Tales from Turkey: And then a tale of two favorite cities

After a fabulous family Christmas I headed north for a brief but beautiful two night stay in Boston. The real reason I was in Boston was to celebrate the wedding of a former BU colleague, Tim Townley to Lisa Luke. Tim worked in admissions at George Washington University before heading to a college counseling position at a Swiss boarding school for a year and then landing at BU about four years ago. He is on the international admissions team and travels primarily in East Asia. He met Lisa on-line! She is an art teacher and they are a great couple. One cool thing they did this past fall when Tim was traveling for work was to have a 'book club' to be doing something together when they were so far apart.

Their wedding was at The State Room and elegant just begins to describe the event. Small and personal, amazing food, and lots of fun. The views of the harbor and Faneuil Hall lit up were breathtaking. I loved that Lisa wore a beautiful red sash. And they wrote their own vows! Part of the fun, in addition to the dancing, was the photo booth. You put the photo strip in an album and left a wedding message.

Tim with his two favorite BU International Team colleagues/friends

Anne and her fiance John and me and Scott, another BU International Team colleague/friend

Of course I made the most of the little time (36 hours) I had filling up just about every second. I had breakfast with the Kelly family, breakfast with Emmanuel College girlfriends Chris and Jeanne and their daughters Bridgid and Samantha, lunch with more Emmanuel College friends Carolyn, Katie, Jen, and Mary Beth, and a good long visit with my hair colorist/stylist Julie. I wish Julie would come work at KAUST!!

Oh and I took a longgg walk through my city from the Harbor to the Boston Common through the Public Garden, down Newbury Street over to Copley and the Public Library. I miss you Boston!

Harbor

Tremont Street Church

State House

Supposedly the smallest suspension bridge in the world

In the summer this is where the Swan Boats live

Fountain in the Garden- He looks so cold

Public Garden

Newbury Street

Trinity Church reflected in the John Hancock Tower/Copley Square

Public Library- oldest in the country!

And then I went to Istanbul. I love Istanbul almost as much as I love Boston. What was great about this trip is I got to share one of my favorite cities with two of my favorite friends- Mary Beth and Jennifer. We landed on New Year's Eve and had plans for dinner at the House Cafe- what I like to refer to as the American Joe's Bar and Grill of Turkey. It is right on the Bosphorus and a 2 minute walk from our hotel- the Raddison Blue- in an area of Istanbul called Ortakoy. Friends Sandi and Selim, who you may remember I spent Christmas with last year, joined us for drinks and fireworks. I had Flat Cooper along with me and today sent off a letter to Cooper at the Coolidge School. Rather than re-write Istanbul history I am going to post my letter here and improvize with some additional photos and captions. Enjoy! Oh, and this week is our Winter Enrichment Program and we had more flooding over the weekend so more local/home stories to follow soon! Happy Sunday... missing the Pats/Jets game and the Golden Globes :(

Dear Cooper and classmates,
Happy New Year! After spending a week in the United States, Flat Cooper and I traveled to Istanbul, Turkey to celebrate the New Year.
The country Turkey is transcontinental, meaning it is in both Asia and Europe. Most of the country is in the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia and a small part is in the southeastern part of Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbajan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The Mediterranean Sea is to the south, the Aegean Sea to the west, and the Black Sea to the north. The Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara separate the European and Asian parts of the country.
The capital of Turkey is Ankara in the Asian part of the country. However, Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey. Istanbul is also partly in Asia and partly in Europe, making it the only city in the world that is situated on two continents!
Istanbul has had several names in history as it is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was the capital of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Latin Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. After the Turkish War of Independence in 1922, the capital moved to Ankara. Because of all the history there was lots for us to see and do.
First of all there was celebrating New Year’s Eve. There were fireworks over the Bosphorus that were amazing. We were inside to stay warm but you can see them in the picture through the window. They were very close to one of the two bridges that connect Asia and Europe.

Mary Beth and Sandy celebrating

Jennifer the morning after- New Year's Day breakfast at 1:00 pm!

The Golden Horn is the historic inlet of the Bosphorus that divides the city of Istanbul. It forms a natural harbor and a peninsula. At the tip of the peninsula is what is called ‘old Istanbul.’ This is where most of the historical sites are.
We went to the Hagia Sophia which was a church built in the year 360. It was a cathedral until 1453. This is the year that the Ottoman Turks conquered the city which was then called Constantinople. They turned it into a mosque. They covered many of the mosaics in the church and added some Islamic features such as the minarets outside. In 1935 it was opened as a museum. I am including a picture of one of the mosaics that is being uncovered. There are 30 million gold tiles that cover the dome in the center of the building.

Hagia Sophia

a bit of a long rainy line to enter the Hagia Sophia

Hot Corn on the Cob anyone?

If your hand comes out wet then you are supposedly cured of all ailments...

We then visited the Sultan Ahmed Mosque which is the most popular mosque in Istanbul. It is often called the Blue Mosque because of all of the blue tiles on the walls inside. It was built between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. The Blue Mosque is one of only two mosques in Turkey that has six minarets.

Me and Mary Beth at Blue Mosque

Jen and Mary Beth at Blue Mosque

The Topkapi Palace was next on our list of historical sites. It was the official residence of the Ottoman sultans for 400 years of their reign. It is kind of like the White House in the United States but much older and much bigger. At one time there were as many as 4,000 people living at the Palace. It had its own hospital, bakery and mosque. I included a picture of Flat Cooper in front of the Imperial Gate at the entrance to the Palace.

Footnote to blog that I did NOT include in my letter to Cooper and class: I went a little crazy taking pictures of the tiles in the Harem. The Harem is the private area of the palace reserved for the sultan and his family. Sultan Murat III had 112 children!! The women of the Harem had to be foreigners as Islam forbade enslaving Muslims, Christians or Jews. Girls were often sold by their parents as slaves or given as gifts. The most popular source was Circassia- northern Russia. Upon entering the Harem, the girls were schooled in Islam, Turkish culture, reading, writing, dancing, music etc.

pansies still blooming!

Kitchens

Near the Topkapi Palace is the Basilica Cistern. This is also sometimes called the Sunken Palace and was built in the year 532 to supply water to the Byzantine Palace. This underground water way was used to store water for the palace and other buildings. Water was pumped from a reservoir near the Black Sea and delivered to the Cistern through 20 kilometers of aqueducts. It has 336 columns. At the back of the Cistern are two upside down Medusa heads supporting columns. Medusa is the Greek goddess who is famous because of all the snakes on her head. There are many stories about why they are upside down but one guess is that the people who put it there thought it might keep evil away. I couldn’t get a good picture of Flat Cooper in the Cistern because it was kind of dark. But I am including a picture of one of the Medusa heads and all of the columns.

The Galata Tower is a medieval stone tower. It is nine stories or 66.9 meters tall and was the tallest building in the city when it was built in 1348. It has been used as a prison, an observatory, and as a fire lookout. Today it is just a museum with great views of the city.

Finally, since we were spending all of our time on the Europe side of Istanbul, one morning we decided to take a ferry ride across the Bosphorus to Asia. Many people commute to work this way every day. It was just a 15 minute ride but it was fun.

I am sending you an “evil eye” for your classroom. Many cultures in the Mediterranean, including Turkey, believe that if you have one of these blue eyes with you it will keep anything bad from happening to you. I think it is just superstition but they are very popular in Turkey and so I thought you all would like it.
Love,
Aunt Shell

And some more photos of the shopping, eating and friends...

At the entrance to the Grand Bazaar- 4500 shops!