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Published: December 29th 2011
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John We got a pretty early start this morning and made our way over to the complex that houses the Topkapi Palace and Istanbul’s three archeological museums. Martina has a yet unrealized dream of visiting the Topkapi Palace, we have tried to go there several times including this morning and this afternoon but there is always a tremendous line. Topkapi was the “royal” palace and governmental center during most of the Ottoman years. One of the highlights is supposed to be the harem. According to what I’ve read there were so many women around, that the Ottoman emperors employed only Eunuchs to work in the harem. I guess one way to ensure your four wives and few hundred concubines remain faithful is to be the only man in the palace with a penis, me personally I prefer chastity belts with a key that reads “do not duplicate”.
After seeing how mobbed the palace was this morning we headed back down the hill to the complex of three archeological museums. The three buildings focus on the part of the world that used to comprise the Ottoman Empire. I can’t express how impressive this collection is. And the way it is
displayed really paints a picture of the Turkish identity. The Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Central Asian, Arabian, Middle Eastern, Ottoman, and Anatolian cultures all blend so beautifully to tell the story of the country and its former empire. It really made me think about my historical education and my practice as a history teacher. We simplify history and culture so much by defining eras by a few major characteristics, as if there was no overlap, and we make the same mistake with culture. Today in examining Turkey’s history the lines blurred between Hellenistic and Roman, between Roman and Byzantine, between Arab and Ottoman. We saw mummies from Syria, we saw how often the Romans wrote in Greek, and we learned about a monotheistic religion that pre-dates Judaism, it was a heavenly experience and one that aroused so many new historical interests to pursue.
Martina After our morning at the Archeological Museum we decided to break for some lunch. We walked over to a restaurant that cleverly displayed Turkish delight, baklava and other inviting desserts in their front window. To John’s delight, they also had hookah! We spent the next three hours snacking on Turkish pancakes, kebaps, baklava and
a Turkish delight sampler. John tried a peppermint hookah while I stuck with coffee. A local man sitting next to us stuck up a conversation with John while they smoked and we enjoyed hearing his tales of business attempts that always ended badly. My favorite business failure story was when he decided to open a Chinese restaurant for tourists, only to realize that tourists in Turkey want to eat Turkish food! He told us all he had left from that business was a large amount of ducks from Peking. He is from Cappadocia and works as a guide in the summer. In winter he comes to Istanbul to work in a friend’s shop that specializes in silver and what else…rugs. Of course he tried to interest us but at this point being asked if we want to buy a rug only incites annoyance.
One great thing about this trip is the number of enjoyable conversations we have with locals and guests at our hotel. We have met people from all over. This morning John had a conversation in Spanish with a Brazilian family. English is the “universal language” among tourist here, but Spanish is the universal language between us
and Brazilians. One nice thing about slowing down when we travel is having the opportunity to learn new things by simply just sitting and talking to people.
John Tonight we decided to just have a few appetizers at one of the restaurants close to our hotel. Though its winter here many of the restaurants have outside seating with ample heating provided by lamps. We had an amazing Turkish cheese plate whose highlight was an herbed goat cheese that the restaurateur said comes from Anatolia (Asian Turkey). We also had hummus, and fried calamari cooked to perfection though too heavily battered (they got the hard part right). I also sampled the local liquor called “reki” which of course tasted like anisette, Sambuca, and ouzo. I guess every Mediterranean country makes liquor that tastes like licorice.
There is just one more thing I love about Turkey, my companion. Life at home is so hectic all the time I rarely get an entire day and evening to be with my love and my best friend, this week I am blessed to have seven. She is the best person to look at mummies with, eat octopi with, and talk about my
dreams with.
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