Turkish National Poem

From the sacred to the secular. We were having lunch in the Saturday bazaar when we overheard these spunky eight-year-old cousins, Melisa Tecer and Sila Aymelek, delighting their family with a recitation of the Turkish national poem. This three-minute video captures their repeat performance at our request. The poem has 10 stanza, nine with four lines, the tenth with five. Good job, girls! Well done.

Introduction

We begin with Sufis

Seeing past the jilbab

Hagia Sophia

And then a man tried to sell us a carpet

Passing remark

S gets a shoe shine

Outside the mosque, inside the mosque

Blue Mosque

Headscarves

Street food

Sneaking snaps in Istanbul

Next up: Iznik

After a day of Nicean ruins…

Buying and making tile

Bath day for S

Life in the small Muslim town of Iznik

Hagia Sophia, Iznik

Hookah lesson

At the market

Turkish National Poem

A parade

Random nature snaps

Gozleme making

The usual suspects

Pamukkale

Konya

Muslim women

Surprise visit

The music makers

Hat or head scarf?

Cappadocia

Landscape I

Landscape II

Landscape III

Landscape IV

Landscape V

Column Church

Resting

Beautiful

Parting remarks