As many of you may have noticed, yesterday was Easter. Though churches aren't as common in Istanbul as they are at home (the country is literally 99% Muslim, after all), there was a church nearby my mom's hotel that had an English mass. It was interesting to see the diversity in the congregation-- Catholics and non-Catholics, people of every ethnicity and nationality.
We met some of my friends after church for lunch and finally tried tavuk göğsü, a Turkish dessert made of chicken. It's very sweet and very sticky; in fact, most of the Turks here don't believe it really has chicken in it! Definitely an experience, but I'm not sure I would try it again.
Since my mom's going to be on her own in the city for a couple of days while I'm in class, I showed her how to take the tram down to Sultanahmet, the old city with lots of must-sees like the Blue Mosque and Topkapı Palace. We made it down there successfully, but it was too crowded to see anything. The lines were all so long that the museums would be closed by the time we made it inside!
We made it back to Taksim in one piece-- we even got seats on the tram both ways! After a quick stop at the Spice Bazaar we headed back to find a chocolate cafe nearby the hotel some friends had told me about. They had raved about this place, and they were right! We shared a chocolate cake and some fruit and fondue-- I can't wait to get back here! A loonnng bus ride later, and here I am, back on campus, catching up on my neglected homework.
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