GEBG Collegiate Turkey Trip: To Topkapi and Beyond!

We have had a busy couple of days in Istanbul, and are on our downside of the Istanbul portion of the trip. The students are on home stays for the next two nights, and I know they were all looking forward to the experience.

The last two days were a blur of activity and movement. We stated with a tour of the Topkapi Palace in the Sultanahamet District. It was a bit rushed because of the schedule for the day, but the students still had the chance to tour the Harem and learn what it actually was, not what popular culture says it was. They also had the chance to view an eighty-six carat diamond in the royal treasury…possibly a good Father’s Day gift…

Today started with a trip to Asia – you know, just a casual trip by boat to another continent. No big deal. We spent the morning in Asia at an artist’s studio learning from a master the art of “ebru”. It was a really unique experience, and the students were given the opportunity to create some of their own work. However, the real experience for Grant and Allie was the discovery of the artist’s cat’s litter of kittens…

After lunch we cruised for a few hours up and down the Bosporus on a tour boat led by Yaren, our guide. It was striking to see the 18^th Century mansions along side contemporary villas alongside former Ottoman-era palaces dotting the shoreline.

The home stays began after our Bosporus cruise, and I know the students are going to have a really memorable and meaningful experience. So much of our experience in Turkey thus-far has been in museums and districts heavy with tourists. While that has been incredibly powerful, I am really looking forward to them getting into the real Istanbul and interacting with people outside of the Sultanahamet.

Enjoy the photos below (hopefully the video will work this time). See you all on Sunday!