Sunday - a city of contrasts

Starbucks opens at 7 and the coffee is ready at 7:45! I headed to the Jewish museum. I forgot what Mike and Carol had said about the directions. The guide book says it's near Galata Tower so I went there and walked in circles. Finally figured that if I went to the synagogue in the area, they would tell me. The guard again told me to go to the tower, then a woman on the 2nd floor of an apt. building started explaining to me and then came down to draw me a map!

Carol Froman said banks have great exhibits, so on my way I saw a poster about Turks in Paris. Sunday the bank was closed, but I knocked and of course there were 4 guards for each floor - even though it was closed for business. Despite the fact that there were 20 posters leading up to the exhibit, the guard took me to the basement to the permanent exhibit! Finally I got to the right place to see a terrific documentary about Turks who went to Paris in the early 1900s and how the Parisian intellectuals influenced them.

The Jewish museum is small, but very well done. When we were expelled from Spain, the Ottomans welcomed us. Each different millet or community in the Ottoman empire had their distinct dress. In the ethno section they had "long dress for long life." During a traditional gathering called Fashadura, still in use today, a fabric sprinkled over with candies is cut by a relative whose parents are still alive and a dress is made from this fabric for the newborn. I saw a simple white sheath - symbolizing wishes for a long life.

A small section was devoted to Turkish diplomats who saved Jews during WWII. Necdet Kent, who was posted as Consul General to Marseilles, France between 1941 and 1944, gave Turkish citizenship to dozens of Turkish Jews living in France who did not have proper identity papers to save them from deportation to the Nazi gas chambers. On one occasion, Kent boarded a train bound for Auschwitz after Nazi guards refused to let some 70 Jews with Turkish citizenship disembark. After more than an hour, the guards allowed Kent and the Jews to leave. Kent was recognized as a Righteous Gentile by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Muhtar Kent, his son, is the CEO of Coke.

I headed along the shore of the Bosphorus toward Istanbul Modern. 24 hours a day men are fishing. It's always a pleasure to sit on a bench and observe the intricacies of their art.

The new modern art museum is located between 2 mosques, so naturally I stepped in to view their splendor. Noticed an elaborate book holder on the wall, unfortunately my camera battery died.

The museum is right on the sea. The library entrance has a ceiling of books hanging from strings. I kept thinking Barbara and Ish would really enjoy this place - I think I enjoyed the architecture more than the art. They had lots of video installations.

Hannah- remember the owners of the hookah bar in Atlanta said Turks don't really use hookahs, that's just for the tourists. Well, on my way there was this slew of cafes with hookahs and people playing backgammon. The most sophisticated had monitors attached to the couches with the soccer game playing!

Sights and sounds of the city

• hole in the wall - man had rows of balloons tacked to the wall and offers passersby the chance to take a shot
• 5 yr old sits on the subway steps selling kleenex packs
• man stands on the sidewalk with a scale in front of him offering people a to weigh in
• 8 lira to go in and take a shower
• man stands in the subway trying to sell a toy train and spinning tops
• woman with black headscarf covering her face, with jeans underneath her coat and clinging to her boyfriend
• lots of young women in head scarves flirting with their boyfriends
• I tell the young clerk I'm American & he gives me a thumbs up and says "Obama!"

Carol- I tried the folk dance club tonight, but they didn' show!