Come Fly with Me to TURKEY / Sultanahmet, the Blue Mosque

It was last November 2 when I got a chance to visit for the first time The Blue Mosque –  SULTANAHMET CAMII [Turkish] or Sultan Ahmed Mosque (click to read more). Friend from UP Film  Center days, Rowena Martinez Ulayan-Tuzcuoglu, Istanbul resident and known visual artist in Turkey brought us to the site I never imagined I would one day be. Despite coming from a country majority of whom are Catholics, I found the place simply marvelous!

My first view of the magnificent Sultanamet Camii or The Blue Mosque in Istanbul. I viewed it with wonder and awe! It appeared to me as fairy-tale like.

Closer shot of the minarets

Inside the mosque court

Take note of the paper like objects flying around one of the minarets…

…they are in fact, birds, seagulls I believe. They quite struck me as they actively animate the place along with tourists visiting the mosque.

The floor rug inside the mosque building. Shoes must be removed before entering it. Plastic are provided on bins placed at the main entrance lobby. Women must cover their heads [hair only] with cloth, in my case, shawl, as sign of reverence.

View of Sultanahmet as we leave the place on the way to Hagia Sophia side opposite it.

Leaving the beautiful mosque behind

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/daily-prompt-travels-2/

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/daily-prompt-travels-2/comment-page-1/#comments

Advertisement

Weekly Photo Challenge: Color / Paseo de la Escolta

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I’m very happy to be back to join the WP Challenges again! Making the AVP for a relative running for mayoral re-election in one of the Philippine provinces took my time away. It was fun anyway, and as always making a documentary always teaches me something new. I’ll post some of the photos taken there in my future posts.

Meanwhile, here’s some photos of “Paseo de la Escolta” taken before sundown in a place called Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar located in Bagac, Bataan. The effect of the setting sun gave the golden color that looked striking at that time, with blue serving as accent to the earth colors dominating the scene. Las Casas… is a heritage park consisting of old, colonial houses and pre-war buildings, or as their website describes: “architectural treasures that have been carefully and painstakingly reconstructed from different parts of the country and rebuilt, “brick by brick” and  “plank by plank” …  against a backdrop of majestic mountains, expansive rice fields and   a running river that flows to the sea. We visited the hotel resort last week with my relatives.

Casa Mexico

The first University of the Philippines building, then located in Padre Faura in Manila can also be found in the resort park. It reminded me of the photo from the collection of Dr. Selma Calmes whose mother graduated in UP Manila in the 30’s. Dr. Calmes is featured in my first documentary “Tiga-Isla,” a film about the socio-cultural life of the civilians who lived there before the War.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/weekly-photo-challenge-color/comment-page-1/