Classes

There are a number of cooking classes in Turkey created just for tourists. I was tempted to look into them more, but then it dawned on me... I don't like to cook!  I prefer eating, so at most, I think I'll stick to a culinary tour. BUT, I was just reading about an art form called Ebru.  Ebru is an art form in which ink is floated on water and swirled into various patterns. Paper is then set lightly on top, thus soaking up the color.  I love art and trying new mediums, so I thought, I wonder if there are any courses for tourists in Istanbul?  And lo-and-behold there are!  

Here are some courses that are available for my future reference:

http://www.istanbulshotels.com/marble_lesson.html

http://www.bazaarturkey.com/tours/turkish_marbling_lesson.html

Here are some pictures of Ebru art:

Cornucopia

As I continue to research and read about Turkey and Istanbul, I'm constantly being drawn to more resources. The newest is a magazine called Cornucopia which is dedicated specifically to anything Turkish.  They only release three issues per year, so I am not going to subscribe considering I'm hoping to go to Istanbul in just a couple of months. But you can order old issues, which I thought might be fun. So I was just browsing through them when I found one titled, "The Connosseur's Guide to Istanbul."  It  was printed in 2004, so a bit outdated, but I thought I'd order it just to check it out.  However, imagine my surprise to find out that this one particular edition costs....wait for it...$796!!!!!!  HOLY CRAP!

So basically, I can read this edition or I can actually GO to Istanbul. Think I'll stick with the trip.

:-)