Week 1: "Bogazici" Means Bosphorous

10. Eat a sesame seed covered bagel

13. Drink Turkish tea

16. Pet the many stray cats

17. Try salep

30. Drink pomegranate juice

35. Dolmabahce Palace

63. Rumelihisari

Today marks the end of our first week in Istanbul. I actually cannot believe it has only been a week. Though we haven't had the most chaotic week, it feels like we have been here so much longer. It has definitely taken some time to overcome the jet lag and I've also been facing some really annoying allergy issues. 

We had a very interesting first few days in our apartment in Rumelihisarustu. The first night here, we got locked out of our apartment and pretty much broke the door frame. We spent our second day wondering when Avery's luggage was going to show up because it didn't make it over to this side of the world on the same plane as us. The next few days our block struggled with a very rare power outage that went in and out every few hours--meaning no lights, heat, wifi, or electricity to charge our phones. It was quite the experience...

Other than that, the week has been pretty cool! Our apartment is on top of/connected to this awesome cafe (called espumoso kahve) that we've gone to at least four or five times already. They have delicious teas and desserts like this one: 

Because there's almost nothing more satisfying than crossing off entries in a checklist, I've started this post with a list of some of the items from my mega list that we experienced this week. The majority of them are food related, but that's okay! I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy Turkish tea (which is great because they have it literally everywhere). Pomegranate juice was understandably delicious, as are the pomegranates (despite how difficult they are to eat). Salep is a traditional Turkish  drink that is often enjoyed in the winter. It's kind of like rice pudding with cinnamon or, Avery described it as a drinkable oatmeal. 

The sesame seed bagel is something we have seen literally everywhere--from merchants selling them on the highway to cafes like Simit Sarayi and Espumoso Kahve. We got these bagels with cheese for dinner one day:

The weather here has mostly been grey and drizzly, but last Friday it was sunny all day! We took advantage of the stellar weather to walk down to Rumelihisari, an ancient fortress at the narrowest part of the Bosphorous. We had brunch at Cafe Nar--Turkish pastries filled with feta and herbs or potato and cheese and pomegranate juice. 

Then we walked over to the fortress, which was a pretty amazing sight to see. The area it covers is incredibly large and the towers are huge. Walking through the grounds was exhausting, but the view was so well worth it.

Last Friday we also had Orientation and it was the beginning of "Welcome Week"--a series of events for all the exchange and erasmus students to meet. On Sunday, we had a traditional Turkish brunch which included eggs, cheese, olive, jam, honey, vegetables, and tons of bread. After brunch, we walked over to Dolmabahçe Palace--the home of the last few sultans of the Ottoman Empire as well as Ataturk, the first president of Turkey. The palace was absolutely huge (285 rooms) and one of the most grand things I've ever seen, with gold plated embellishments on the walls and extremely detailed painted ceilings. On the same grounds, we also visited a clock museum--I guess there's a first time for everything.

 

And of course, last but not least, is a tribute to the tons of cats we have seen and embraced over the week. We have learned that cats are basically the squirrels of Istanbul.