of art. The Christ child looks like a real baby, which most of the renaissance infant depictions of Christ do not. Mary also seems to be a real woman. Bellini has done a wonderful job with perspective to make it appear three dimensional. The frame is thought to have been made by Bellini.

The Frari is a working church; apparently two masses a day are said in he sacristy. We sat down to look at the Bellini and contemplate both the artwork and the meaning behind it. We had been sitting quietly for a few minutes when all of a sudden a band started playing quite close outside the church. I thought at first it was a school band practicing, but there were no starts and stops like in a rehearsal. They played a couple of Sousa marches and then came “Jesus Christ Superstar”. All this was a bit much when one is in a church contemplating the eternities and Jesus Christ. Just a bit of irony.

We went outside and followed the sound of the music to the back of the church where there is a small square, with another small church and a council hall. Lo and behold there was an Italian Navy band playing away with a number of passersby enjoying the music. We joined them and took some photos.

This little girl is running back to her parents after trying to get into or closer to the action.

The photo below shows the Navy honor guard. The brick building in the left background is the altar end of the Frari church; I believe the Bellini is in the sacristy behind the window to the upper left. No wonder we heard the music so well.

 After the band left a street musician showed up and proceeded to sing opera and some other Italian songs. We tried to convince Alan, the Old White Haired guy, to join in but he wouldn't. He claimed he had a cold. Oh, well. A good time was had by one and all anyway.

Basilica Cistern-Istanbul

Some time during the reign of the Emperor Justinian(527-565 AD), a large cistern was built near the Haggia Sophia, on the site of an old basilica. This was used to store water brought by aqueduct, also built by Justinian, from the Belgrade forest, approximately 19 kilometers away. The water apparently was used mostly by the palace. Other cisterns were also built for water storage in the city.

The cistern was used for water storage for centuries. It was apparently unknown to the Ottomans for about 100 years after they conquered the area(approximately 15th century AD).. It was rediscovered when some people were found to be getting water through holes in their basement floors. It has undergone restoration and was opened to the public in 1987.

According to some historic texts, 7,000 slaves were used in its construction. It is 453 feet long by 212 feet wide. The walls are three and one half meters thick, made of firebrick. The roof is vaulted brick supported by 336 columns, 30 feet tall, arranged in 12 rows of 28 columns in a row. It would hold 2.8 million gallons of water. A special water proof mortar was used. Most, if not all of the columns were recycled from other structures; they are mostly Ionic and Corinthian.

There is only a foot or two of water now present, a walkway has been constructed and lighting put in place.

The photo below is of the cistern looking straight between two rows of columns.

The next photo is shot more diagonally.

The column shown here is quite unique. It is referred to by some as a "peacock eye" column. As far as I know it is not known where it came from.

 The next two photos show two Medusa head sculptures used as column base supports. They were brought to the site from an unknown location. Why they were used upside down or sideways is not known. These are the only two Medusas. All the other columns are on regular plain bases.

All in all a very interesting and unique place to visit.

Naples, Pompeii and Other Sights

Naples is a large(1+ million) city in southern Italy. A major port, it is a favorite destination for cruise ships and tourists. Pompeii, Herculaneum, Sorrento and Capri are all close by. There is a special train called the Circumvesuviana that runs from its own Naples station to Pompeii and Sorrento. This station is about a 15 minute taxi ride from the cruise terminal. We intended to take a taxi(15 euros) to the train(5 euros each) plus admission fees, then eat at a pizzeria before visiting the Archaelogical Museum in Naples, which has all the good stuff from Pompeii. Total cost for transportation only about 31 euros. Each.

We found a taxi driver willing to take all four of us to the train for 15 euros. We piled in and then the fun began. “I can take you to Pompeii and pick you up when you are finished. We can go to Sorrento and I will take you to the Palace and Opera House in Naples.” “Just the train Station.” “But I can take you to Pompeii and these other places, too.” Roberta got out of the Taxi. Cheryl and I said “How about Pompeii, a pizza and the Archaeological Museum?’’ “I can do that.” “How much?” “25 euros .” “Let’s go!” Roberta got back in and off we went.

The driver’s name was Ciro Palladino. I would guess he was a man of about 50; he spoke very good English. When a pedestrian or another vehicle did something he didn’t like he made a loud noise that sounded exactly like a police whistle. He would pass buses on the right while we were both making a left turn, go the wrong way on one way streets, drive down the street car tracks and commit other acts of terror that fortunately I have suppressed.As we start on our wild ride Ciro puts a CD in the player and out comes Luciano Pavarotti. Ciro starts conducting, whistling, driving and occasionally singing along. Luciano starts singing “Nessun Dorma” and suddenly Uncle Alan, the Old White Haired Guy, sitting next to Ciro in the front seat, joins in at full volume. Ciro, both surprised and delighted, fortunately manages to keep the car on the road.(The OWH is a trained operatic tenor with an excellent voice). This was followed by more Luciano, including “Core’ Ingrato”, more OWH, and then some Neopoliatan songs. There we were, careening down the road with police whistles, conducting, singing and occasionally driving. Most fun I’ve had in years. 

This photo shows the OWH and Ciro.

 He was true to his word-dropped us at Pompeii and was at the meeting place afterwords at the exact time agreed upon. We then went to the Archaeological Museum in Naples only to discover it was closed—the workers were on strike. Fortunately we caught him before he drove off and we went to a pizzeria. Naples is the birthplace of pizza. We had an excellent Margherita pizza.

Pompeii was much larger than I had expected. We didn't come close to seeing all of it, but below are some photos.

Above is an open area with the remains of an amphitheatre in the background; the amphitheatre is shown below.

The three photos above show typical streets. The streets are slightly sunken to allow for water, particular waste water, to flow. The large stones are stepping stones, carefully placed so that a chariot or cart can pass between them.

The photo above is of a bathroom in a home. The toilet is at the middle left, and the bathtub bottom center.

The top photo above is of a surviving wall painting. The bottom photo shows a mosaic tile floor.

Below is a place of food preparation. The food was stored in the jars built into the counter. Note the wall painting in the background, shown in closeup below.

Below is a plaster cast of some resident of Pompeii, as found during excavation.

The next photo is of a church and square in downtown Naples. Lastly, setting sail into the setting sun.

Tabernacle--Paris, Idaho

Bear Lake is a large lake on the Utah-Idaho border, at an altitude of 6000 feet. The Bear Lake valley was settled by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints(Mormons) in 1863. They almost immediately began making plans for a large meeting house(tabernacle) that could accommodate all the settlers. Materials were hard to come by. Timber was cut and hauled to the site from the mountains. The sandstone used as the basic construction material was quarried from Indian Creek, on the east side of the lake and hauled a distance of 18 miles to the construction site in the community of Paris. The Tueller family of Swiss stonemasons did the stonework. The building was completed and dedicated in 1889. In the time since it was built, the Tabernacle has had maintenance type restoration only. No major changes have been made. The benches, for example, are original.

 The above photo is taken from the main floor, looking from the back to the front where the choir loft, organ and podium are located.

 

 The above photo is taken from the rear balcony.

 

 This photo shows one of the side balconies. Hardwood was scarce in this region, so pine or fir was used. The doors and pews were painted in a "graining" style which uses a technique of varnishing over white paint and while still wet, dragging a comb-like instrument through the wet varnish, creating a hardwood-like grain effect. This effect can be seen more clearly in the photo below of one of the inside doors to the balcony.

 

The photo below shows these doors closed, from the interior.

 The photo above is another view from the balcony.

 

 The photo above shows the woodwork on the ceiling. A shipbuilder, James Collings Sr., built the ceiling using a style commonly found in sailing ships.

The above photo is of the choir loft. The organ is an Austin two manual pipe organ, installed in 1928, built in Hartford, Connecticutt.

 Above is a view of the podium, choir loft and organ  Below is a closeup of the podium.

 

 The photo below is looking from the front to the back of the building. The balcony doors are open.

 

 The Paris Tabernacle is a remarkable building. It holds about 1,500 people and is used for stake conferences. Also it has been used in the past for a Sunday service for all the visitors that flock to Bear Lake in the summer, although I do not know if that is currently the case.

Portrait of the Artist as a YoungDog..er, Photographer. With Apologies to Dylan Thomas

About a year and a half ago I began a project to digitize(scan) all the film-based photos that I have taken over my lifetime, with the exception of photos that I took as part of assignments from publishers for books-in this case the publisher owns the copyright and I don't particularly care if those photos are digitized or not. At the start of this project I estimated approximately three years to completion. I have now revised that estimate upward. I hope I finish before I croak. Scanning transparencies is tedious and time consuming. I find that I can only scan about 50 35mm slides in one day without running out into the street screaming obscenities. Anyway, the other day I scanned some 35mm slides taken in south Cache Valley, Utah in 1991. These are probably on Fuji film, but I can't tell for certain without taking the slide apart, which I don't want to do. I use a Minolta Dimage 5400 II film scanner. One slide in particular stood out—a rural scene of an old farm, with mountains and the valley in the background, and with my 4x5 camera mounted on a tripod at the edge of the scene.

I usually carried a 35mm camera with me when I went out with the 4x5 to do landscapes. The 35mm is more agile and at times necessary to get a photo you might otherwise miss. The quality of the 4x5 is far superior, due to the size of the negative if nothing else. First I thought I was shooting with the 35 and forgot the large format setup was at the edge of the frame. Then I found another slide with the 4x5 at the other edge of the frame-must have been deliberate.

I believe this was an attempt to do a self portrait. This photo reveals a lot about the artist. He likes rural landscapes, as well as mountains. He likes beautiful skies with white puffy clouds. He is particular about his art. He would rather not photograph at mid-day, but early morning or late afternoon when the light is better. In this case not too late or the mountain shadows would be over all the scene. He uses the best equipment he can afford(4x5) mounted on the best, sturdiest tripod available. He also has a 35mm camera with him and is not afraid to use it when the circumstances call for it. He probably scouts locations that interest him and then returns at the right time of day or even time of year to get the shot he wants. He may be at a scene for many minutes to hours waiting for the sun to come out from behind a cloud. He is probably more deliberate than impulsive. Taking a photo with a 4x5 is a very deliberate process, requiring a series of manual steps done in sequence. Miss a step or get out of sequence, no photo. Experience has taught him about composition, depth of color and light as well as patience..

Below are scans of two of the 4x5 transparencies I took from this spot. Must have been from where the 4x5 is shown in the above photo, and earlier  as the mountain shadows have covered the farmstead in the 35mm photo. The film was a Fuji film; the scans were done on an Epson Perfection 1680 flat-bed scanner.

All in all a fun exercise. Also, Dylan Thomas' Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog is an excellent read. I highly recommend it.