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.)
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.
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| Palamutis Cafe |
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.
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| 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. |
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