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Morning run in Istanbul

My first time visiting Istanbul did not go according to my plan. Right after landing, my vallet was stolen. Therefore, the rest of my trip was not so enjoyable for me. Despite that terrible first impression the city has made on me, I have returned there for second time – and of course, I have been watching my purse consistently. In March 2015, I have participated in an architecture workshop organised by BTU Cottbus and fully funded by DAAD. We have been staying in a hotel literally next to Galata tower, so I have landed right in the middle of the largest tourist-stream in Istanbul. Our task was to draft out a proposal for the waterfront in Karakoy – and to my surprise it has been booming with locals there. Just few steps aside from Galata bridge, you would find fish market, some outdoors cafes and plenty of hardware stores and workshops. It was really lovely there. So as I have been enjoying the site visits and fighting the tourists on my way ‘home’, I have decided to see some more of the real Istanbul.

Visiting for the second time, I was no newbie in Istanbul. I have remembered my friend’s advice to purchase an Istanbulkart for the public transportation to move around faster and less expensive – it pays off right after 5 rides. However, its biggest benefit is saving you the rush and panic at the tourniquets when getting on tram, metro or ferry – I really appreciated just sweaping a card every time and not to have to look for coins! If you are a small-town-lover and you freak out in crowds easily, you should definitely get one! Plus, up to 5 people can travel with just one card. Anyway, getting around was not stressful for me anymore and I could explore the city.

Two weeks in crowded city can be overwhelming, especially if you like open space just I like do. Don’t get me wrong, I do not mind company and I definitely enjoy meeting people. However, sometimes I also appreciate to be alone for few moments and need some time out of the jam. So, I have had packed into my suitcase a pair of running shoes (they are great for normal sightseeing as well!) and I had to put them into proper use at least one morning! The scedule of workshop was quite intense and there was no time for slacking off. So, I have decided to get up early and squeeze this adventure into my program before breakfast.

Google has answeared my question where to and so I have boarded a ferry to Kadikoy at 6:10am. Getting to asian side of Istanbul, I have felt like entering a different universe. Everything there seemed to be normal – people getting their morning cofee and newspaper before getting on the bus, the stores were selling everything except postcards, and the most exciting thing was – I have spotted some other runner fellows! So, my mood has been boosting up despite the ungodly hour. Thousands of kilometers away, yet I felt like home. I have headed to south along the coastline (you can check out the GPX-file or just the screenshot). When Google said, there is a running path, I was not expected anything like that. At the beginning, I have been folowing a bike road (see pics in the gallery) or at some point I had to run on sidewalk of a street. However, after about two kilometers of what was already a nice run, I have reached the coastline park. Basically, they have skipped the first block of buildings and turned the area into a green area. There were some fitness station along or playgrounds for children, even picknick area. As I have got there on a rainy-foggy early morning, I cannot tell how crowded it gets during nice days. Nevertheless, the views were great – you could see the dense waterfront on one side and the vast open water on the other. At some point, I saw even the prince islands – or at least I assume. The cherry on the top was the running carpet. Maybe it is just me who has spent too much time running in the woods but seriously, a track carpet? I understand it is not muddy, still, I find it somehow ridiculous 🙂

All in all, I have enjoyed this morning adventure pretty much and it has definitely helped me to move pass the story with stolen vallet! So I have left Istanbul on good terms this time and am looking forward the next one.

Read also “Seeing (instead of sightseeing) Istanbul.’

screnshot of the route

Sreenshot

GPX-file link

GALLERY

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Visualisation Class (1st year)

Our curriculum at BTU includes several visualisation classes. We have startet to draw by hand, yet we got around very fast and ended up drawing digitally. However, I still enjoy sketching especially when getting started on project.

The task of this particular class was to build 3D model with Rhinoceros of an imaginary roman house in Pompeji –  the only rule was, it should look plausible. Then, render one perfect shot. It took us some time, especially when we were trying to fire up the rendering back then. It took us forever and cost us great amount of patience. Anyway, we were working in a team of three and had plenty of fun as well. Thank you Sophie and Mathaeus!

GALLERY

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Spring School Siwa 2013

TASK

theoretical and practical design of an art studio

LOCATION

Siwa oasis, Egypt

FOCUS

studies of vernacular architecture and traditional building techniques

TEAMWORK
students of TU Stuttagt, Ain-Shams-University Cairo, ENAU Tunis

IDEA
Analyse the unique construction methods in Siwa and problems of building with karsheef (raw blocks of crystalysed salty mud). To prevent the decay of structures caused by capilar water rising up, propose to build a ventilated layer over foundations to let the water evaporate before it reaches the walls. Finally, present different roof constructions to reach longer spans using palmtree wood.

Design a studio based on contrast of shapes – an optimised outer shell in cubic form compared to soft, organic curves inside, which represent the artist´s free spirit.

GALLERY

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Cycling adventure in Cairo

Comuting to work or school by bicycle is quite common in Europe, e.g. according to offical website, 63% of Amsterdammers use their bike on a daily basis. [1] it is safe to say, the infrastructure in west-european region is very bike-friendly. However, I come from central Europe [2] and here we usually think about cycling as one of many leisure time activities. So I have rarely ridden my bike just to get from the point A to the point B, even though it would be possible. Therefore, I have been very impressed when a friend of mine in Cairo bought a mountainbike (and of course a helmet as well!) to commute to school. From that moment on, I have been very enthusiastic to join them next time, when I get to visit Cairo.

Participating in a Spring school Siwa in 2013, I have travelled to Egypt for third time and have already had some friends there, who have made my trip very interesting. Thank you. I have also been brave ehough to travel on my own this time and wanted to try new things. As I have found out, some Fridays architecture and urban planing students of Cairo University organise cycling tours. Unfortunatelly, there was no sceduled ride for the time I was staying in Cairo, so I have got a private ride! My friends have organised bike-rentals [3] and we were good to go. As it tends to get hot in Egypt, we had to start early. The route was not so special, my wish was quite simple –  move around in that heavy traffic on dusty streets, ride along the Nile, and get to my favourite drink store at some point. They make the most delicious juices – either fresh fruit juice or milkshakes, definitelly worth visiting! [4]

I would say, it was a unique experience. At the beginning, I was frightened and overwhelmed by the traffic. We have started on a wide road (it looked like a highway to me:) around 8am and we hit the morning traffic really soon. And that was the point, when I loosen up and started to enjoy this whole adventure. Suddenly, we have been faster than cars and to top it off, my friends also showed me few shortcuts. (I would highly recommend you to plan a route in advance and take a GPS with you.) We have ridden on dusty, narrow, streets – avoiding the stopping cars and deep potholes in the road. It was just like mountainbiking – very exciting and adrenaline started to fill my veins. There were no rules, and I have started to appreciate the whole chaos of this city jungle. Moving forward on the overcrowded streets at a good pace gave me a felling of freedom. Surrounded by people, yet alone. It was a nice escape, especially if you find big cities to be imprisoning and you are in need of open space from time to time.

If I were to chose my least favourite sightseeing activity from Cairo, it would be visiting pyramids. Not that they were not appealing, they were impressive. I just did not like the atmosphere around – there were only tourists and invasive vendors. On the contrary, discovering Cairo´s downtown by bike was definitely an unexpected highlight of my trip. I have enjoyed the casualness of the whole situation. I did not feel attacked all the times and have got to see everyday´s Cairo and not to mention the delicious Oreo-Milkshake! If you get bored sightseeing on your next trip, I would recommend trying it out. However, I would not advise you renting bikes for communing – that can become your worst nightmare really fast, e.g. trying to get some specific place, nto to mention locking up the bike, etc.

GALLERY

LINKS

[1] http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/media-centre/city-hall/dossier-cycling/cycling-facts-and-figures

[2] For your information, the midpoint of Europe is acctually located in Slovakia, so I refuse to think about my country as being a part of eastern block.

[3] you should try out the rental Pdal team. You can contact them via facebook https://m.facebook.com/pdal.team or by phone +201 004 233 134. I am sure, they will be happy to help you out as well!

[4] Cairo City Drinks on El Tahrir St. in Giza, https://goo.gl/maps/no896p6usWK2 or coordinates 30.039162 N,  31.214980 E.

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