May 10, p.m.
Today is the first time that Pat has been able to go with Barbara and me. She gave her presentation on Instantgram at the conference yesterday, so some of the pressure is off. She still has one to give in Athens--not to mention the finals that she has been grading.

Barbara and I cooked breakfast--omelets with ratatouille left over from last night and toast, so we started out with a full stomach. We took the Metro down the hill to Taksim Square, then the funicular down the hill to the Tramway, which took us to Sultanamet stop from where we walked a ways to the Topkapi Palace. Between the Palace and the Harem we spent the entire afternoon. The walls in the entire palace are decorated with beautiful blue tiles. (Too bad I haven't figured out how to insert photos yet. I downloaded 232 this evening.) The palace is enormous, of course. Barbara read that there were some 10,000 people living there, counting the sultan, his mother, his favorites, the harem, the eunuchs, the servants, etc. I was fascinated by the architecture, many, many domes, some of which had openings fronm which one could see the sky. I think these night be a device used by middle-eastern architects to keep buildings cool. The stone, of course, is thick and the ceilings are high, which would help, but I think these high openings create up-drafts.

We had a late lunch on the terrace overlooking the Bosphorus, and ended our visit to the Topkapi Palace with a visit to the crown jewels, among which is a dagger whit a very large diamond and a very large emerald. Then there was a brass box--probably 8"X10" half full of very large emeralds. Finally, there was the Spoonmaker diamond, which is 80 some carats--half as big as my fist.

We left the Palace about 6:30 and headed for the Whirling Dervish show, which didn't start until 7:30. Fortunately, it was located next to the railway station where the Orient Express ended--or began, depending on where one lived, I suppose. There was an Orient Express Restaurant there, established in 1895 according to the sign. We ordered a 1/2 carafe of red wine to pass the time until the Whirling Dervish show.

The show began with a lone flute player; then five more musicians came out: one with an instrument that looked like a long-necked banjo, played with a bow; a zither-like instrument; a large tamborine; a ude, and a singer, whose only instrument was his voice. They played for a while, then left for a few minutes, then returned with long black robes and tall hats, and resumed playing their instruments. Then a single blacked robed man in the same kind of tall brown hat entered with something red on one shoulder. The red something turned out to be a prayer rug, which he laid down and then knelt, hands and head down on the rug. Then three more guys, similarly dressed except that one wore green under the black instead of the white worn by the other three. They did a lot of bowing and walking around the area in front of the audience. We were all seated in white plastic lawn chairs in a large circle. Then they removed their black robes, and slowly began whirling. occasionally stopping and bowing, but they mostly whirled for the next 15 minutes. The show was very interesting, but it was a show. My understanding is that the original whirling dervishes achieved a trance-like state and was/is a kind of religious ritual.

We took a taxi home--15 Turkish lira, probably cheaper than we would have spent taking the tram, the funicular, and the Metro home. I think I have been getting 1.65 Turkish lira for a dollar.

Tomorrow the Dolmanche Palace and a cruise up the Bosphorus.