Beautifully cropped! A shot of a hot air balloon in Istanbul by smallscreen. This is what they call big sky in Turkey, I guess.
I realize I am a little late with this Photo of the day, but it’s still June 30 here on the West Coast.
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It’s that time when Germans dust off their national colors and fly them proudly.
It’s because of the 2008 European soccer championships, which you could argue is the biggest soccer tournament in the world next to the World Cup.
The last time you would have seen so many German flags flying was back in 2006, when the country hosted the World Cup. My friend Marc Heydenreich reminded me the other day how important soccer is to Germans, in light of the schuld, or guilt, the country still confronts over WWII. “It’s really the only time when it’s OK for us to be proud of our country,” he said.
However, if you’ve been in Berlin recently, you’ve noticed that there is another flag almost as ubiquitous as Germany’s black, red and yellow. Turkey’s dominates many of the buildings in some of the city’s best known neighborhoods.
Turkish immigrants here also seem to be using Euro 2008 to demonstrate national pride, and with good reason. The Turkish team is having a hell of a tournament run, having snatched two huge wins, one against the Czech Republic and the other against Croatia, when it looked like they were heading home.
These days there seem to be two home teams in Berlin. The evenings when Turkey has won have become just as rowdy as those following German victories, with cars filling the streets draped in the country’s red flag, honking through the morning’s small hours.
It’s a useful sight for those traveling here, a reminder that Turks are Germany’s largest ethnic minority group, with more than 1.5 million living nationwide. In Berlin, they’re particularly concentrated in the neighborhoods of Neukoelln and Kreuzberg.
I live in Kreuzberg, not really in the Turkish part but it’s still been crazy here the last two times Turkey has won.
Tomorrow? It’s the start of the semifinal round and Turkey is set to play…Germany.
So, Berlin stands to see a celebration no matter who wins. I can’t say the police will be looking forward to it, though, as some here think there could be trouble between the two groups either way. Let’s hope not.
Over at the San Francisco Chronicle’s Travel section, Melissa Myers tells about her recent first-time trip to a Turkish bath in Istanbul.
Before their first Turkish bath, many Westerners are unfamiliar with the correct protocol and procedure involved. Should I be naked? Covered up? What do I do exactly? As Melissa tells it, she was no exception.
When she’s given a small loincloth, she’s not exactly sure what to do with it. “I noticed that all the European women in the atrium had apparently been given some kind of tutorial on how to tie the loincloth just so, to cover all private regions, including their breasts. And here I was, exposed, the only topless woman – an American no less – in the room.”
Then she’s pulled into another room by her enormous Turkish masseuse, who bares all before rubbing her down in front of several other bathers.
In the end, Melissa decides that going to the Turkish bath, one of the Things to Do when you’re in Istanbul, was “worth the embarrassment.” Sounds like an apt description of all my travels.
Whole thing here.
Ever wanted to know what it’s like to be a farmer? That’s what I set to do last summer, albeit on a different continent and in a country whose language was completely alien to me.
Yep, I chose Turkey. Looking back, it was my perfect introduction to the world of Islam (and agriculture). It’s a pretty safe place, the people are at once cosmopolitan and traditional, and there’s just so much history to see and absorb.
For a week, I lived with an incredibly welcoming Turkish family in the countryside outside Baebeski, a small town a few hours drive from Istanbul. My host mother cooked very delicious meals while my host father handled the chaffeuring (by tractor). Here are pictures from that memorable week.
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Wow, this almost makes me dizzy to look at. I can practically feel the blood rush out of my head as though I was standing in a massive cathedral, head tilted way back to check out the ceiling.
At first glance, I thought this was indeed a cathedral, but according to Elrina753, the photographer, this wonderfully detailed ceiling can be found within the Sabanci Mosque in Turkey. Personally, I’d love to enlarge this shot and glue it to my own ceiling at home. How cool would that be? But of course, I’d have to take down the mirror…
Har, har, har.
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