Istanbul: Large and Small

Haga Sophia
In Istanbul many buildings are on a very grand scale like this.

I just realized I never posted the third post about Istanbul post offices,
so here you go---

The Blue Mosque
And like this...

PTT
The Main Post Office is quite large too..

As is the PTT MUZESI
(Postal Museum)

I appreciated this sign being in both Turkish and English.

So, what happened here? This little post office is a tiny bit pitiful. I feel sorry for the guy cooped up inside there all day long.

MEKTUP -- LETTER
This is more like it!
Just after I took this shot a guard came running up saying "No Photos".
What is it about post offices and no photos?
Wouldn't you think they'd want people to enjoy seeing the beauty of these buildings?

These old wooden cubbies are great for filling out forms or writing postcards.
And speaking of postcards, the PO was giving away delightful free postcards of Istanbul rooftops and a cup of tea. I took a few. OK, more than a few.

INSIDE THE POSTAL MUSEUM
Another very sneaky shot. This time there was a sign saying "No Photos" and a guard who had my husband's passport.
But I couldn't resist. (Maybe it's the newspaper photographer in me). This is what we call a "grab shot". In other words, not real great. I wish you could see the collection of fabulous vintage Turkish
mailboxes they had there. I especially loved the one with the Arabic writing.
At least they could have sold postcards.
I'm just glad I didn't end up in a Turkish prison... and neither did my husband...

Don't buy your stamps at the postcard shop. Go directly to the source and check out  a post office. You'll be happy you did.
I found packs of vintage Turkish stamps at a market too...

Then you can go have some lunch. Turkish soups are wonderful...
in fact, all the Turkish food we had was wonderful.
I came home and go about ten Turkish cookbooks from the library.
Bring on the meze and raki.

I really, really miss Baklava

This wraps up the travel posts (for now, anyway). Now I am back to working on my mail art projects -- Lunar New Year cards, Valentines and joss paper posts and projects. What are you working on?

Have a great weekend, you all!

                             
                                 

Lovely Turkish Adventures

Istanbul, Turkey
Seems like I gathered quite a lot of attention while on my mail art travels in Turkey.
For example, this little cat seemed quite intrigued with me while I photographed
this adorable yellow mail box.
The entire cafe right next door also seemed interested but we won't go into all that.

This (very nice) guy had quite a laughing fit watching me shoot this Mail Box from all
angles. Did he wear that yellow shirt to coordinate with the yellow post box? We'll never know, will we? He finally decided to go ahead and post his letters and he wished me a great day.
In English. How did he know?

PTT Mail Truck -- ooh noo -- a mail truck. Whip out the camera......and start running...

There it goes...you'd think they could slow down a bit instead of making a nutty American chase after the truck.

Istanbul Airport -- it may be too small for you to read -- but that sign on the top left says
PTT POST OFFICE -- I'm on the job.

A Mail Box with a little local color. I wonder why they changed from yellow to red?
I really do like that envelope on the mail box though....
Stamps Are Required For Mailing
Do people really drop in letters without stamps?

This guy actually came over to me and looked onto the screen on my camera -- I don't know if he was checking if I was photographing him or the mail box -- but he walked away laughing.
I did get laughed at a lot on this trip but it was all in good fun.
I think.

This little cutie is leaning right....or left...depending on which side you are looking at it from.
The Blue Mosque was right behind it. Most people would photograph the famous
Blue Mosque but I was intent on photographing the cute little mail box.

Charming, don't you think?

OK, turn-about is fair play. This is me with a delightful Turkish mail box and it is just a total
coincidence I am wearing the same colors as the Turkish Postal Service.
Really.

Istanbul is a beautiful and fascinating city, filled with ancient mosques and adorable mail boxes.
Very nice people and absolutely terrific food.
Lots of carpets and cats. Highly suggest a visit if you ever get the chance.
I still have the PTT Main PO and some stationery shops to share with you.

Send Good Mail -- Get Good Mail

Bella Italia (Part Three)

Venice
Because Venice has absolutely no cars.....

....everything has to be delivered by carts....

I got a kick out of seeing this dry-cleaning delivery cart.
And, as usual, people got a kick out of seeing me photographing the dry-cleaning
delivery cart(I got laughed at and looked at a lot in Istanbul too, which you
will see next post).

Restaurants get their food and wine delivered by carts...

And, of course, all this is leading up to the fact that the MAIL is also delivered by cart.
Very cool.
No sign of the delivery person. Someone could steal one of those packages
just sitting there like that...(I wouldn't think of it).

I wish one of those packages was for me -- I am part Italian, after all.

Another very cool things about Venice is, many of the mail boxes have faces on them.

Here's a shiny new mailbox (ever so out of place in crumbling Venice but I do like that envelope on there).

And here's one a bit more my style...

Posta -- Mail
Say it any way you like!

PREGO NO PUBBLICITA
My feelings exactly - a mail box is supposed to be for mail not for junk!

Venice is really a magically beautiful place just to walk around in...next time I'd like to spend a week or ten days and just walk all over, take pictures and eat and drink coffee and wine...

It is been brought to my attention by several people (hello Mary Ann...) that they haven't been able to comment
on the blog. Since I see there are hundreds of page views and so few comments I wonder if others have the same problem. I have removed the word verification this time around to see
if that helps -- so give me a shout-out and say hello. Let me know if you have been having trouble commenting and if that helps. As long as I don't get a bunch of spam I will leave it off and so we'll see what happens.

I am working on catching up with all my mail -- so if you have sent me mail, you will hear from me soon.
Send Good Mail to Get Good Mail.

Ciao tutti!