Stauffer's Global Gallivants: Day 8 Memory and Monuments in the 2nd Ottoman Capital

Off to Edirne early this morning. Rode the ferry once again across the Dardanelles. Beautiful drive. You can see the sunflower photo. There are fields of these all over this part of Turkey. I am amazed at how expansive and pristine the countryside is and also how good the roads are. They are kept up well.

Before leaving Cnakkele we stopped at a walk through diorama of the battle at Gallipoli.

Australian side of the trenches.

Turkish side. See the soldier reading the Quran. These men were told to prepare to die. There was so little hope for their survival.

With the hero and later leader, Ataturk.

I'm a sucker, I admit. I purchased some handmade slippers from this woman on the ferry for 10 Turkish Lira (a little over 5$)

The Great or Old Mosque at Edirne was built in 1414. You can see how the arches and supports inside are close together. This is characterized also by the huge calligraphy,which either shows names of great "saints" or of Quran verses.

This is a piece of the Kaaba or black stone from Mecca, which was brought here upon building of the mosque and is considered very holy. I saw several people come touch it.

This was where the Ottoman sultan would come to pray when in Edirne and when it was the capital of the empire after it was moved from Bursa. This would raise him up above the populace.

A cucumber and tomato salad with onions and parsley are standard at nearly every meal, especially lunch. The dressing is always olive oil and lemon. I love it.

My parents will vouch that I would never eat liver, and I was not going to do so now. David (from NYC) was more daring and did have it.

Another standard is spicy lentil soup. This one was really yummy today.

Four of us shared these. They have different forms. It is a dessert made of ground almonds and then baked and soaked in some kind of syrupy goodness.

This is the Uc Serefeli Mosque. Uc (say it uch) means 3. This has three balconies on the main minaret.

The courtyard. These are very open, and the air flows through so nicely. This courtyard is greatly expanded from the Old Mosque's, as this was built about 35 years later.

This mosque is even more open and has a gorgeous dome that is even bigger. It doesn't have all of the giant calligraphy.

They have these scarves for coverings if you do not have one to wear in.

Macedonian tower in the town along side the following wall dating back to the same time. There are also Roman remnants.

The old streets of Edirne have some wooden Ottoman-style houses, like we saw earlier.

There is a historically Jewish neighborhood (Ottomans were quite religiously diverse and tolerant) that has an old synagogue. According to our guide, this is an amazing restoration occurring here.

Selimye Mosque. Sinan was the architect (originally an engineer) of this and considered it his greatest achievement.

It is considered so well visually balanced by the exceptionally high minarets.

This is "trying not to get dour" me after putting on a long sleeved cover and hijab when it is humid and hot. Did I capture the feeling of the sun beating down?

This is a huge and expansive space. Each mosque today got increasingly bigger with a bigger dome and more openness inside. You can see how the columns are now pushed way back. Especially evident is the use of natural light and windows. Stunning.

Again, same design we have seen over and over. You see it everywhere.

Sinan made conservative use of Iznik tiles which makes it that much more impactful. Lots of painting but tiles used sparingly and thoughtfully.

Tiled portion of holy area facing Mecca.

This photo makes me giggle uncontrollably. Stacey is the Muslim in the hood. She had a hoodie, so said, "Why bother with the scarf?" At this point we were both so very hot and sweaty, we didn't care about much other than not moving.

Dinner tonight was in a grove of trees. Finally, we cooled off. I opted for vegetarian tonight, as the meat was just getting to be too much for me. Delicious roasted veggies in a clay dish.