Tourists and Tulips oh my!

So there we were surrounded by buildings that were older than our country by a good clip. What else to do but explore them? We walked up Istiklal (mentioned earlier) until we came to Taksim square.

Taksim is probably the most important location for an Istanbul Turks.

They've all been here for years (some were even born here) and are less interested in things like the Blue Mosque or the Hagia Sofia but Taksim baby, that's where it's at!

The square bussels with open air cafes, movie festivals and the aforementioned smell of commerce. Everyone meets here, works here and passes through this area once a day. It's like that damn bottleneck on I-5 in the middle of Seattle but much more pleasant as there are snacks.

In the picture above you can see that the square has been filled with Tulip sculptures. (Love the disco ball motif) The tulip has long been argued to have originated from Turkey but Dutch enthusiasts say that it was imported by the Ottoman Sultans from Holland. I don't really know, but Istanbul is doing bang up job of pushing the product. Local businesses commissioned local artists in a kind of culture meets advertising mash-up. This be the result:
This tulip is embroidered with crochet! It's a Halloween tulip with spiderweb stitching hanging off of it. Well maybe not. This one took my notice because it was entitled "Remembering my Grandmother." Sweet.











This one has a post world war look mixed with that stunning barber pole aesthetic.


















Pretty pretty princess Aviary?


and my personal favorite: Suddenly horticulture looks like a lot more fun!

So we meandered around checking out the shopping districts. As a side note, "Meander" I found out, is the name of a twisty river here in Turkey. That's where the word originates, or so the Turks say. I've discovered that Turks are more nationalistic that anywhere else I have ever been. One of my guides told me that everyone in the world is descended from Turks because of the Trojan war. I told him that Uber-Nationalism was Turkey's Achilles heel. Needless to say he did not pick up on the joke.

Being sated artistically by the tulips we headed out to look at some ancient architecture.

The Hagia Sofia is one of largest structures of antiquity. It was built as a church then was converted to a mosque and now is a national park, talk about a case of identity crisis. Note the gigantic Sulatn medalions hanging from the supporting pillars. These are early Bling, Bling!

What you won't find in the Wikipedia article is that the street merchants which surround it know how to say "cute things" in about 10 different languages. "Please sir let me help you spend your money. How bout some on your Honey?" Who knows how to say "Cotton Candy" in yiddish, this guy...
So we ended the day with a cotton candy. How can you not? And he walked off into the sunset dispensing pink happiness to all... See you next time.