Tuesday, July 9: Istanbul

Class all morning, then lunch.  Bus to the Sadberk Hanim Museum (Istanbul) to see an exhibit of Ottoman Embroideries as well as the museum's archaeological collection.   We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but I did get some postcards that I can photograph and post. 


    Sadberk Hanim Museum


    A place to exercise along the Bosporus.

Next, we took a boat ride down the Bosporus, had dinner at the waterfront, and took the bus back to the hotel.  All through the city parks, people were gathering to break fast after the first day of Ramadan.  As soon as it is so dark that it's impossible to distinguish a white thread from a black thread, the fast is broken and the celebration begins... until it is light enough  to distinguish a white thread from a black thread, when fasting begins again.  Not everyone fasts, of course, but the break fast celebration was certainly celebratory.  Ramadan lasts for a month, and it will be interesting to see how different communities observe Ramadan.

 

Tomorrow we begin our road trip.