Istanbul, Monday 16 June, Day 54

This morning we visited the Church of Saint Saviour, otherwise known as Chora_Church. Getting there was almost as much fun as being there. We walked up the hill behind our hotel via a zig zag road that we've discovered which has generally good pavement, and reasonable gradient. We caught a tram to Eminonu, a major transport hub on the shoreline, then found our way to the Golden Horn Ferry terminal. The ferry we wanted had just left so we sat happily admiring the view of the Galata_Tower built in 1348 by the Genoese which still towers over modern Istanbul, and the buildings of Beyoglu across the water, and watching the busy water traffic. The ferry ride was a real hoot too, and I enjoyed sipping my Turkish tea while we sailed to our destination. The walk from the ferry follows the line of the Theodosian wall, so I was able to fill in a bit that I missed on my previous walk.

Having seen mosaics by Byzantine craftsmen in churches from Ravenna to Palermo, it was interesting to see a real Byzantine church. The mosaics are quite late, around 1320 I think, and you can see that the artform has moved a long way from the stiff stylized figures of Ravenna to something which captures a much more human dimension, an art which is rendering the world is a more natural way. One of the most beautiful panels is of the Holy Family.

It is had to get a picture that begins to do justice to this. I love the body language of Joseph and Mary with their heads touching, cradling the young child - the mosaic tells the story of Joseph's suspicion about the virgin pregnancy, and the bottom section is the reconciliation I guess.  I particularly liked the peacock in the bottom right corner. Instead of being just a bit of decorative pattern, as birds are used in other mosaics we've seen, this one is turning his head away from the action to nibble on a bit of tasty foliage, a wonderful bit of naturalistic observation. And the representations of the buildings beat Escher by 700 years.

After our necks were ready to seize after so much craning upwards, we had a leisurely lunch in a peaceful restaurant in a courtyard shaded by massive plane trees. Once again, we had an audience of attentive, hungry cats, who were happy to share some omelette and cheese pide with us.

The bus back to Eminonu was a hot and uncomfortable, but we got to cross over to the Beyoglu side and come back again. On our walk back through the Hippodrome we wandered through an exhibition of Turkish women's handicrafts, admiring some beautiful embroidery and lace work.

There were black clouds gathering and the sound of distant thunder so we headed back to the hotel expecting a storm. But when we looked out again after siesta, the sky was clear and the streets were dry. We had dinner at a basic little restaurant where you can select a range of side dish sized portions of various dishes. We had Turkish Irish Stew I think, and rice, with tea and a delicious pasty to follow. Very nice it was too.

After dinner we walked around some back streets, discovering an unmistakeably Byzantine church being carefully restored. We looped round to the sea front and discovered a little marina full of fishing boats, a sort of promenade with lots of fish restaurants, a whole bunch of shops selling fish all artfully displayed, and, not surprisingly I guess, a whole lot of stray cats. Everywhere we go we see cats, mostly in pretty poor condition.

We have started the 72 hour countdown on our Museum pass. Tomorrow I think Hagia Sophia and the Archaeology Museum.