After spending the afternoon dedicated to my computer now that I have a better internet connection, it was off to meet with our Italian host for a quick birthday celebration for the office's secretary before dinner. We met in the Piazza Campo de Fiori, by the statue of the philosopher Giordano Bruno. Our host showed us the beautiful building that houses the French embassy (leave it to the French to get one of the most beautiful buildings in Rome for themselves, he said), and then we were off to meet up with everyone from the office and the friends of Maria, who was celebrating her birthday. The piazza appeared to be quite busy to my eyes, but we were assured that since it was Monday night, it was very quiet. On Fridays and Saturdays, it is ... read more

After spending what felt like all day traveling, and almost injuring our taxi driver with my heavy suitcase (I told him it was shoes - it's really books, but probably in Rome, a suitcase full of shoes is more acceptable), we arrived in Rome, or Roma as the locals say. I already want to say things like "Roma" and "arrivederci" and "grazi" while rolling my r's and adding extra emphasis. As we drove in, I was feeling a little blah about the whole thing. I mean, I was Excited with a capital E to get to Rome finally, but as we were driving, it wasn't striking me as particularly cool. But that feeling left as soon as we saw the Colosseum - all I could say was "wow." It was incredible to be driving along, and ... read more

The title of my blog might sound boring - "another" evening on the Bosphorus. But I must admit, I'm not tiring of this beautiful strait yet. We learned today that it has competing currents, with the top of the strait running North to South, and the bottom running South to North. Yet, even though this makes the Bosphorus always active, it's very peaceful to look out over it in the evening. At the end of the night, I went out onto my little balcony and curled up in a chair to read, and it was pretty amazing to think that here I am, in Istanbul's best hotel and I'm reading a book while overlooking the Bosphorus. In the background, I could see the changing lights of the Bosphorus bridge, and still see the headlights glowing in ... read more

Following a delightful day on Wednesday, I was happy to get a little chance to sleep in today before heading to breakfast. A buffet is served in two restaurants at the hotel, and we ate our meal outside, enjoying the sun glittering on the Bosphorus and the birds hopping on tables to sample the creamer. The Directors' Meeting began at noon and was held at the offices of our local law firm - the traffic in Istanbul is horrendous and makes driving in New Jersey look relaxing by comparison. It took us about thirty minutes to get to the firm's offices, which are located in an older part of Istanbul. Our hosts told us that the street they are on used to be the commercial center of the Ottoman Empire, so it was neat to be ... read more

Wiped out by our afternoon of mostly browsing, we were ready for some serious relaxation when we made it back to the Sagamore - time to hit the hot tub! Now that I had my new bathing suit, I was set to go. But first stop, Mr. Brown's Pub for a snack and an attempt to drive out Jess' cold with a gin and tonic. Since we were always big fans of our campus pub when we were in college, it was only natural that we would be drawn to Mr. Brown's pub. We found our seats at the bar and ordered up a big plate of cheese fondue with pita chips - combined with an official Saranac root beer, this made for the perfect afternoon snack. We chatted with the bartender, planned some serious relaxation ... read more