Trip to Friesland - Holland

Life in Holland...

Dreaming of patterns and colours...

Inspiration

My time in Istanbul was not only vacation time, I was also went to find inspiration for a new design project I am working on... I can not tell any more, you will have to wait a few months! Sooo, but I can tell, that I went to visit this ceramics workshop in Istanbul. I found it so fascinating how they would make tiles and would use different techniques to create precise hand drawn patterns. 

Inspiration

Min tur til Istanbul var ikke kun ferie, jeg tog nemlig afsted for at finde inspiration til et nyt design projekt, som jeg arbejder på... Jeg kan ikke afsløre mere lige pt. da jeg stadig er i 'idefasen' (i min design process). Men jeg kan fortælle, at jeg besøgte et keramik vaerksted i Istanbul, for at finde inspiration til mit nye projekt. Det var fascinerende at se, hvordan de brugte forskellige teknikker til præcise håndtegnet mønstre. 

TopKapi...

200 inspiration photos

TopKapi was the place where the sultan lived and ruled his Ottoman empire from - 15th to the 19th century, it contained 4000 people. But what really fascinated me was the Sultans private section where he lived together with his mother, 4 wives, children and his harem of 300 women. It was filled from floor to ceiling with tiles in blue and green colors, all with different patterns. We spend 6 hours at the palace, but 3 of them in the private section, I didn't want to leave again (so I took over 200 inspiration photos).

Sultanens private bolig

Topkapi er navnet paa det slottet hvor sultanen af det Osmanniske Rige boede fra - 15. til det 19. århundrede. Ordet topkapi betyder 'den store dør' og i sin  storhedstid boede 4000 mennesker i Topkapi. Slottet er sammensat af fire store haver med tilhørende bygninger.  

Men hvad virkelig fascineret mig, var Sultanens private bolig, hvor han opholdte sig sammen med sin mor, 4 koner, børn og sit harem af 300 udlandske kvinder. Da det ikke  var tilladt (ifolge islamisk tro) at holde andre muslimer som slaver, var alle kvinderne i haremmet kristne (stjaalet fra andre lande). I boligen var tusindvis af klinker i blå og grønne farver, alle med forskellige mønstre... Det var SAA smukt! Jeg tog over 200 billeder og brugt 3 timer paa at studere dem!    

According to Islamic belief it was not allowed to keep other Muslims as slaves, so all the 

women in the harem were Christians (stolen from other countries).

In the palace kitchens there is a fabulous collection of Chinese porcelain highly valued

 by the Sultans. The porcelain was believed to change its color when touched by

 poisonous food!

I slottets køkkener er en fabelagtig samling af kinesisk porcelæn, fordi sultanen mente 

at porcelænet ændrede farve ved berøring af giftig mad, hans mad blev derfor 

udelukkende serveret paa porcelæn tallerkner. 

A collection of patterns on Iznik tiles decorating the TopKapi palace.

En samling af mønstret Iznik fliser - Topkapi.

A postcard from Istanbul...

I am in love...

I just came back from Istanbul... And I am in love, it is an amazing city! If you haven't already been you should visit! I can only recommend it, it is one of the best places I've been. The city is a great mixture between Middle East, Asia and Europe and is full of world class architecture, monuments, history, wooden houses, fabrics, ceramics, good food and a bit of  chaos. 

Jeg er forelsket... 

Jeg er tilbage i Holland efter en tur til Istanbul ... Det er en fantastisk by! Hvis du ikke allerede har besøgt byen, gør det!!! Jeg kan kun anbefale det, det er en af de bedste byer jeg nogenside har besøgt. Istanbul er en blanding mellem Mellemøsten, Asien og Europa, og er fuld af monumenter, historie, arkitektur i verdensklasse, tekstiler, traehuse, mønstre, farver, keramik, god mad og kaos.

I saw these men carrying rugs while they were walking straight up of a hill, into small backyards  and 

shops ... It surprised me that they did not use any form of mechanical transportation, but I guess 

being a porter (hamal) is an old profession and must be associated with a lot of traditions.

Jeg saa disse maend baere taepper paa deres rygge, op ad stejle bakker, ind i baggaarde og smaa butikker... 

Det undrede mig, at de ikke brugte vogne eller andre former for transportmidler, men at vaere taepper 

transportør (hamal) er sikkert et gammelt erhverv forbundet med en masse traditioner!   

We were walking around in the neighborhood of Kadirga in Sultanahmet, when we noticed a small Greek

 church between a row of destroyed buildings. We decided to check it out and while we were walking 

around it we meet a Greek-Turk (he was born and had lived his whole life in Istanbul but was Greek), he 

invited us inside for sweets, tea and a talk. He told us about the Greek community in Istanbul - how 10.000

 of Greeks once lived in the streets around the little church, but that they all had left due to political reasons

 and how this once so beautiful area is transformed into a ghost city full of ruins.

Vi gik rundt i nabolaget af Kadirga i Sultanahmet, da vi bemærkede en lille græsk kirke mellem en række af 

mis-vedligeholdte huse. Vi besluttede os for at tjekke kirken ud, vi kikkede ind af vinduerne, gik ind en lille

 baggaard bagved kirken, hvor vi ved et tilfaelde mødte en græsk-tyrkisk mand (som var født og opvokset 

i Istanbul, men oprindelig var græsk). Han inviterede os paa te, kager og en lang snak. Han fortalte os om 

det græske samfund i Istanbul - at, 10.000 grækere engang havde boet i omraadet omkring den lille kirke, 

men var nødsaget til at immigrere i 1920erne på grund af politiske årsager...  

Kadirga var et af de smukkeste kvartere i Istanbul, i dag er omraadet forvandlet til et spøgelse by fuld 

af ruiner.

A old school picture of the kids in the area.

Et gammelt skolefoto af bornene i omraadet.

The Blue Mosque's, as most people know it, real name is Sultan Ahmet Mosque, after the 

Sultan Ahmet I who commissioned it. The mosque is famous for its interior covered with

 famous blue Iznik tiles.  

I wore a scarf and had bare feet. When I entered inside the mosque I felt completely 

overwhelmed by emotions, I looked around at all the blue tiles, at the praying people 

and felt the soft carpet under my feet ... The mosque is unbelievable beautiful! 

(sooo, I didn't really care that it stank of smelly feet!).

Sultan Ahmet moskeen (eller bedre kendt som Den Blå Moské) er berømt for en

 fantastisk samling af Iznik fliser. Moskeen har tusindvis af blaa klinker paa vaegge 

og lofter. 

Jeg bar selvfølgelig tørklæde og havde bare tæer. Jeg følte mig helt overvaeldet af indtryk da

 jeg stod inde i Moskeen, kikkede rundt paa de bedende folk og maerkede det blode taeppe 

under mine fodder... Moskeen er helt utrolig smuk! (saa, pyt med at der lugter af sure tæer!).

The Suleymaniye Mosque, the largest in Istanbul, was commissioned by Sultan 

Suleyman The Magnificent and was built by the most famous Ottoman architect 

Mimar (architect) Sinan. Its interior is famous for being very simple compared 

to the Blue Mosque.    

Suleymaniye moskeen er den største i Istanbul, tegnet af den berømte osmanniske 

arkitekt Mimar Sinan.

Luckily for me my friend Sahar has learned me how to make my scarf. Although I think she believes 

that I did the old fashioned way.

For et par aar siden, laerte jeg at binde et torklaede... Men min veninde Sahar siger, at jeg binder det
paa en 'gammeldags maade'. 

The Basilica Cistern was created as a water repository for the city by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian.

 It is a huge underground room in Sultanahmet full of ancient pillars. The pillars were salvaged by old 

ancient temples and used for the construction of the cistern. It was a wet experience but nonetheless
a really fascinating one as well! We walked around the pillars in a trail of wooden platforms. 

Basilica cisterne er et underjordisk vanddepot som oprindeligt var bygget af den byzantinske kejser 

Justinian, med det formaal at opbevare vand til hele Istanbuls befolkning. Depotet er fuld af søjler 

(den baerrende konstruktion) som alle er bjærget / hugget fra gamle antikke templer, de er derfor 

alle forskellige. I 1545 fandt en historiker vanddepotet, dog først i 1985 blev det underjordiskerum
tømt for 50,000 tons mudder og aabnet for offentligheden.

Vi bevægede os ind mellem søjlerne via et stisystem af træplatforme. Det var lidt af en vaad
oplevelse, men ikke desto mindre fasinerende! 

One of the  famous inner gardens of a Turkish madrasa (educational institution of the Islamic world).

De tyrkiske ' indre haver' er berømte for deres skygge og skonhed. 

Part of the outer wall of the TopKapi palace covered in blue tiles.

Den ydre mur af Topkapi-paladset. 

There are endless cats wandering around in the streets of Istanbul... But when I saw these four kittens lying

 in the shadow on a cafe terrace, my heart melted! I considered hiding one in my bag and take it with me
 home to Holland. 

Der er katte overalt i Istanbuls gader... Men da jeg så disse fire killinger blev jeg helt varm om hjertet! Jeg
overvejede at gemme en i min taske og tag den med hjem til Holland. 

The Hagia Sofia (Holy Wisdom) since it was made (537 A.D) was for a almost thousand years the largest 

christian cathedral in the world. It was commissioned by Emperor Justinian.

Hagia Sofia (Holy Wisdom - 537 e.Kr.) var den største kristne katedral i verden i naesten
 tusind år. 

Interior of Hagia Sofia. 

The Grand Bazaar building is one of the first covered marked in the world, 1455. And walking 

inside it, feels like moving around in a huge maze, full of carpets, lamps, food and people... 

But if you pay attention to the ceilings, you will notice the most amazing ceiling paintings!

Grand Bazaar er et af verdens aeldste overdækkede markeder,1455. Bygningen er en kæmpe labyrint,

 fyldt med tæpper, beklaednings dele, lamper, fødevarer og mennesker... Men det er rent faktisk en 

fasinerende bygning med smukke loftsmalerier! Dog, hvis man lider af Klaustrofobi bør man holde sig

 LANGT vaek fra Bazaren.

I had so much fun bidding and negotiation, it became a sport for me to buy it at 

best price...

Jeg elsker ting til halv pris... Saa jeg forhandlede mig frem til de BEDSTE priser!