The Last Day

Our last morning in Istanbul began with a visit to Sabancı University's Sakıp Sabancı Museum to view a special exhibit on the history of Istanbul. This exhibit, titled “From Byzantion to Istanbul: 8000 Years of A Capital,” contained information on the history of the city and artifacts from Turkey and other museums across the world. Although stretching back 8000 years, most of the exhibit focused on the influences from the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Unlike most of our other activities in Istanbul, we were left free to roam around the museum for the morning, exploring the displays on our own.

After finishing at the museum, it was time for lunch. Because the museum is located on the Bosphorus (the strait that separates the European side of Turkey from the Asian side), most of us chose to eat at one of the nearby cafes overlooking the water. My lunch group happened to choose a restaurant famous for their pudding, and ordered some delicious chocolate and fruit puddings for dessert. Unfortunately, while we were all waiting outside for the bus after lunch, we experienced our first Turkish rain! All the girls huddled under their scarves, and after a short wait in the rainstorm, our bus finally came and we all climbed on quickly.

The next part of our day included a tour of modern Istanbul (luckily by bus). The tour was led by a former University of Washington graduate student of Turkish descent, Tuna Kuyucu. He obtained his Ph.D. from UW and completed his dissertation on the urban challenges of modern Istanbul--now he is a Professor of Sociology at Bogazici Univerisity in Turkey (where we are staying in the dorms). His talk included information on the impact of industry, attempted control of shantytowns, construction of new housing, and general difficulties facing such a rapidly expanding city. As he talked, we drove around Istanbul (mostly on the Asian side) and looked at examples of the recent urbanization. We also took a quick detour by the airport to pick of Rebecca’s luggage, which had finally been found by the airline after being lost on our flight to Istanbul!

Our tour ended earlier than expected, so we decided to relax a little and take a look at the main campus of Boğaziçi University. While walking through campus, Prof. Kasaba pointed out his old dormitory building from when he was in high school—it turns out the University used to function partially as the high school that he attended. The campus was very beautiful, and most of us had a quick ice cream snack at the cafeteria, then sat outside to enjoy the view.

After our break we took the bus down to Ortakoy, a small neighborhood sitting on the Bosphorus, for our final group dinner. With lots of small shops and street vendors, several of us did some last minute souvenir shopping! After taking about an hour to explore the neighborhood, we all met up and headed over to the restaurant. As usual, dinner was delicious, with tons of appetizers, a main meat dish, and fruit for dessert. It was a fantastic final dinner to celebrate our last night in Istanbul, and our last night of the trip.

After dinner, we spent quite a while taking some final group photos. Once back at the dorms, Prof. Kasaba filled us in on the taxi arrangements he had made to get us to the airport (my travel group had to leave within a few hours, at 3 AM!). As we were all leaving at various times early in the morning and over the next day, everyone hugged and said final goodbyes. Although we all knew we would see each other back in Seattle, it was hard saying goodbye to the close-knit group of people we’d had such an amazing adventure with over the past five weeks. I’m sure everyone agrees that we could not have had a better group, or better professors to guide our journey, teach us, and even look out for us! Melis also added her own perspective, and lots of energy! Thank you everyone for such an amazing trip, and I look forward to our reunions back in Seattle.

Second to Last Day.

Today, we met at 9:30am instead of 8:30am. This gave us all a much needed extra hour of sleep as we start off another packed day of sightseeing.

First, we start off with an unexpected visit to the Kanyon mall in the Levent district of Istanbul to see where people in the city did their shopping. Looking at the outside of the mall, I didn’t really understand how it could be modeled after a ‘real canyon’, but after entering, it became strikingly clear. The huge 4-floor complex curved around the corner and we were all met with a refreshing breeze. Some of us stopped for coffee at Le Pain Quotidien, a nice coffee shop with amazing-looking pastries, while others hit the shops. After a short stroll around the mall, it was time to head off to our next stop, Rustempasa Mosque.

Today, we’re going to visit a lot works by Sinan, an Ottoman imperial architect. The Rustempasa Mosque was one of my favorite mosques. It was built for Rustempasa, the husband of Princess Mihrimah, one of Suleiman the Magnificent’s favorite daughters. It’s famous for its extensive use of Iznik tiles with a tomato-red color, characteristic of the early Iznik period. No other mosque in Istanbul has such a prolific use of these tiles. Also, this is one of the smaller mosques with only 8 columns, each of which has a unique set of tiles because the choice of tiles was unplanned. I really liked how nice and quaint this mosque seemed, especially because it’s located near the spice market so sellers can come pray during breaks.

From there, we went to Sehzade Mosque, another one of Sinan’s works. This mosque was built for Princess Mihrimah in 16^th century but was later restored in the 18^th century. Now it encompasses two types of architectural forms reflecting these two periods. This mosque also has many windows, making it one of the brightest lit mosques. I thought it was interesting that the corners were decorated with a honeycomb pattern to cover any flaws.

At this time, we stopped at the Ominönü Spice Market for lunch and shopping. They sell everything at the spice market, from spices to pets, brooms to jewelry. I even found “Zinya” seeds!

After a nice break, we got on the bus to visit the Chora Museum. This used to be the Byzantine Church of St. Savior in Chora. However, in the 16^th century, when the Ottomans took over, the church was converted into a mosque by Ottoman rulers. Later in 1948, it became secularized into a museum. Now, it’s filled with beautiful frescoes and mosaics depicting scenes from the bible. In the north dome, there’s a mosaic of the Virgin Mary with child. This is my favorite because when you look up, you can see her watching over you.

Next stop: The Patriarchal Church. To get there, we had to walk through former Jewish and Greek settlements. It was really eye-opening to see all the run-down houses in this area contrasting with all the curious, smiling faces. There were also lots of children here! Big surprise compared to Rome where it was like once in a blue moon. The kids were so cute and friendly and two of them even stood and smiled for a picture.

Soon, we reached the Church of St. George, aka the Patriarchal Church) which is the principal Greek Orthodox cathedral still in use in Istanbul. When we entered, the main thing that caught my eye was the huge iconostasis, a wall of religious icons and paintings that separates the church and the sanctuary. This church has gone through many fires (in early 18^th century, 1738 and 1941); however, it has been fully restored as of 1991. Today, it still serves as a center of pilgrimage for Orthodox Christians.

By this time, we were all pretty pooped and ready for a nice refreshing cruise down the Bosphorus. The misty breeze blew through our hair as we set sail down the strait. Everyone took pictures galore, as they should have, since we were ON A BOAT! We cruised passed many bridges, boats, and expensive water-front properties on our way to the restaurant—even some imperial palaces.

Finally, we arrived at our destination, Pescatore fish restaurant at Tarabya. The fish was absolutely amazing (or so, I heard. I couldn’t actually taste anything because of my stuffy nose due to allergies T_T)

Afterwards, we headed home, after another long day in paradise.

Sunday, July 18

Today—as everyday so far in Istanbul— was incredibly busy. We saw almost all of the most popular sites in Istanbul all packed into one day!
We started out going to the Blue Mosque, or Sultan Ahmed Mosque. It is often referred to as the Blue Mosque because of the beautiful blue tiles that cover the inside. We learned from our tour guide that tulips, carnations, and roses are prevalent flowers in Turkey. Tulips are thought to have originated in Turkey, and appear to be reaching towards Allah. Roses are the flower of Muhammad, while carnations are the flowers of paradise. The Blue Mosque was built in the 15th Century in order to rival the grand design of Hagia Sophia. The colors were so vibrant, and the interior was so huge and elaborate, I would have liked to have stayed there a lot longer. But alas, we had much more to see that day, and had no time to dawdle.











From the Blue mosque we went to Topkapi Palace. It used to be the residence of the Ottoman Sultans for much of Ottoman rule. It was fun trying to imagine how it would have looked back then, and how it would have been to live there. I especially liked the huge kitchen, and getting to look around at all of the artifacts and relics. We got to see the alleged arm of John the Baptist as well as Muhammad’s footprints. There was also a cute little gift shop there, and I got a pretty red, blue and gold tea cup. I really like the little vase-like shaped tea cups in Istanbul. Especially when they have apple tea in them!










After we finished at Topkapi Palace, we had some free time for lunch. Katie, Mauna, Roman, Emilio, Shurui, Erik and I went to this nice little place close to the Palace. We got to go all the way up to the roof of the restaurant, and the view was amazing! And the food, as it has been this whole trip, was delicious as well. It was just hard to believe we were sitting there, in Istanbul, admiring such a beautiful landscape.

After our leisurely lunch, we headed to Hagia Sophia—one of the sites I have been looking forward to seeing the most. It was incredible. I can’t believe the old mosaics are still as clear as they are. We learned that Hagia Sophia was originally a church, but was turned into a mosque with the expansion of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th Century. It is such an interesting contrast to see the remnants of the old basilica as well as the Islamic additions. It is such a fascinating, historical example of both of these religious artistic styles. I would love to go back someday, and spend more time there.



When we finished exploring Hagia Sophia, we headed to the underground Basilica Cistern. I had actually never heard of this before, so this part of the day was a pleasant surprise. The Cistern was very eerie, but in a fun way. Having a huge art exhibit there would be incredible. The Medusa heads were especially interesting. They were so huge, and so randomly placed.













We then had some free time to look around the Pera district before dinner. I just went to a couple of nearby shops to pick up a shirt and shorts, as my luggage had still not arrived yet at that point. We reconvened for dinner, and once again had a huge, unbelievably delicious meal. I am going to miss the food here so much. I don’t think there has been anything here I haven’t liked.

That night we arrived back at our dorms happy and very, very full. Altogether, another fantastic day in Istanbul. If only we had more time here!

Istanbul, Not Constantinople

This was our last morning in Rome and we had to depart the eternal city very early in the morning to catch our flights to Istanbul. After leaving our apartments for the final time, we brought our packed belongings to the Lungotevere pickup location and waited for the bus to arrive. Once we were transported to the airport, we were required to pass through a series of baggage check points, safety clearances, and passport verifications. It seemed that the security in this Roman airport was significantly lax compared to the ones back in America. In Rome, shoes were not required to take off through the metal detectors, and liquids like bottled water were able to go through the security gates.

Everything continued to go smoothly when we were all boarded on the plane via Blue Express Airlines. The seats were very comfortable and many of us took the airtime allotted to catch up on some much needed rest. We left Rome about midday and arrived in Turkey a couple of hours later. Fun fact: time in Turkey is an hour ahead of the time in Italy. It was always entertaining to glance outside the window of the plane from time to time. Aside from seeing duct tape on the wings of the plane, the views from the high altitude provided picturesque views of the Mediterranean. The program coordinators have truly done an awesome job in arranging and organizing the airfare in the program budget.

Once we landed in Turkey, we immediately received our visa stickers and proceeded to baggage claim. Reunited with our luggage, we exited the airport and met up with our tour guide, Melika. Fortunately, the bus that was rented was spacious and air conditioned; this was a huge relief from the hot weather. Melika then proceeded to give us more of Istanbul’s geographic and economic history during our route to Boğaziçi University. She often pointed out nearby monuments and their architectural significance while driving from the Asian to the European side of the country. Upon arrival, we checked into our dormitories that were fully equipped with modern amenities, including bathrooms, fresh bed sheets, air conditioning, Wi-Fi, and kitchenettes. Amidst all of the excitement, we noticed that some people had their belongings plundered back at the airport (items such as jewelry, electronics, and clothes were missing from people’s luggage). Reports were to be filed shortly afterwards.

By sunset, our appetites screamed of hunger. Professor Kasaba took us to this really nice restaurant that served traditional Turkish food. And let it be known: this restaurant served food by the masses. We started out with appetizers that were already filling by themselves. Dishes upon dishes of bread, sauces, and vegetables would appear in front of us out of nowhere, and beverages were constantly replenished within a blink of an eye. The main course was a long sequence of different kinds of meat—minced, chicken, beef—prepared in traditional kabob fashion. Desserts followed suit and included fresh fruit from the country, but by then, everyone’s bellies were practically full. And just when some of us could not eat another bite, more desserts—pistachio pastries and ice cream—appeared! For many of us, this was our first exposure to Turkish cuisine, and we all found the restaurant to be a resounding success in our stomachs.

After a long day of roller coaster emotions, we are all glad to finally be in Constantinople Istanbul.

Last Day

Our final day in Rome began with a trek across the familiar Ponte Sisto toward the Villa Farnesina in the Trastevere district. Upon arriving, Sarah, Maggie, Carmen, and Kate delivered a presentation to the class about story of the Chigi family in Rome. We learned about the villa's original owner, Agostino Chigi and his particular interests in artwork.

Completed in 1509, the villa is actually named for the Farnese family, who acquired it from the Chigis in 1577. It was since acquired by the Italian state, but still houses Chigi-collected sculptures and frescoes, created by several artists including Baldassare Peruzzi, Il Sodoma, and Raphael. Maggie gave us a tour of the villa's interior, explaining the decoration of each room, and the dynamic interaction visitors are intended to have with the artwork. All of the frescoed ceilings were particularly intriguing, including lively depictions of the twelve astrological signs, the myths of Galatea, Cupid, and Psyche, and some rather symbolically designed fruit.

After departing the Villa Farnesina, we headed to the Piazza Farnese, which is adjacent to the Campo de Fiori. There Molly gave a presentation on Madonelles in Rome. The Madonelles are outdoor wall-bound paintings or reliefs in honor of the Virgin Mary. Madonelles could be ordered by any common Roman person, and they were created on many buildings all throughout Rome. The Madonelles were said to be miraculous, and the church was quick to associate itself with them. Many of the Madonelles have been worn away by the weathering of time and the elements. Nonetheless, a significant number have been maintained to this day (we saw three around the Piazza Farnese), and they are still quite revered by the people in Rome.

With that, we concluded our last Art History class of the program. Everyone had the afternoon to do clean up, pack, or do some last-minute exploration. Many of the group prepared boxes of personal belongings and souvenirs to ship back to the US.

Mauna, David, Zinnia, and I (Bennett) went to Castel Sant'Angelo in the late afternoon. We'd previously been scheduled to visit the castel as part of a class session, but we'd just missed the operational hours. In any case, the castel houses a nice collection of paintings, sculptures, crosses, and various artifacts. They were nice to look at, but without Prof. Schultz to teach us, and being unable to read the Italian descriptions, we couldn't really learn about the context of each piece. No matter, we were anxious to see the view from the top of Castel Sant'Angelo.

And what a view it was. We had a spectacular, near-360° view of Rome. It was something to behold, and definitely worth the €8,50 price of admission.

In the evening, everyone reconvened for one last group dinner in Rome. We dined at Pierluigi - a very nice restaurant just about five minutes from the Campo. Our meal was impressively robust and quite filling. We began with bread and packaged breadsticks (it's amazing how many people like those breadsticks) and an appetizer of battered vegetables (much like tempura). The bread was average for Rome (which is in reality quite good), and the veggies were tasty (if not a bit unhealthy). Our first course was orecchiete pasta with cream sauce, which was rich and flavorful. We then had a second course of thinly-sliced steak with rosemary, arugula and grape tomatoes, with a side of rosemary-garlic roasted potato wedges. The steak was tender and juicy, and the potatoes were top-notch. Unfortunately, though, some people received meat a little more rare than they'd have preferred (we weren't asked our steak preference). The meal was finished with a generous portion of tiramisu. It was very sweet and rich, which pleased most everyone.

Besides the food, though, the highlight of the dinner was almost certainly the round-robin toast we had before eating. We went around the table (well, tables) sharing and reminiscing over our favorite moments from the trip. From all the learning (lots and lots of readings) to all the laughs (weird inside jokes and great personalities) to all the unforeseen events (missed train stops and brushes Vatican security) to all the football matches (yay World Cup!) to all the food (oh so much food...), it was really amazing for us to stop and consider just how much we've experienced and how far we've come in the past four weeks together. The immersion of studying, exploring, and living with each other has really created a familiarity in the group which extends beyond anything we would've had outside this program.

After dinner, we headed back to the Campo area for some group pictures. Thereafter, some of us went to the Trevi Fountain to see it at nighttime and take a few more pictures. One final gelato run in Italy, and we turned in for the night, ready for a new day, a new place, and a new adventure.

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Our last Wednesday in Rome was an eventful one which started at the Portone in Piazza del Biscione sharply at nine o'clock in the morning.  Tuesday night had been a late one as students had been up late preparing for their Islam and Italian Cities presentations, so this morning we were all a little bit tired as we headed out for our Art History class.

After a brief preview of the Chigi family, the group headed out to the church of Santa Maria della Pace where Sarah presented.  Originally, the goal was to have a presentation on the Chigi Chapel (Santa Maria del Poplo) which was designed by Raphael for Agostino Chigi in the 16th century and completed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini nearly a century after Raphael's death.  Unfortunately, the Chigi Chapel was closed for renovations (a not terribly uncommon occurrence at sites of historical significance in Rome).  Fortunately, we knew this ahead of time and Sarah had time to work around this closure.

Santa Maria della Pace is also an interesting and historic church closely related to the Chigi family.  It was originally built in 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV Della Rovere and was subsequently renovated by Pope Alexander VII  (aka "Fabio Chigi") in the mid-17th century.  Nestled in its own beautiful little corner near Piazza Navona, Santa Maria della Pace is an architectural gem and historically relevant treasure that is often overlooked.

After our visit at Santa Maria della Pace, the group took the short walk over to the Piazza Pasquino where Sydney gave her presentation on "talking statues."

Part of an important historical tradition in Rome, talking statues have been used throughout the centuries to anonymously display political or social messages.  These messages were traditionally painted on statues...thus, they were "talking" because they were the source of gossip.  One of the most famous of such statues, Pasquino, was originally from the 3rd century BC but was unearthed centuries later and re-erected in celebration of a holy day in 1501.  Shortly thereafter, the statue became vandalized and satirical attacks against the papacy and other figures of power in Rome were posted there.  This became a tradition and Pasquino remains one of the most important talking statues in Rome (although now, Romans prefer to post their messages on a board next to the original statue so as to avoid damaging the important monument).

Immediately after presentations, the group rushed over to the Rome Center 1st Floor Conference Room to meet Professor Kasaba and give final presentations for Islam and Italian Cities.

 I.  Ultramarine Blue in Art - David, Zinnia, Sarah, Melissa, Kate
II.  Cross Mediterranean Cuisine - Shurui, Brandon, Daniel, Roman, Christine
III.  Coffee in the Mediterranean - Kristin, Erik, Bryan, Katie, Mauna
IV.  Islam and Medicine - Bennett, Molly, Yuting, Sydney, Maggie
V.  Murano Glass - Catherine, Carmen, Rebecca, Emily, Emilio

These presentations began a little after 10am and went late until about 1:30pm.  After we all grabbed a quick lunch.  Emilio, Roman, and I went and had some good ole American breakfast (for lunch) and Café del Biscione.

After a relatively short break, we were back in action.  We met at the Portone at 3pm for our Pamphili Art History presentation series.

First, we heard from the whole Pamphili group (Bryan, Molly, and Rebecca) in the Piazza Navona for a brief introduction to this influential Roman family.  Notably, we heard about Pope Innocent X and his very interesting relationship with Olimpia Maidalchini (his brother's ex-wife) who exercised an inordinate amount of control over him.

We then heard individual presentations.  First, Rebecca talked about the Pamphili in Piazza Navona and specifically the Pamphilli Palace, the work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone.

Next, we heard from Brian about Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain in Piazza Navona and its interesting historical  interpretation of Christianity and the Church amongst different parts of the world.  We also had to move after a very interesting interruption by some break dancers who decided to blast their music right next to Bryan.

Finally, we heard from Kate on obelisks in Rome and their unique historical role.  Unusual to traditional Roman architecture, obelisks were imitated and used by Romans to add an interesting and foreign artistic element.  In particular, we visited Bernini's Elelphant Obelisk in front of the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.

After, we went out for our last gelato with Prof. Schultz near the Pantheon.

Our second to last night in Rome, we also created our own art in an imitation of the Last Supper in the guys' apartment.

We also packed up and hit the gift shops and made sure to buy post cards for those last minute send offs to family members!  Yikes, we only have one full day left in Rome!