At the Spa Relaxation Area, Blogging.

Full Day on the Ship

Sometime after going to bed we finally made it out of the Mississippi River and into the open water. It's a much rougher journey than I anticipated - it's a mostly sunny but windy day on the water, with plenty of white caps and the ship loading back and forth. I feel like I'm drunk, even though I only had one Bloody Mary before lunch.

You will have to forgive my unoriginal blog post... I realize a good blog is more than a run-down of events, but this is about the best I could come up with today.

Barry began his day with a yoga class, while I spent time in the hydro spa, checking out the sauna, stream rooms, and hot tubs. I discovered that being in a hot tub is very strange, with the water sloshing back and forth in the pool.

We left the spa area for a brief lecture on the history of the Mayan city states, in anticipation of being in the Yucatan. Next Barry and I grabbed a drink before going to a seminar in the gym about Detox. (Ironic?) Following the seminar we met Gywen and Benny for lunch.

For enjoying a leisurely day on the ship, at this point we were worn out. We took a quick nap and then we're back at it: Barry enjoyed an acupuncture session while I ironed clothes (what fun!) and then took a jog on the deck ouside. Running was an interesting challenge, considering the wind, the narrow winding path, the rocking of the boat, and the other people on deck.

Barry and I enjoyed another quick visit to the hot tub and sauna before going back to our room to change for dinner. We decided to dress up this evening and had pictures taken before dinner. Then we caught the beginning of tonight's show ("high-energy" 70's pop tunes) in the theater before having a detox assessment. The cruise staff never misses an opportunity to see more stuff.

We ended the evening with another LGBT gathering in the Star Bar. It was fun getting to know a few people better.

So much for sitting in the sun and reading all day!

Headed to Sea

Day 1:

Our voyage is underway!

We are travelling with Barry's mother Gywen and her friend Benny, a retired music teacher and the director of the Monroe County Music Makers women's chorus in Bloomington.

The first day of our cruise began with a beautiful morning in New Orleans. We took a trolley from our hotel in the Garden District to the French Quarter for breakfast and discovered that our chosen restaurant was closed for renovations. We found another place nearby which was very good, then walked about a mile back to the hotel to pack up and check out.

We took a wild cab ride to the port and went in, where we stood in line to get into a second line to check in. It was crowded and a little chaotic, and Gywen nearly four back in the first line after we checked in.

The next several hours were packed. We found our rooms, visited the concierge to ask a question, filled out some waiver forms at the excursion desk, grabbed some champagne at the bar, and went to sign up for services and classes at the spa and gym just in time to muster for the safety training. Then Barry and I went for our first massages. They lasted about an hour and a half, and the ship set sail during the massage. I've never paid so much for a massage in my life, but at least it was a very good one.

Following the massage we immediately met up with Gywen and Benny and went to dinner. We ate at the Venetian, which was large, ornately decorated, very busy, and noisy. Gywen asked how I was enjoying the cruise, and I had to say that so far it was a bit overwhelming. The entrées at the Venetian were very good, so we had a nice dinner, but the desserts were boring.

After dinner we rushed to the opposite end of the ship to catch the very end of the variety show.  After the show we had time to go back to our rooms and unpack, since our bags had arrived during the massages. We ended the night with an LGBT reception in one of the bars. We meet some nice people there, specifically two retired women from Ashville who play old-time bluegrass music. One of them had a PhD in history from IU!

On Board, Ready to Sail.

Cruising

It's now less than three weeks until our first-ever cruise. This weekend we finalize our shore excursions; now all that's left to do is pack and decide how we will spend our time on the ship. Plenty of options there - but I'm sure a trip to the spa will be in the mix.

Our shore excursions will include a little beach time, snorkeling, Snuba, and a Mexican cuisine cooking lesson. We will be spending Christmas Day visiting the Chacchoben MayanRuins in the Quintana Roo province of Mexico. 

Temple at Chacchoben. Photo credit: https://www.chacchobenruins.com/

Unfortunately, due to limited and very expensive internet access on the ship, we won't be bloggin much during this vacation. We will plan to post the highlights following the trip.

Updates

It took a while, but I finally got around to selecting and uploading photos from the Istanbul trip. The album is now available here and in the list of photo albums in the right sidebar.

In other news, Barry and I have never been on a cruise, so for Christmas Gywen is taking us on a Western Caribbean Cruise! We will be gone for seven nights, leaving on December 20 from New Orleans on the Norwegian Dawn. We will be making stops in Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras; and Costa Maya, Mexico.

Return Trip Home

The trip home was long, of course, but fairly uneventful. We left four students at the hotel - on purpose - and took two buses to the airport. Megan and I shared a bus with just one student; the other bus was full. We had to scan our bags upon entering the airport. Scanned them again at the security checkpoint and a third time boarding the plane. Two more students left us at the airport in Istanbul.

We left two students in Amsterdam (on purpose), but there we met up with the Kelley group returning from Switzerland. At Amsterdam we scanned our bags again to get into the gate area, and a number of us also had them checked by hand. Due to a plane change we all had to have our boarding passes reissued. Finally, as we boarded, some from our group were singled out to have their bags scanned again, and re-checked by hand. Finally we all made it onto the plane, which had a lot of empty seats. I enjoyed having a row to myself for the 8+ hour flight. I got some sleep in addition to watching two movies.

In Chicago, Customs was no problem. We left behind eight more students and met up with the Kelley group returning from Hong Kong for the bus trip back to Bloomington. After dropping two students off in Zionsville, IN, we finally made it back to Bloomington at 10:15 pm - 27 1/2 hours after leaving the hotel. It's nice to be home.

Check back later for the link to my Istanbul photo album!

Final Day in Turkey

Church of St. George

For our last day, we took the Metro and a bus to meet Claire in the Fener neighborhood for a tour of Fener and Balat. The Fener neighborhood is traditionally Greek, although must of the Greeks were forced out in 1856. Today, only about 2000 Greeks remain in Turkey. The area is home to a large and imposing Greek High School, and the area has long been known for having some of the most highly educated people in the city. The main sight to see here was the Church of St. George (and the adjacent Monastery), home to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. It was not a large church, but very ornate. We got to see a relic there which is supposedly the column to which Jesus was tied and whipped under Pontius Pilate. We didn't get to see the current Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew 1. We also visited the tiny Church of St. Mary of the Mongols, the oldest continuously operating church in Istanbul.

Fragment of the Pillar of the Flagellation

We next walked through the historically Jewish neighborhood of Balat. Claire pointed out a couple of synagogues that we walked past, but we weren't able to go in them. From Balat we had a steep climb to the Theodosian Walls and then actually climbed the steep steps to the top. Dating to the 5th century, these walls (built first by the Romans) protected the city and remained unbreached for 1000 years, until the Ottomans took the city in 1453. On one side, homes and apartments back up almost right to the wall, On the other side, where the outer walls and moat once provided additional protection, there is now a highway. We once again had some great views of the city, but my attempts for a decent selfie were lackluster at best.

View from the Theodosian Wall.

Just below the wall, we visited the Chora Church, currently undergoing significant restorations. Chora is home to some incredible Byzantine mosaics and frescoes. The sanctuary was actually closed for restoration, but the Outer Narthex, Inner Narthex, and side church were open for viewing. It's difficult to comprehend how the church must have looked when it was first built. Much of the original tile work is missing or destroyed, but a number of elaborate and brilliant scenes and figures are still largely intact. One set of mosaics describes the life of the Virgin Mary, which is unusual. Nearly every inch of space above the top of the doorways was at one time covered with thousands of tiny colorful tiles, many gold in color.

Chora mosaic of Christ.

Chora ceiling mosaic.

At Chora, we officially bid farewell to Claire, although we facilitators sat and had a nice chat with her over tea before she went on her way. The afternoon was more free time, so Melissa and I made excellent use of the time by visiting the "Blue Mosque" and completing our shopping. The Blue Mosque was quite crowded, and although it is prominent and famous, it isn't necessarily any more beautiful than any we had already seen. The crowd was heavy due to a national holiday, and we seemed to encounter more and more people as the afternoon went on. We stopped in the Arasta Bazaar to pick up some gifts and then went to the Spice Bazaar. We found a vendor in the street where we could buy the spices we wanted, and ended up having an experience. They made us sit and have tea while they packaged our selections, all the time having us taste various spices in hopes we would buy more. After we finished, we forged through the crowds to the Galata bridge, which we walked across to get back to Beyoğlu and our hotel. I stopped across from the hotel to load up on Turkish Delight and sample baklava, which left me just a few minutes to get ready for our final group dinner.

Blue Mosque interior. Sign said "No visitors past this point," but I honestly don't think these people were praying.

Crowd at the foot of the Galata Bridge.

That evening we took the ferry back across the Bosphorus to the Asian side for a dinner essentially in the same place we had eaten a few days before. The meal was amazing and the food came out non-stop. I've never seen so much food. While I enjoyed the food, the restaurant was loud and I was at the end of a long table, making conversation difficult. That made the evening seem longer than it actually was.

We took a 10:00 ferry back and we facilitators went out for a final drink with our faculty lead Richard. We talked about how the class had gone, and he kindly presented us with towels as gifts to thank us for our help. Once this wrapped up, we only had a few more hours in Istanbul so it was back to the hotel for packing and a shower. At 2:45 am, we met for the bus and were on our way to the airport.

Mosques and the Bosphorus

Monday was a nice day. We started the day by taking the Metro into Fatih to meet our tour guide Claire for a tour Islamic architecture – primarily mosques. We started at Şehzade Mosque (1548), where we learned the story of the architect Mimar Sinan and of the Sultan and his family during the time the mosque was built. This is sometimes known as the Prince's Mosque, as it was built by Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent as a memorial to his deceased son. We also learned about the architectural features of mosques, the features of the surrounding complex, and Muslim burial practices. Of course, the building was beautiful both inside and out.

Next we walked under the nearby Roman aqueduct (that was pretty cool) and down the hill to the Süleymaniye Mosque, which is the largest and one of the most prominent in Istanbul. The mosque was built between 1550 and 1558 by Sultan Süleyman, whose wife died during the construction. As a result, the interior decoration became more subtle than in the Şehzade Mosque, and the building acted almost as a memorial to her. Here we looked at how the building's structure and ornamentation differed from the first mosque, and reasons why. In this mosque, the architect built in a couple of features designed as earthquake warning systems such as some loose columns which would rattle if the building moves. Considering this mosque is visible from most places in the city, it's not surprising that there are amazing views from the courtyard. We spend some time there taking pictures before moving further downhill through very crowded streets to the Rüstem Paşa Mosque.

Interior of Süleymaniye Mosque.

Rüstem Paşa was a surprise to find, as it's above street level. We passed through a door among the many shops, ascended some stairs, and suddenly found ourselves in the outer courtyard. Rüstem Paşa, completed in 1563, is a much smaller mosque, but it is very beautiful due to the thousands of blue Iznik tiles which decorate the interior. The mosque was built by the daughter of Süleyman in honor of her husband Rüstem Paşa who had been the grand vizier but who died in 1561.

Following the tour of the mosques, we had time for a quick lunch (I really enjoyed my dӧner) before boarding a bout for a cruise on the Bosphorus. It was an absolutely gorgeous day for such an outing - sunny, not terribly breezy, and warm. Melissa, Mega, and I say on the side on the lowest level, while Richard and most of the students went to the top level for 360 degree views. We cruised upstream for about an hour before turning around above the second bridge. It was fun to see the the sites along the way, including elaborate palaces, somewhat more modest waterfront homes, commercial buildings, bridges, tree-covered hills, impressive castle ruins, and even a military school we had read about in one of the books for our course. This was one of my favorite activities, as the trip really highlighted the city's beauty. It also helped us realize how incredibly massive the city is, considering the coast and point inland were developed on both shores for the entire duration of the cruise.

Anadoluhisarı, or Anatolian Castle, built 1393-1394 on the Asian side at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus. And some houses.

View of Glata Tower and Beyoğlu from the boat.

The cruise ended just in time for us to get back to the hotel and meet a former colleague for dinner. Tammy had worked with international programs at the Kelley School for more than a dozen years before moving to St. Louis to do similar work at Washington University. She's traveling to do some site visits, and had time to spend with us Monday night. We walked to an area which Richard had pointed out on the first day where we could get seafood. We picked a restaurant where we could sit outside next to the street, and the meal began with a little excitement as the water slipped from the waiters hand and Melissa and I got doused. It wasn't awful, though. We actually selected a fish from

the fish monger next door which they grilled as we ate our meze. It was delicious and we had a nice visit. As we walked back to our hotel, we saw police lined up prepared for a protest. As we rounded the curve in the street leading to the hotel, we noticed that the protest was moving up the street toward us. Quickly we got off that street and took a passage through to a parallel street so we could go around what we assumed to be a political rally. Only the next day did I learn that it was a protest rally related to bombings of political party offices earlier in the day.

The protest avoided, we arrived back at the hotel from where Tammy, Melissa, and Megan left for a hammam. I dashed to Galata Tower with the hope of getting up to the observation deck in time for sunset. I got to the line just as a guard was telling a young American named Eric that the tower was full and the line closed, but he would be the last person. So I said something about if he could go up, couldn't I, and suddenly I was the last person in line. The line may have been moving a little faster than expected, as eventually there were others in line behind us. I enjoyed talking to Eric as we waited; he had just arrived in Istanbul that day so I was practically an expert on the city. We finally got in and made it to the top just in time to see the sun set across the Golden Horn, Then we made our way around the tower to take in all the views as night settled in across the city. While there, we heard a call to prayer which was quite impressive from that high up perspective. As made my way around to the view facing Fatih, the Palace, and the famous mosques, I ran into to of our students Yash and Omar. I chatted with them until they closed thetower and and kicked us out, and we walked back to the hotel together.

Sunset from Galata Tower

I finished my day by myself checking email and Facebook in the hotel bar, which had expensive drinks but amazing views of the Bosphorus. I was a relaxing setting to conclude what turned out to be a very nice day.

Goodnight

I was planning to write a nice post tonight about my pretty decent day, but my computer keeps dropping the WiFi. Following several unsuccessful attempts to connect, I'm no longer in the mood. Not interested in posting from my phone like I did yesterday and am (ironically) doing now, either. I will try to get some extra sleep tonight. If the street is really loud, you mat see a post after all.

Busy Sunday

Long day today, but a good one. We walked about 8 miles - probably more by the time I got back to my room. And it's warmer than we anticipated before we got here. Still very nice, but hot at tines as we walk around.

We started this morning at the Archaeological Museum. Thank God the entire "old" building was closed for renovations. I wandered through for floors of exhibits. SO MUCH STUFF! And it was a bit overwhelming without a little more context. Bottom line: Turkey and the surrounding region has a lot of ancient stuff. Wherever you might dig. The museum also had a very nice Tiled Kiosk Museum featuring Iznik tile. And there was a lot of ancient stuff just sitting around on the grounds.

After a very quick but yummy lunch of mezes, we toured the Topkapı Palace. So much to see - I toured the kitchens, harem, and innermost courtyard, but I missed the portrait gallery, weapons, clocks, and (most disappointingly) the vast collection of relics. Bottom line: It's good to be the king.

Next we saw Hagia Irene, a Byzantine era church (I think maybe the first in Constantinople) which the Ottomans used as an armory. It's in bad repair (after all these years), but it's used now for concerts - great acoustics!

We then dismissed the students (some went to the Blue Mosque) and my colleagues and I went to witness a ceremony of the Whirling Derviş. Very interesting and also quite soothing. After a day off walking around in the sun, some of us had a difficult time staying awake.

But or day was not over. Meghan, Melissa, and I took a trolley ride up Istiklal to Taksim Square, then walked back to the hotel. Along the way, we stopped in a few shops, enjoyed dinner while people-watching from our table overlooking the street, and got some baklava and ice cream.

I wasn't done yet - I ventured out for my first hammam experience. I walked down the hill to a local Turkish bath that apparently was built in the 1400s. I got the full package and spent a couple hours there just relaxing. I talked to a couple of Istanbulites for a while, so that was cool. I ended the evening with a couple beers at a nearby bar. I had hoped to patronize the hotel bar with amazing views of the Bosphorus, but that was already closed.

The dinner with students did not come to fruition, as the student who invited us never got back to us with a plan. Maybe dodged a bullet there... I'm occasionally not impressed with a few of our students. Some of them seem to have some issues related to privilege and entitlement. And alcohol.

The street seems oddly quiet. I guess I will go to sleep!

Meze lunch

View from Topkapı Palace

Whirling Derviş

Istiklal Street Scene

Easy Day

Saturday in Istanbul. Brunch is a big thing in Turkey, apparently, so we had arranged for our students to go in groups of three to brunch with local Istanbulites. This morning we walked the students down to where we met their hosts, then returned to the hotel for some much needed facilitator free time. (The brunches were a great success, by the way, accomplishing one of the faculty member's key goals, and it was a definite highlight for all of the students.)

Palamutis Cafe

 I did some work for IU, but around Noon I headed off to an LGBT friendly cafe I had read about. I walked down some steep hills in the neighborhood behind our hotel and eventually found the tiny Palamutis Cafe on a small but occasionally busy and generally commercial street. I didn't realize if was just meters from a mosque until the fairly loud call to prayer began in the middle of my lunch. I enjoyed a mocha, followed by an excellent vegan salad with spinach, avocado, beets, walnut, and red pepper along with toast, olives, and grapefruit ginger iced tea. I enjoyed this meal on the small sidewalk in front of the cafe while making my first journal entry of the trip and watching people pass by. The staff did their best to keep the one-eyed resident cat away from me while I ate.

Too soon it was time to make the rather significant climb back up to the hotel and meet the students before their afternoon presentations. We walked to the Raddison Blu where a number of the students gave some pretty decent presentations on cultural sites we will see in the next few days. Following the presentations, it was more free time until we met for a group dinner. I laid down for about an hour, which was very restful even if I didn't quite fall asleep. I took care of a little more IU work and did some internet research before dinner.

Dinner was good - we had lots of meze followed by generous platters of kebap, including chicken, spicy lamb, delicious beef, and more. The meal concluded with some fruit for dessert. This took a long time, though - the entire excursion was nearly three hours. We experienced some interesting student conversation, and they eventually got antsy wanting to make it to some nightclub for which they had a reservation. I had thought of checking out a hammam tonight, but by the end of the meal I was out of time for that. Instead, I thought I might take a ride on the trolley that runs past the hotel justto say I had that experience. But the trolley never came, so my colleagues and I debriefed over a beer at a nearby bar.

Tomorrow we visit the archaeological museum, Topkapı Palace, and Hagia Irene, then have some more free time. The faculty member and I have accepted a dinner invitation from a couple of the students, which I hope to not end up regretting.

This is a municipal building near our hotel, and next to where we had dinner, where the President spoke today. The flags represent the ruling political party. Parliamentary elections are coming up soon.

Another gorgeous day in Istanbul

Hagia Sophia

 We had quite a day today, walking 9.5 miles around the city. We had absolutely beautiful weather, though. It was up to around 75 degrees, which is warmer than we anticipated before we left home.
We began by taking the Tunel down to the waterfront, then walking across Galata Bridge to Fatih, the old historic city center. As I expected, the views were fantastic - this was a walk I had been looking froward to. On the other side of the bridge we arrived at the Spice Bazaar, or Egyptian Bazaar. We were early for meeting our guide Claire, so we spent a few minutes walking through the Bazaar.

Once Claire arrived, we stepped into the courtyard of the "New Mosque" (17th Century), then passed through the market again and began climbing up through narrow, crowded streets of merchants until we reached a han, which was a set of old building around an open square, with a chapel in the center for prayers.Along the way, we passed dozens of men's clothing shops and I would have loved to have stopped to spend some serious time there, if only I had the luggage space to bring stuff home. Anyway, the han were originally Inns where merchants visiting from abroad could stay but also have safe and secure places to store and trade their goods, as well as board their horses or camels. Today, these house shops, but the upper levels contain workshops where people make various goods to sell. One highlight of the day was our opportunity to go onto the roof of the han and take in the amazing views of Beyoğlu, the Golden Horn, Bosphorus, and various mosques.

After seein another han and more shops, we made it to the Grand Bazaar, which we seemed to walk through for an hour although we only saw part of it. Oh, my - this world has So. Much. Stuff. And way too much of it is collected in that bazaar. It was a bit overwhelming, not to mention it was getting pretty warm and I was quite thirsty by the time we got there. I might go back if I had time to go through at my own pace, but then again I probably wouldn't buy much so I'm not sure it's worth repeating.

Next we had a lunch break, and we facilitators found a nice spot to eat some Turkish food outside in the shade at a cafe. Just after lunch, before we were to meet again as a group, I wanted to go take a picture of the facade of the mosque next to the Grand Bizaar - but when I got there I discovered it was still prayer time and there were hundreds of men standing around the outside of the mosque facing Mecca. I quickly turned around and skipped the photo.

We next walked past Constantine's Tower down to the Byzantine Hippodrome next to the Blue Mosque, then around the mosque to the palace mosaic museum (that's pretty interesting). After that we went to the shop of a Canadian entrepreneur who runs a social enterprise selling hand woven, original design towels and throws made from organic cotton and other fibers sourced in turkey. She discovered that weaving is almost a lost art, and she is happy to keep weavers employed at fair wages. She hopes to eventually open a school where others can learn the art. Our students really enjoyed talking to her about her experience starting and growing businesses in Turkey, operating according to a defined set of values, dealing with competitors and copiers, and her unique approach to managing her brand. And we had fun buying her wares.

Crossing the Bosphorus

After shopping and a quick stop for tea, we headed back to the hotel for a short break before a group of 15 of us headed to dinner across the Bosphorous on the Asian side of the city. We had an absolutely beautiful ferry ride at sunset, walked into a bustling entertainment district to find restaurants, and enjoyed some meze and unique desserts. After dinner I was set on trying the Turkish national drink rakı, so we found another cafe where we could sit down and try it. Megan had tried it before and still didn't care for it; Melissa didn't like it either. I didn't mind it, so I finished mine. And since we had purchased the entire bottle, I brought the rest back to my room to enjoy later this week, On the way back, we opted for the ferry again instead of the subway, and it was an excellent choice. The weather was still perfect, and the city is beautiful with all of the mosques and historic structures illuminated at night.

Sunset over Fatih

Now it's past my bed time but there is still loud obnoxious music playing at the store and voices in the street. It's as if my window is open, but it's not. Just a few minutes ago there was a voice over a loud megaphone and children screaming. Now it's just the voices and pan flute music. Oh, and now drumming. (it's 12:23 am.) The noise-cancelling headphones are a little uncomfortable, but they do help.

Long first day

Winding down our first full day in Istanbul. We walked about 8 miles today, and tomorrow may be more grueling. The weather was perfect for walking tours, though! Our hotel, the Richmond Istanbul, is right on Istiklal Caddesi, the heart of the shopping and entertainment district. (It's a nice place and fairly convenient location, but it's very loud at night.) We walked all the way up to Taksim Square to meet our tour guide Claire, who brought us all the way back down Istiklal, with side trips to see an Orthodox Church, an Armenian church, and St. Anthony's Catholic Church, plus a few other notable sites including former embassies, schools, museums, hospitals, a synagogue, and Galata Tower.

At the conclusion of the tour we took the world's second oldest subway train, the Tünel, back up the hill to Istiklal and got some lunch at the deliciously American Shake Shack. Next up we had student presentations in the hotel about some of the cultural sites we are seeing this week. I was interested in the topics but had a very difficult time staying awake. Following the presentations we headed back down the hill via the Tünel and then took the tram across the Golden Horn into the old part of the city. There we toured the 6th-century Bascillica Cistern and got a group photo in silly sultan costumes.

After the Cistern, we visited the centuries-old Hagia Sophia, which was built originally as a huge cathedral during he Byzantine era. It late became a mosque under Ottoman rule, but was converted to a museum shortly after the founding of modern Turkey. According to our student presentation today, if it were still a church, it would rank as the third largest church in the world. The site and the structure itself have undergone a number of expansions, renovations, and restorations throughout the centuries, and it's quite an interesting mix of architectural styles and building materials. It's not surprising that about 1/3 of the interior was closed of with scaffolding for the latest restoration efforts. Still, it was quite an amazing site. Outside the Hagia Sophia we posed for pictures with the Blue Mosque as a backdrop, before taking public transportation back to the area of the hotel.

I enjoyed a nice relaxing drink with my colleagues before several of us caught a quick, tasty, Turkish dinner and retiring to the hotel.

I will hope to go to sleep soon, but on the street I can hear throngs of people conversing, an occasional street performer (sounds like pan flute), and some REALLY annoying music being piped loudly from the record store across the street. There is a street cleaner that goes back and forth the length of the street all day long. It's super loud and has gone past three times since I've been back; I hope it's done for the night. Fortunately, I bought new batteries for my noise-cancelling headphone in the Amsterdam airport yesterday, so I just might break those out.

Camera battery died just as I wrapped this up, so you only get one photo, from my phone.

Good Morning Istanbul

Following about 25 hours of travel, we arrived at the Richmond Istanbul Hotel. We barely had time to check in before heading to a pre-arranged dinner. All 28 of us sat at a long table and enjoyed a rotating selection of meze followed by some delicious beef and chicken kebop.

After dinner we had a quick stop at an ATM, then bought water and I found a new hat in the department store below the hotel. I spent some time settling into the room, took a shower, and went to bed way later than I should have.

This morning we had a breakfast buffet on the 7th floor with this view. If I had taken the photo into the sun, you would have seen the Bosphorus. We are headed out now for a walking tour of the area. This afternoon we get some student presentations followed by a tour of the cisterns and the Hagia Sophia.

Heading Out

The bus leaves for O'Hare in one hour. I got everything packed over the course of the past two days, and I'm even 5 lbs. underweight with my bag. Yesterday I boxed up things in my office, since I'm being temporarily relocated while I'm gone. After a busy spring of programs, hiring processes, class, rehearsals, and the concert, I'm finally ready to go.

This photo is the Legacy Wall here in our School, which featured our class. I thought it was pretty cool. There is also a feature of the trip to Costa Rica which I took last year at this time.

Headed to Istanbul

Istanbul Map

Six days from now I will be on a flight with 24 students and two colleagues headed to Turkey, where we will meet our faculty lead and spend six full days in Istanbul. Like last year when I went to Costa Rica, I am helping to facilitate a Global Business Immersion class for the Kelley School of Business. The topic of this course is Turkey's Risk of a 'Sudden Stop,' a finance course in which we have been studying foreign currency markets, exchange rates, the function of Central Banks, and factors that lead to a currency crisis. However, that's only been about 1/3 of the course content, as we've also been studying Byzantine, Ottoman, and Turkish history and related cultural and political topics.

While in Istanbul, unlike many of the other Global Business Immersion courses, we won't be making visits to corporate offices or NGOs, nor will we be hosting guest speakers on finance topics. The students will be making their final presentations on site, but most of our time will be spent on cultural visits. We will also have the opportunity to connect with Turkish people to learn more about how they view their country and its place in the world.

I hope you will follow my blog (which I have learned is such an outdated concept). You can also follow our class on Twitter: @F272Turkey, or @KSBStudyAbroad, with hashtags #X272 or #KelleyPassport. There is also an @KSBStudyAbroad Instagram account, but I don't know nothin' 'bout no Instagram.

Year's End, Trip End

Early morning sun at Boulders Beach Lodge.

Wednesday morning we got up fairly early, to a bright and gusty day in Simonstown. We took a walk in Willis Walk just above the beach so we could get in some more penguin viewing. There were quite a few in the forest on the dune, just on the other side of the fence/rail from the walkway. On the other end of the walk, the entrance to the boardwalks in the Nation Park were not yet open, so we walked further up the street to the public beach and back to kill some time. When we got back to the park entrance Gywen was sufficiently windblown, so she went back to the room while Barry and I explored the boardwalk. We took too many pictures and read all of the signs to learn more about the African Penguins and their several breeding colonies. We spoke briefly to a park employee to learn that the population here is growing (now over 2000), but the other colonies are still declining and things don’t look positive for the species overall.

Penguin defending his turf.

Fresh tracks.

Catching some sun.

We walked back to the lodge for breakfast in the restaurant, then Barry and I changed to go back down to the beach. By this point, around 9:00 am, the beach was really crowded, with a line out the gate and families scrambling to find sufficient space to park themselves for the day. We looked around some and climbed some of the boulders before I spent a little time wading in the water and watching a couple of penguins. We ended up sitting on a boulder for a while, slightly sheltered from the relentless wind, just taking in the views. After about an hour, and just before high tide, we headed back to the room so we could shower, pack, and check out.

Getting close-ups.

On Chapman's Peak Drive.

Upon departure we headed across the Cape of Good Hope toward Chapman Peak Drive. Our first good views of the western coast and the open Atlantic Ocean were of a long, very wide beach stretching southward toward the lighthouse. Soon we were climbing up the winding, dramatic, and absolutely gorgeous road around Chapmans’s Peak toward Hout Bay. We stopped at one of the first vantage points for photo opportunities, then went further, pat the peak, to a lovely picnic area overlooking Hout Bay. There we stopped to eat the last of our delicious Fairview cheese with some bread, meat, and apples. This spot had tables, shade, and great views, but the never-ending strong winds battered us as we ate and we couldn't linger too long.

Hout Bay

Nest we drove through Hout Bay, over the pass, into Camp’s Bay, and up over the Lion’s Head/Table Mountain pass into the city bowl of Cape Town. At this point it wasn’t far to our hotel, so we checked into the Hippo Boutique Hotel just off Kloof Street on Park. The staff was very friendly and helpful, the rooms were very large and nicely decorated, and ours had a large balcony overlooking the street. We got settled and rested a little while before heading out on foot to explore the city and, most specifically, the Company’s Garden. The views of Table Mountain were beautiful, of course, even though the gale force winds coming off False Bay caused a thick tablecloth of clouds cascading over the edge and obscuring the entire top of the mountain. The Garden was busy with people and we ran into a family with strong IU connections – multiple IU degrees, a new teaching appointment in the School of Media, and ties to the Global Village residential community.

Table Mountain.

Parliament Building & Table Mountain.

From the Garden we walked past the Parliament buildings to the Cathedral, which unfortunately had no open entrance and no posted hours. We forged onward another two blocks to the market at Greenmarket square. It was interesting to see and a lot of booths had lovely large canvas paintings, but we didn’t need to purchase any more souvenirs and the vendors were a little too persistent. We didn’t linger long. In spite of the wind, it was quite warm so we stopped in a nice bar to have a sit and cool drinks. After our rest, we began the walk back to the hotel. It was, of course, slightly up hill and a bit farther than Gywen remembered walking, but we made it. After another rest in our rooms we set out just down the street to Emily’s Bistro, which we had read about in Marty’s Eat Out magazine. It was a small, quiet place with French-inspired décor and music, but with creative and delicious African food and attentive service. (We had chakalaka chicken and Gywen had bobotie. Best food yet.) The/ young man who served us was new, and nervous, but he tried really hard. The other guy (maître d?) was good. We were trying to figure out the role of everyone there when an elderly gentleman walked over to say hello. I asked if he owned the place and indeed he did. He told us they used to have a large high-end place on the Waterfront but they opened this restaurant as a retirement project. He then showed us a couple of cookbooks he had written and through that we discovered that he has known my aunt Marty for years. What a great coincidence! After dinner we went back to the room and hit the sack early. I think the wind and walking did us in.

On the 31^st of December we had breakfast and then braved the confusing public bus system to get to the V&A Waterfront. The buses were fine, but the system is not as straight-forward and user-friendly as public transit in Chicago, or DC, or New York, or San Francisco, or London, or…) We had to purchase ABSA bank debit cards to ride the bus (only good in South Africa) and no one could accurately tell us how much it cost to get to the Waterfront and back. There was lots of standing in line involved, but we did make it. It took much longer than anticipated. At the waterfront we walked briefly the mall before finding the Art of the Brick exhibit, a fascinating exhibit of the work of Nathan Sawaya, an artist from New York who works solely with Lego blocks. It was a lot of fun to see, so the journey was worth the hassle. We grabbed lunch outdoors at a nearby tavern; by this point the wind had died down and the mountain had cleared off completely, but it was warm even in the shade at the restaurant. Too bad we were now too far away, and it was too late in the day for us to take the cable car to the top of Table Mountain.

At the Lego exhibit.

After taking the bus back, Gywen rested in her room while Barry and I explored more of the city on foot. We walked about two miles down to the Waterkant to see if we could find out more about things going on for New Year’s Eve. We ran into an elderly security guard who took it upon himself to walk us around and point out all of the nightclubs which might interest us. We bought tickets to the party at Crew, then went to the Piano Bar (no piano playing) to rest our feet, people watch, and have a cool Savannah Dry cider. We couldn't stay long, though, because we had to walk all the way back up long and Kloof streets to our hotel.

We showered and changed before walking about three blocks to our dinner reservation at Societi Bistro. We ate on the patio in sight of Table Mountain. It was comfortable as the sun was setting and the wind had settled. This place had dozens of very nice wait staff swarming around providing great service, and the food was once again wonderful. Gywen had a nice steak while Barry and I enjoyed creative salads for starters and delicious kudu venison for dinner. We finished with delicious lemon tarts.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel where we planned to enjoy our Methode Cap Classique bubbly on the balcony. The man at the desk said it would take an hour or two to get a taxi back to the Waterkant, and his initial attempts were fruitless but he said he would keep trying. I went back to the room and before we could open the bottle he called to say a cab would be here in three minutes. We quickly said good night and Happy New Year to Gywen and changed clothes to head toward the party. Of course, now we were super early for the party – it was about 9:30 – so we walked for a while before going in. When we finally did go in, the crowd was still sparse, but we got some drinks and explored the large club. (In addition to the tent with a bar and dance floor set up in the street, the club itself had 10 bars on four floors and two dance floors. Our drinks, the “free” ones included with our tickets, were only available from the under-stocked VIP bar on the top floor, so we got plenty of exercise climbing stairs. At midnight we left the bar and walked around the block to catch sight of the fireworks at the Waterfront. It wasn’t the same as being there, but it was fun to see nonetheless, to celebrate our 20^th New Year’s Eve together. When the fireworks ended we went back to the bar and danced on the street for a while before making the long walk through throngs of people back up Long Street to the hotel where we called it a night.

Our final day began with that bottle of MCC on the balcony. It was a very pleasant and quiet morning, with a couple of birds calling nearby including a red eyed dove (of course). We went to breakfast and then packed up to leave, heading out at 11:00. By 12:05, we had driven to the airport, filled the car with petrol, returned it, walked to the airport, checked in, cleared security, and found the gate. So we waited, read, and had lunch. The flight was delayed about 35 minutes, but we had enough time in Johannesburg to walk past the miles of shopping to our gate in time for the flight. The last memory of South Africa was a perfect sunset as the plane lifted off the ground, with the silhouette of the Central Business District backlit by a brilliant orange, under a layer of swirly, gold-lined clouds, under a band of streaky white clouds, under a band of clear sky, under a solid grey bank of clouds. There was no way to capture a photo, so I’ll have to remember it through this description.

I've finished both books I brought on the trip, so the rest of the trip consisted of several TV episodes, a couple of movies, sleeping, a few mini bottles of Amarula, a 3:00 am stop in Dakar, listening to several albums of South African pop music, a nearly-missed connection in DC, and writing this blog post. We’re not looking forward to the end of the trip, the freezing Indiana weather, or returning to work, but we can’t wait to see the dogs and sleep in our own bed. I will have my work cut out for me sorting, organizing and posting some of the hundreds (or thousands) of photos and videos. Stay tuned!