Today we saw the Topkapi Palace and the Harem. Today, it's a museum and has been since 1924, shortly after the Ottoman Empire ended. I've seen a few castles, but the Topkapi was just as beautiful, if not more so, than any of the other ones in every other part of Europe.
I noticed that there is definitely a distinctly different style to its architecture, which is at least partially because Turkey is very influenced by Asia as the other part of the country is technically in Asia. But the pictures on my camera don't do it justice. It was amazing just to walk around the beautiful buildings in only a light jacket after being in freezing, windy Denmark. The sun was in the sky that was the perfect shade of blue, with the perfect amount of clouds. It was so perfect in so many ways, and definitely the best way I can think of to start out the trip.
Then we went to the Grand Bazaar, but only for a half hour to grab lunch. I was promptly pulled aside by carpet sellers. I immediately made it very clear that I was could not buy a carpet, but they insisted I stay for some Turkish hospitality. They brought me some apple tea and asked me all about the United States, and one of the girls will be in California this summer so she was asking me what there is to do there. First, I was talking to her. Then, her cell phone rang and she went to answer it, so an older man spoke to me. He then introduced me to his son, Mehmet, saying that he was a very nice boy and really wanted to practice his English. I realized I had to get back to the group soon, so I asked him where I should go to buy some food. He was disappointed when I said I was a vegetarian, but found a pizza place and then refused to let me pay for the pizza. My group made fun of me when I met up with them later, but I got to keep the 20 YTL my program allotted us for lunch money.
We took a bit of long bus ride to the US Consulate General in Istinye and spoke to some Americans who worked for the foreign service. They have really interesting stories to tell - one worked in Nicaragua for two years and the man spent two or three years in Korea. In fact, the Korean girls in our group thought that he may have been the one who handed them their visas to come to Denmark.
After a long discussion about US-Turkey relations and the EU, which seemed to vaguely resemble some American propaganda, we went back to the hotel and arrived at around 5:30 p.m., where Mickey was waiting for me. He came with his friend Sally, who goes to Goucher College and is friends with Hilary, a girl from Goucher in my program. Their friend Mackenzie, who didn't know any of us, also came along. We went out to dinner so Hilary could try manka, a noodle dish with yogurt. Then we went for dessert, which was the first food I had to pay for all day since Mickey was kind enough to buy me dinner.
And speaking of food, it's all been amazing. And they did a great job with our hotel, too. It's way nicer than I expected. Honestly, I would've been fine in a hostel, I'm really not a picky person. But the room itself is on the top floor of the building so there's an amazing view of Istanbul. Oh, and there's a giant honeycomb just sitting there. Not plastic bears with processed honey inside of them, but an actual honeycomb. And any place that has an orange juicer is fine by me.
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