Tea Time on the Bosporous

We descended upon Istanbul in a sea of khaki and navy. The first day of our travels brought two glorious meals, a short tour of the city, and a boat ride on the Bosporous. We have met our two new specialists, Baris and Fatos. They have a great way of explaning things so they are understandable both in context of the history and the present day. We also met the man who is helping our media team with all the video we are taking.

After checking into our hotel, we walked over to a beautiful outdoor café. Dates, Hünkar Beğendi, Chicken kabbob, and fresh squeezed orange juice were just a few of the surprises we encountered.

We traveled to the Golden Horn to take a quick trip down the Bosporous on boat. With tea in hand, the slight breeze didn't bother us in the least. It was a beautiful trip. All of the students were remembering the 9th grade cirriculum, when we learned about the fall of Constantinople. Seeing the walls of Theodosius in person was one of the most incredible feelings for all of us.

Julia and I have never been to Europe or Asia. Today, we landed in Europe and were just a few hundred yards off the coast of Asia. This is probably one of the coolest parts so far of Istanbul.

Today was a nice day to get acclimated to our surroundings. Many of us felt sick after the plane. We're also on very little sleep. I have gotten two hours of sleep in the last 30 hours. But our hotel is beautiful, and we are all just relaxing and getting ready for the day ahead.

Tomorrow our itinerary contains sites all in walking distance of our hotel. Seeing as our rooms have a view of the blue mosque, the Hagia Sophia, and an archeological excavation, this promises to be an eventful day.

During our stay, also planned is a viewing of the whirling dervishes and a meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. This is going to be an amazing 10 days.


P.S. - I (Emily) am in love with the camera we bought for the trip. Bill and I kept switching camera duty. Here are a few of our first shots.