Turkey (9)

So, after we'd been to St George Cathedral, we walked through the surrounding area, where we also saw the building of the Greek Orthodox College, also known as The Red Castle or The Red School, the "oldest surviving and most prestigious Greek Orthodox school in Turkey" (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phanar_Greek_Orthodox_College ), and what we learned from Erkan, and which is unlikely to be put into Wikipedia or so is the fact that this huge college has all of 8 students today, no more than 8, and they cling to their students like crazy as not to lose the entitlement for holding on to the building and estate.

In general, Wikipedia says about that area of Istanbul:

"Fener, Fanar or Phanar (Greek Φανάρι [fa'nari]) is a neighborhood midway up the Golden Horn, within the borough of Fatih in Istanbul, Turkey (formerly Constantinople). The streets in the area are full of historic wooden houses, churches, and synagogues dating from Byzantine and Ottoman times.
After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Fener district was home to most of the Greeks who remained in the city. The Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople moved to the area as well, and is still located there. As a result, Phanar is often used as shorthand for the Ecumenical Patriarchate just as Vatican is used for the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Greek inhabitants of Fener were called Phanariotes. Wealthy Phanariotes were appointed voivodes of Wallachia and Moldavia by the Ottoman Empire between 1711 and 1821."

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fener )

It is small and colourful and hilly and quite authentic, or so it seemed to me.

And as it was Sunday, it apparently was THE day for weddings, we saw so many made-up cars, such as this mini with the groom (?) making last-minute invitations, maybe ;-).

And then there was this boy, who saw us walking through "his" streets, all of us equipped with cameras, and he felt he HAD to get his photo taken. For nothing, other than for a glimpse onto the display on the back of my camera and a cheerful giggle.
I here show the colourful original and a conversion into black&white, which I felt was the more fitting.

He then felt his friend just had to be in the photo, too, so I quickly took another picture of the two of them, they looked at it for a second, giggled both, and ran off.

Same treatment as done to the one of the boy alone here.

And we came past this backyard, which I felt was that someone's kitchen, much rather than his yard, and there was a man standing, washing his hands on an outdoor tap and sink just to the right of my frame, but I felt reluctant to take HIS photo.

Again, I wondered, if not a black&white photo felt more fitting for this scene (more so even because the hightlights are blown, unfortunately... a-hem!), but I'm not so sure.

There was very normal street life and little shops (and always that huge Greek college towering over the entire area) - and most of the large fish was already going to be eaten, but no one really went for the small catch.

While a good many houses were quite colourful, others showed that large parts of this area are still in dire need of renovation and restauration.

And for those not affluent enough for any elaborate wedding decorations on their cars, who still wanted to show they were going to attend a wedding, the white towels from the bathroom, attached to the rear mirrors by a string or an elastic band did the job as well as any silk bows or flower arrangements! =D