THE BEST VIEW IN SULTANAHMET

Taking tea in the sunshine!

Next to our hotel clinging to the ancient Hippodrome walls is a little wooden house.  The remains of the walls were once part of the Splendon where horses were stabled,

The house must the most photographed in all of Sultanahmet, Istanbul.  Tourists walk down our cobblestoned street and stare in wonder that the house is still upright.    But my neighbours   have lived there for over 45 years!

This week everyone was out  enjoying the spring sunshine.   So we brought cay from the hotel and sat around to  chat – catching up on news since my visit to Australia.  Where have you been, what have you been doing, whats all the news, just a little friendly neighbourhood  gossip!

The two ladies, now widows,  live their lives probably unaware that their home is part of many visitors memories of Istanbul!   They share the chores, one washing  windows and curtains and shaking rugs from the window –  keeping their little house spotless – while the other one chops the wood for firewood,  and cleans up outside.       The timber cladding of the house is as it has always been!

It needs a coat of paint, but no matter!  Life goes on!

Musicians in the ParkTulips in the parkTulips in the Park

Tulips on display

The Istanbul Tulip Festival takes place 1-30 April and both locals and tourists head for Emirgan Korusu – Emirgran Park.  There are more than 50000 tulips on display, all the colours of the rainbow!

Families, groups of friends enjoying pinics in the park and the spring sunshine!  If you are in Istanbul or coming in the next week or so dont miss a trip to Emirgan Park.   Ask us how to get there!

Enjoying a coffee in the Hippodrome

The Istanbul Tulip Fesitval is just about to start.  Stalls are being set up, the sun is out and tulips are just unfurling their leaves to reveal their stunning colours.   Spring has arrived in the Hippodrome and everyone is out today enjoying the sunshine.

Spring = time to get out and play!

Spring geraniams in our flower boxes!!

Spring has come to Istanbul – flowers are starting to bloom and children are out playing in the streets!
Our windows boxes have fresh geraniams and the terrace is ready for relaxing for our guests.

Come to Istanbul and enjoy the beautiful spring weather and the Tulip Festival starting this week.

Sometimes it feels very humbling to have our little hotel named after such an awe inspiring wonder! Of course, we like to think that we’ve earned the name by helping people to have a wonderful stay in Istanbul and according to TripAdvisor – it sounds like we’ve been doing a great job!

Read some of our recent guest reviews here!

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g293974-d295480-Reviews-Grand_Ayasofya_Hotel-Istanbul.html

Pidgeon corn Seller

The Egyptian Spice Market is located down at Eminonou, besire the Yeni Camii (New Mosque although it was built in the 17th Century!!) The Spice Market arrests the senses with its incredible colours, smells and sights.

The Spice Bazaar and the areas surrounding it teem with local life – you can buy just about anything in the many Hans (warehouses) in the side streets, wonderful coffee, cheeses and olives, and of course all manner of spices and teas inside the Bazaar itself. The flower market is just nearby!

Buy a plate of corn for a lira from the many vendors and feed the pidgeons, or just people watch!

!f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival, which annually brings together independent films and directors from around the world for Turkish audiences, will hit screens starting Feb 16 in Istanbul. The festival will also be organized in Ankara and İzmir
The 11th editon of !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival will screen award-winning films by Turkish and foreign directors. There will also be various events such as workshops and parties within the scope of the festival.
The 11th !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival will be organized this year in Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir.

The festival will take place between Feb. 16 and 26 in Istanbul’s AFM Fitaş Beyoğlu, Maçka G-all, AFM İstinye Park and AFM Caddebostan Budak, between March 1 and 4 in Ankara’s Cepa and between March 2 and 4 in İzmir’s Balçova Kipa.

The festival will bring together the year’s most talked about award-winning independent films and directors with audiences. It will also feature various parties and workshops.

This year !f Istanbul celebrates the fifth year of the !f Inspired International Film Competition designed to award new directions in cinema. Open to emerging directors from around the world, “!f Inspired” aims to highlight films that show technical innovation, bold narrative and courageous storytelling. The competition program will be judged by a jury of prominent members of the international and Turkish film community, who will select the year’s “Most Inspired Director.”

The competition program will be judged by a jury headed by Turkish director Yeşim Ustaoğlu and also includes the Egyptian filmmaker, actor and activist Khaled Abol Naga, Mark Adams, chief critic for Screen International, American writer-director Jonathan Cauoette, and Andrea Picard, curator of the Wavelengths section of the Toronto Film Festival.

The competition carries a $15,000 award for the “Most Inspired” director.

The films in competition will be “Two Years At Sea,” documenting the solitary existence of a man who lives in isolation in the middle of a forest; “You Hurt My Feelings,” which tracks the growth of a relationship over four seasons; “Nana,” a brilliant love letter to the childish underside of objects and how the world is being sculpted through the eyes of a child; “Machete Language,” a film of poetic terrorism, moving between eulogia and anathema; “Innocent Saturday,” which depicts the Chernobyl tragedy on its 25th anniversary; “Gandu,” which is described as a “rap-musical,” but if so it’s a kind that has never been seen before; “Sur la Planche,” a striking Moroccan debut about a young woman’s struggle to break free; and “Back To Stay,” a coming of age story, a poignant study of loss and how it affects people differently, and a character-based film that achieves deep psychological and emotional insight.

In addition to its international jury, the competition will also be evaluated by members of Turkish Film Critics Association (SİYAD). The winning film will be given the SİYAD Best Film Award. The jury consists of Okan Arpaç, film critic for Digitürk Magazine, Özge Özdüzen, film critic and editor for Yeni Film Magazine, and Yeditepe University lecturer Ayla Kanbur, who is also a film critic for Antrakt film newspaper and Yeni Sinema magazine.

Also, the latest titles from acclaimed independent directors, as well as award-winning recent festival favorites from Toronto, Cannes, Sundance, London and more will be screened under the title “Hit Films.”

Rupert Everett to receive ‘Cinema for a Better World’ Award

The acclaimed British actor Rupert Everett will attend the 11th !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival, where he will be honored for his contributions to cinema.

The “Cinema for a Better World” award aims to recognize individuals who have contributed via cinema toward a world in which no one need compromise the truth of who they are.

In Istanbul, Everett will also present a special screening of the Turkish film “Zenne Dancer,” which is based on the real life story of Ahmet Yıldız, a 26-year-old gay man who was murdered by his father in an “honor killing.” The film is ground-breaking because it is the first time issues like gay rights and a culture of secrecy around sexuality have been addressed in mainstream Turkish cinema.

Everett was in Istanbul filming a television documentary on Lord Byron when he became aware of the murder of Yıldız and publicly condemned it.

Everett first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell’s play and subsequent film “Another Country” as an openly gay student at an English public school set in the 1930s. He has also appeared in “Dance with a Stranger,” “Hearts of Fire with Bob Dylan,” “Pret a Porter,” “An Ideal Husband,” for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” the critically acclaimed, worldwide smash hit “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Shrek” and “St. Trinians,” to name but a few.

Last year Everett took to the West End stage in the commercially and critically acclaimed “Pygmalion.” He is currently in pre-production writing, producing and directing a movie about the last years of Oscar Wilde’s life, in which he will also play the starring role.

Tickets for the 11th !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival will be on sale starting Feb. 3.
Further information about the festival can be reached at www.ifistanbul.com.

Anyone for a sausage – camel of course! 

Drums heralded the arrival of each of the camels in turn, and after the match the camels (unharmed!) were applauded and cheered as the left the arena.

These photos were taken in the southern town of Fethiye last Sunday.   People came from surrounding villages – everyone greeting their friends, excited children playing around – all out enjoying the winter sunshine !