A night out, the benefits of Ramadan, and Dilek & Jim...

So last night all of us exchange students went out to Kadikoy for Corey's 21st birthday. We went to Murphy's- a cute little tented place right on the docks on the Bosphorus. Loud music, expensive drinks, but not a bad place. Lots of dancing, free popcorn, and drunk Corey made for a fun night. When we left the club at about 3am, we decided to take advantage of the cafeteria on campus being open from 3-5am (since the fasting Muslims get up before sunrise to eat, since they fast all through daylight hours) and enjoy a breakfast before bed...

A few hours of sleep later, I got up and took a taxi to meet Dilek, my professor/advisor, and her British husband, Jim, near their home in Kizkulesi. After a tea on the waterfront, we took the ferry over to Eminonu and took the rail to Topkapi Palace. Lots of beautiful Ottoman architecture, relics, and other goodies to look at. For my mother, I'll mention the Spoonmaker's Diamond we saw- an 86carat diamond- the 5th largest in the world. That among some of the largest emeralds I've seen... lots of sparkley goodness in the treasury. I swear, Jim knows every last detail of everything in Istanbul, which is impressive as he's only lived here for a little over a year. Him and Dilek, who are 50-something and 40, were just married 2 months ago, and are a very cute couple! But I learned more than I could have by reading 5 history accounts today about all the Ottoman sultans, the palace, all the Cami's (mosques), etc.... Very sweet people...

After Topkapi Palace, we went to a bookstore owned by one of Dilek's friends, where I bought "The Death and LIfe of Great American Cities" (a must-read I meant to buy before I came here). We had dinner at this great place in Taksim, many wonderful dishes- appetizers, main course w/ side dishes (and french fries, of course), and then some decadent desserts. Strolled through Taksim for a bit longer before catching the ferry back over to Kadikoy, where I caught bus #19 back to Yeditepe. A very nice day for sure, and Dilek & Jim were so wonderful treating me out.