A FORTUNATE LIFE - PART1

While I was leisurely enjoying the Bosphorus boat tour in TURKEY, I remembered this quote that I had once read by Mae West.

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough,"      Well, I couldn't agree more!  

Considering I enjoy living life on my terms, making time to do things I love and trying to make the most of this "FORTUNATE LIFE"  that I am blessed with, Turkey was an amazing, one of a  kind experience that I got to share with my good friend Vandana  Rao.  

Savor a slice of this exotic, colorful land of the Ottoman Sultans, where East meets West and traditional values clash with the modern, all through our lens, in my words!! 

  

THELMA & LOUISE:

Neither am I a passive housewife like Thelma  nor has Vandana had a traumatic past like Louise and there aren't any similarities between us and the 1991 Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis classic. The only thing that's common here is 2 good friends, packing their bags and going away on a dream vacation to savor life to the fullest!! 

Vandana and I, two like- minded friends, who absolutely love food, travel, photography and Bollywood, plan a vacation to exotic TURKEY and return with loads of good memories, great stories and two thousand plus pictures worth sharing. From Harems to Hammams, Mosques to Mosaics, Bazaars to Bosphorus, Baklavas to Belly dancing, we experienced it all.

While I feasted on juicy kebabs, she gorged on veggie dolmas.  When I was enjoying my RAKI ( an aniseed flavored Turkish drink akin to Greek OUZO),  she kept me company by sipping her hot Turkish CHAI.  I shook a leg to Billie Jean and   she decided to do a "MashaAllah" and  while I shopped for rugs, she rummaged through silver Jewelry !!

Oprah Winfrey  once said - " Surround yourself with only those people who are going to lift you higher"  and today through this post, I would like to thank my dear Vandu for being a great friend, a strong support and a positive influence in my life, without whom things wouldn't have been the same.

THE GOLDEN GIRLS:

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

These words made more sense to me when I met the 'golden girls" Alma & Rose, 2 sisters from NJ, aged 90 and 96, on my trip. Crisply dressed and with their lipstick always in place, they charmed everyone with their humor and amazing zest for life. Being avid travelers, they walked among the historic ruins without complaining and cracked jokes without pausing.They sipped wine in style and watched belly dancing in awe. Their company was extremely inspirational for most of us and they were the highlight of our trip.

My thirties were fairly interesting and serene, my forties are passionate and I want my coming years to be like theirs, inspiring & charming with good health and spirits!!

MOSQUES & MOSAICS: 
Out of the many mosques and minarets that I got to see in Turkey, Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya) takes the cake. It was originally a church but  after the fall of Constantinople, the beautiful gold mosaics from the Byzantine period were plastered and minarets were carefully added to the existing church by the Ottoman Turks, turning it into a mosque.  Only later in 1931, the mosaics were uncovered and the building was transformed into a museum.

The interiors are beautifully decorated with hundreds of hanging chandeliers and rich golden mosaics.

The mosaics depict  Jesus, Virgin Mary, saints, emperors and the empresses. The golden background is the original, remaining from the 9th century.

 The mesmerizing hues of yellow, blue and gold on the ceiling make this mosque one of my absolute favorites!!

THE MISTRESS OF SPICES:

Istanbul boasts of the best bazaars in Turkey and if I were to pick my favorites from all the bazaars that I visited, then it would be the "Spice Bazaar" in Istanbul and the "Koza Han" silk market in Bursa.

Spice bazaar, an L shaped building built in the 1940's attracts thousands of visitors every day , from all around  the world. I love spices and the prospect of visiting a huge, ancient market that is primarily dedicated to spices got me all heated  up.  

A colorful assortment of mixed fruits and nuts, real eye candy!

Had a blast shopping and clicking away hundreds of pictures  in the Grand bazaar, one of the oldest and the largest covered market in Istanbul with 61 covered streets and over 3000 shops.

 A shop at the entrance of   Grand Bazaar with an interesting array of 'Evil Eye" glass hangings !!

Trivets and coasters in ceramics, where the motifs are inspired from original Iznik designs of the 16^th century.

Don't miss the yellow "Sufi Dervish" motifs on the extreme right... Simply gorgeous!

Welcome to the mesmerizing world of "Turkish Lanterns".  
If I had a choice, I would have brought the entire store back home - I simply fell in love with them.

The courtyard cafe in the "Koza Han", a covered silk market in BURSA. Absolutely loved the ambience and the energy. Wish we had something like this in the U.S.

                A wall full of character......KOZA HAN, Bursa.