[the city in the snow. it's in january, hence the lighted tree]
The rooftop terrace didn't get much use this winter
Looking down to Cihangir
The kids loved it!
Sulamaniye Mosque in the snow
Topkapi in the snow
Blue Mosque
Haghia Sophia, looking lovely as always
Cats!
Istiklal with almost no one on it! This never happens!
For more snow pictures, see my google/picasa album: Snow in Istanbul on Google+
The RCAC had their winter break, which for almost every one of the other fellows meant a trip home. For me, it meant quiet time in the study room, lots of cooking in the kitchen, bonding with my running group friends, and getting lots of work done. I also tried to do a little sight-seeing of places I hadn't been yet, and of course I picked the coldest day of the year to go out and explore!
I visited Topkapi Palace, which was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans from the mid-15th century to the mid-19th century. It is an amazing complex of buildings, including the harem, and it contains artifacts from the royal treasury as well as holy relics, such as the cloak and sword of the prophet Muhammed. Going in winter is great because there are hardly any tourist, but unfortunately, the palace is not heated.
Monumental entrance
The palace was built up and renovated over four hundred years. It does not have a symmetrical master plan, but is rather a series of courtyards and gardens dotted with kiosks, pavilions, fountains, and gates, all connected by pathways.
The palace is situated on a promontory of the old peninsula, overlooking the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara, with the Bosphorus (above) in plain sight.
The decoration and detail is absolutely remarkable with excessive use of marble, gold, tile and more
A detail of tile and mother of pearl inlaid wood working...Now that's fancy!
A bedroom of the one of the sultans
Throne
The Topkapi Dagger is made of gold, emeralds and diamonds (the Ottomans loved Emeralds!) and it was made in 1747. It was also featured in the 1970s move, Topkapi
Jeweled crest for headdress
The Spoonmaker's diamond is an 86 carat piece of awesome and, of course, has many fabulous stories surrounding it.
For more photos of my adventures at Topkapi, see: Topkapi album on Google+
I suppose the biggest announcement would be the completion of a draft of my first dissertation chapter. Many re-writes are sure to follow, not to mention all those other chapters, but I can now say that I am actually writing my dissertation :)
Got all professional to go to Ephesos Day at the Austrian Cultural Center in Tarabya.
I also have a great study group. We meet twice a week and go to different coffee shops in town to work :)
[what Wanda would have done if I had tried to write the chapter at home]
But most of you probably aren't that interested in my work, so let's talk social life...I started taking zumba classes again (Latin dance-inspired aerobics) at a studio in town. All the other women are Turkish and most speak little to no English, but we all speak the dance!
Zumba!
I have continued with my running group and we have really become more of a running crew--running Saturday morning and then going dancing Saturday night! They are an amazing group of people--so positive and so much energy; just super fun to be around!
Oh yeah, we go running in the snow! In fact, one time we went, it had snowed really well for two days before. The forest was amazing!
It had snowed so hard that the road to the running track was closed, so we had to hike there!
It was pretty spectacular :)
Of course, we had a snowball fight!
And I ate some snow. I was thoroughly impressed
We ended up walking about 12km in total that day!
And then we always go out for breakfast!
One of our largest turn outs!
And we've gotten to like each other so much, we'll even go out at night together!
I've also been going to an English language pub quiz pretty frequently where I was able to win a couple of times (50 liras/person!) and even hosted one night to a record-breaking crowd :)
The ladies and I and our winnings!
The hosting went so well that the management asked me to coordinate a karaoke night every other week. That starts at the end of March, but I had a practice night co-hosting a karaoke party for Internations members (an online social group) last Friday. We had 4 hours of singing along with a crowd of 60 people! A very successful evening.
The venue before the party started!
And at about 11pm, we were fully rockin!
My set list included Pink "Get the party started"
Outkast "Hey Ya"
and Vanilla Ice "Ice, Ice baby"
Aleksander and I try in vain to take a normal picture
Zuhtu and I pose for the paparazzi
Most of the night after 10:30 or so, was everyone singing along
My co-host, Marty and I
Definitely the best karaoke I have been to in Istanbul (sorry Sarah Murray)
I also made it over to Asia a couple of times. Once for breakfast with RCAC friends and friends of friends, for a great winter meal. And a second time to play...wait for it...soccer! That's right, I found a group in town that plays pick up games and they let women play!!! Right now, I am the only female playing, but we are trying to get more. It was really fun and I was ridiculously sore the next day (or two). But I am so happy to have that be part of my life again! A really good group. And it's nice to get over to Asia--it's so peaceful over there and they actually have green space, parks, and running tracks--crazy! It's like it is not even Istanbul :)
I think we were the brightly-colored jacket girls!
A view from breakfast!
That's Europe!
The old peninsula in the distance
And don't worry, they still have cats!
Bottom line. I love Istanbul. Have since before I arrived and continue to rock it. Over the past two months, I think I have really done a lot to make it a home in a way. I've got a good routine, my social-exercise friends, karaoke opportunities, and now soccer. And on top of all this, the dissertation moves forward. I have a public presentation at the end of March and then it is on to chapter two! I only have three more months left in this magical city and I hope I can make the most of it. I'm working on some posts with less to do about what I do and more fun things--good coffee shops in town, a sequel to cats on things, and one on the good and bad of living in turkey. I also want to put something together on Turk-acracy, so if you have any amusing stories about dealing with the Turkish government or administration, send them my way. Until next time my friends...
