Apr 2, 20234 minTravelTopkapi's Second Courtyard and HaremThis past Wednesday, I introduced Topkapi Palace as the home of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire from the 1460s until 1856, when a new...
Mar 30, 20232 minTravelIntro to Topkapi PalaceTopkapi Palace is huge, and, as it is Wednesday, I do not have to go over all of it today. Instead, I will provide a brief introduction...
Mar 26, 20232 minTravelHagia IreneMy second day in Istanbul started with a peak inside Hagia Irene. The Eastern Orthodox Church, which sits in Topkapi Palace's outer...
Mar 19, 20232 minTravelThe SeaAt around 3 p.m. each day, my tour guide and I would part ways—she to her home and family, and me to my wandering. Only once did I...
Mar 16, 20233 minTravelOld City SightsOld City Corner I spent three full days in Istanbul. At 8 a.m. each day, I met my tour guide, Gamze, at the Starbucks at Taksim Square. ...
Mar 12, 20234 minTravelThe Basilica CisternTo examine the history of a civilization, first consider its water. Ancient civilizations formed on the banks of rivers. The ancient...
Mar 5, 20234 minTravelThe Hippodrome of ConstantinopleRuins of the Hippodrome, from an engraving by Onofrio Panvinio in his work De Ludis Circensibus (Venice, 1600). The same morning I saw...
Mar 2, 20231 minTravelPerspectiveHagia Sophia from the Bosporus Strait. I had a birthday yesterday. Getting older every year. I got the cutest card from the cutest...
Feb 26, 20236 minTravelHagia SophiaNote: I am no historian or expert on this structure or region. As such, I am referencing History.com for most of the information...