tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3857295146936801558.post3296768458457227349..comments2023-08-20T03:41:29.322-04:00Comments on From Beirut to Jupiter: Istanbul (Still Not Constantinople)Cathiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07291479913130967235noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3857295146936801558.post-89627215700859564402008-07-19T05:10:00.000-04:002008-07-19T05:10:00.000-04:00most of the info about Bulgaria is wrong :) we nev...most of the info about Bulgaria is wrong :) we never had a city called Stalin - hahah. and what sort of a stupid story is that of Santa Claus being Turkish the whole world knows that the story says he is prom Laplandia a nonexisting Scandinavian country or maybe somewhere around the North pole :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3857295146936801558.post-81213741010247630902007-11-17T12:35:00.000-05:002007-11-17T12:35:00.000-05:00Yes. Topkapi was my least favorite of the museum s...Yes. Topkapi was my least favorite of the museum sites in Istanbul (and certainly proved a red flag in your eyes.) Most tourists, titilated, head for the harem anyway. But it should have been less crowded when you guys went?<br>I found Topkapi disappointing, perhaps, because the arabs/ turks were not very advanced architects in that early period: ie -- they could not conceive the dome--and were long forced to build low, with roofs supported by multitudes of pillars (like Greek temples) In 1453, Santa Sofia (Byzantine) blew the minds of its conquerers--not ony did the Ottomans not destroy it, they set about replicatiing it, later, in new mosques. So Topkapi, begun with the conquest, is low, cramped and rambling. They seemed to make up for its lack of size with intensive decoration.RGMnoreply@blogger.com