Back in print from 100 years ago - Turkish and American women reflecting on their cross-cultural experience

I came across this marvelous book series "Cultures in Dialogue" the other day, and wished I could park myself down immediately to see what had changed for American female expats living and writing in Turkey 100 years ago, and what was the same.

Here's how the series publishers describe it:

Cultures in Dialogue returns to print sources by women writers from the East and West. Series One considers the exchanges between Ottoman, British, and American women from the 1880s to the 1940s. Their varied responses to dilemmas such as nationalism, female emancipation, race relations and modernization in the context of the stereotypes characteristic of Western harem literature reframe the historical tensions between Eastern and Western cultures, offering a nuanced understanding of their current manifestations.

Obviously, the Ottoman Empire is no more, so it would be impossible to see the Sultan at Yıldız Palace as Anna Bowman Dodd did.

Anna Bowman Dodd, the author pictured above, traveled throughout Istanbul and shared her impressions of household management, education, slavery, marriage, women's rights from a female travel writer's point-of-view.

The eternal conversation on cross-cultural female emancipation will still be occurring in some form 100 years from now. How interesting it would be to see the progress from 100 years back.

Even today, only 12% of Turkish women have been out of their country. How fun it would be to read Zeyneb Hanoum's impressions of Europe as she visited it at the turn of the last century or to read the memoirs of the famous feminist from the early Turkish Republic, Halide Edib.

So many books, so little time! Kudos to the publishers for bringing these historical voices back to the conversation.



You may also be interested in these posts:

#EnSonNeOkuyorsun What are you reading lately?

"My Little Library in Anatolia" by Kaya Genç

"The People Who Go"

Follow Empty Nest Expat on Facebook to ensure you'll never miss a post! See you there.

 

Meeting Chuck Hunter, a visit to the home of the U.S. Consul General in Istanbul

Consul General

Charles (Chuck) F. Hunter and me.

Note the spectacular suzani

in the background.

This year, we have a new Consul General in Istanbul, as Consul General Scott Kilner has retired from the foreign service and his three-year mission to Istanbul was finished.

Our new Consul General is named Chuck Hunter. He was born in Wisconsin, and attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, like his father and grandfather. Raised in California, he attended Stanford University for his M.A. and PhD. He speaks French, Arabic, and Turkish in addition to English. 

Chuck is an openly gay foreign service officer. This *is* history. After all, it was just a few years ago, that the policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was ended in the American military. That policy required gay people to be inauthentic if they wanted to serve their country. Those days are over.

My country is actively expanding the spectrum of Americans who represent it, and I find that to be fantastic. The American economic dream may be in trouble for the lower and middle classes, but gosh darn it, our democracy is becoming more diversified. Indeed, I read just the other day that a Native American woman, a member of the Hopi Tribe, was appointed to be a federal judge. If that isn't exciting, I don't know what is.

I love being represented

by a State Department diplomat

who is a young mother

of a 15-month-old child.

Go America Go!

Pictured above, me with

Deputy Principal Officer

Deborah R. Munnuti

Me and Zlatana Jovanovic-Dicker from Kosovo.

Zlatana is an architect and

feng shui consultant

married to American

Craig Dicker,

General Public Affairs Officer

of the American mission.

Friend Anita Hobbs Horton

and me giggling at the fun

of being two Americans enjoying

exotic Turkish divans

and Middle Eastern tables

inlaid with mother-of-pearl

at the Consul General's home.

A pinch me, "We're living in Istanbul!" moment.

Celebrating a shared moment together

as Americans in Istanbul:

the Professional American Women of Istanbul

and our Consul General Chuck Hunter.

A wonderfully uplifting morning!

You may also enjoy these posts:

A Fete for Fulbrights and Friends

Meeting the Kilners: A Visit to the Home of the U.S. Consul General in Istanbul 

Voting in the American Election as an Overseas Voter

"We are here because enough people ignored the voices who told them that the world could not change!"

President Obama in Prague

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A Fete for Fulbrights and Friends

 My Turkish Breakfast

If someone were to ask me what I did this last weekend, I could only reply "have breakfast." Besides the uplifting breakfast I had at Olga's on Sunday, I also held a small 'Fete for Fulbright Scholars and Friends' on Saturday.

Three incredibly dynamic young women

who inspire me:

Dr. Öykü Üluçay (she is Turkish),

Caitlin Nettleson, an American

about to finish her Fulbright year,

and Cassandra Puhls,

a Fulbrighter interested in

international education policy.

When I was young, it was always older people who inspired me. Lately, I've been finding it's the twenty-somethings (including my own children) who are touching my heart and filling me with hope for the future.

In Istanbul, I realized I knew several young Fulbright Scholars. I wanted to celebrate their excellence and give them an opportunity to meet or see those who are from a different year than theirs, plus introduce them to a few other dynamic young people who also inspire me. Not all of them could come. For example, one of them was getting married that day. 

"The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of highly competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the Fulbright program, competitively selected U.S. citizens may become eligible for scholarships to study, conduct research, or exercise their talents abroad; and citizens of other countries may qualify to do the same in the United States. 

The Fulbright Program is one of the most prestigious awards programs worldwide, operating in over 155 countries. Fifty-three Fulbright alumni have won Nobel Prizes; seventy-eight have won Pulitzer Prizes. More Nobel laureates are former Fulbright recipients than any other award program. 

The program was established to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills." ~ from Wikipedia, May 21, 2014 

I was grateful for a spectacular Spring Day

so we could enjoy the garden.

American Fulbrighter
Abigail Bowman,

and her Turkish friend
Mert Tuncer.

Fellow Iowan Abigail Bowman graduates this June with her M.A. in Ottoman History from Sabancı University here in Istanbul.

When Abby was in 7th grade, she had to write a paper on a revolutionary or a reformer. Her uncle suggested the founder of the Turkish Republic, Atatürk.

Abby's paper and presentation made it all the way to 8th place nationally in America's National History Day competition. The Atatürk Society of America was so thrilled that this young student honored their leader, they sent her to Turkey to experience the country when she was a 9th grader. A lifelong interest in Turkey began to grow.

Anybody who knows Turkey can imagine how Turkish people respond to Abby when she says she wrote a paper on Atatürk in 7th grade.

I was so happy Fulbrighter

Elizabeth Rocas could come.

She brought her visiting American

friend from the States, Jacqueline.

Fulbrighter Niko Dimitrioğlu

 and Elizabeth Rocas

discovering they both speak Greek.

What else does Niko speak?
English, French, Uyghur,
Afghan Persian (Dari),
and Manderin Chinese.

Visiting Texan Shane Largo
represented another
inspiring young American
living here in Istanbul
but unable to make it to breakfast:
her daughter
Katy Herrera.

These young Fulbrighters who are sent out into the world to contribute to, explore, research and develop expertise in different countries are such a wonderful investment in America's future. Frankly, it is such a strategic investment. What could save America more money on wrong moves internationally than subject experts who can advise policy makers on given countries and cultures?

You'd think that would be an easy sell in Washington D.C. You'd be wrong. America simply does not invest as much as other countries in its international experts, even much smaller countries like Russia! For example, the Russians have over 16 ambassadors with more than five years of experience, the Americans have none! (Political scientist Ian Bremmer, Twitter, May 2014).

Salon puts current funding for the Fulbright program at around $234.5 million a year. Next year, a $30 million cut is proposed.

There is no constituency to argue for increasing the funding, save the alumni. The Fulbright Program doesn't create any jobs at home. It doesn't result in hefty contracts for American corporations. 

So this blog post is a message in a bottle to my fellow Americans. When I read about how the Fulbright program funding is in trouble, and I know the quality of the people who go through the program, I want to share with my fellow Americans a wish to keep this program not just alive, but growing.

It seems like common sense to invest in folks who understand other countries and cultures deeply via a non-militarized way. Intercultural exchange is a way to promote a more peaceful and prosperous world. I ask Americans to support continued, and even increasing, funding of the Fulbright program from now until the future.


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Talking about "My People, Iowans," to the Travel Junkies

Why the Obama Presidential Library Should be Built in Springfield, Illinois

President Obama in Prague!

"We are here because enough people ignored the voices who told them the world could not change" 

Enjoying Olga's #Istanbulbreakfastclub

Watching the passing ships

in the magical morning light

I knew it was going to be a magical day just from the weather. The morning light was sublime. I missed the ferry just as it pulled away from the dock and didn't mind a bit. To sit down in this beautiful little ferry terminal, and watch the passing ships, was a moment of Zen stillness.

Passing by Maiden's Tower

and the Üsküdar Mosque

The half hour of still calm was broken only by my own laughter at myself when I looked down and realized my own silliness. I was carrying dress shoes across continents to wear to breakfast, forgetting that no one wears shoes in Turkish homes.

Enjoying the passing parade

of ferries on the Bosphorus

I was on my way to Olga Tikhanova Irez's home in Moda, a fashionable neighborhood on the Asian side of the straight. Olga is originally from Russia and is married to a Turk. She used to be a strategic management consultant and gave it all up when she realized what really made her happy was exquisite food: sourcing it, buying it, cooking it, and sharing it. She blogs at Delicious Istanbul and tweets at @Delish_Istanbul. 

Olga slicing the first of four

 fresh-from-the-oven

homemade loaves of bread

served that morning.

This was the third time I had been to Olga's breakfast. Once a month, she hosts a breakfast cafe in her home and 14 very lucky people get to come to breakfast. It always sells out. It is always hard to get a reservation and be one of the 14 (you have to fill out the form on her blog, and do so immediately when she posts her monthly invitation).

The first time I went I met all kinds of interesting locals, both Turks and expats, from all over the city. It's such a small intimate gathering that everyone had a chance to learn about everyone else there.

The second time I went she was just back from Morocco where she had gone to learn Moroccan cooking and she prepared a Moroccan breakfast for us. I pinched myself for being there!

One of the things that distinguishes Olga is her standards. I tease her that she could be the princess and the pea, so sensitive is she to any product that in less than top notch, and therefore unworthy of her table. If you sense a certain snobbiness...well, you are right.

Olga began to assemble her buffet.

Turkish breakfast is famous

for consisting

of real actual food.

Look at those fresh-baked savory pastries!

And that homemade hummus

made with lentils.

Oooh, and three different kinds of jams.

And not just any cheese,

but cheese sourced direct

from the farmers themselves.

The final magnificent spread.

Afiyet olsun!

Marc Gulliet, of @TurkeyReport

and enjoy-istanbul.com,

deserved a great breakfast.

 He and his wife had been reporting

from Soma, Turkey

all week

on the mining disaster.

Orhan Bozkurt,

owner of Ligos Guest House

near the Küçük Hagia Sophia

in the Sultanahmet area,

gave Olga's cooking the 'thumbs up.'

This month I co-hosted Olga's breakfast with her. She cooked breakfast and I shared with our guests how to use Twitter to update and globalize your personal learning network (PLN). It was great fun to compare experiences with people. Their energy completely uplifted me for the rest of the day - actually even now, as I write this.

At the end of the meal,

Olga hand-roasted and crushed

cumin, cardamon,

and other spices to make her

final batch of tea.

"It's a wonderful detox," she said.

I floated out of Olga's home, well fed, completely and spiritually uplifted; it just seemed to me that all of Istanbul was gloriously, gratefully 'alive.' 

After a week of horrible news from Soma, I felt a sense of gratitude for the sheer gift of life. It gave me a new energy to live to the fullest and take pleasure in small things.

I stopped on the way home to

'take tea' at the Moda Tea Garden

along the Bosphorus.

It's an Istanbul tradition to while

away hours here over a glass of Turkish tea.

I was too well-fed to join the long line

at Famous Ali's Ice Cream Shop,

another Moda neighborhood

beloved, weekend

tradition in Istanbul.

The trip home across the Bosphorus

was quiet, contemplative & joyful

thinking about the

amazing friends

and food

I had experienced that day.

I was and am grateful.

I invite you to follow the Empty Nest Expat blog on Facebook.

You may also be interested in these posts:

Enjoying Istanbul Waffles

Crossing Continents with a Covered Dish

My Morning Menemen

Christmas Eve Lunch with Pomegranates

Playing More With Pomegranates

#TwitterbannedinTurkey creates an opportunity for Turks to create and broadcast more than a single story about their nation

The last time my free speech was censored in Turkey was right before a local election. The entire Google Blogspot domain was shut down. The reason cited for the shutdown of Google Blogspot was someone live-streaming football games over their blog. I was new to Turkey. The fact that this censorship of an entire domain (not just one person's site) happened right before a hotly-contested election struck me as interesting.

Freedom of tweet!

Last week, I was scheduled to give a workshop to Istanbul educators on how to use Twitter. As it happened, my workshop was scheduled for the heart of Taksim Square. That Twitter workshop had to be cancelled due to protests that were so huge they made the New York Times.

The protests were a reaction to the death of a young man named Berkan Elvan who had run to the store for bread in a neighborhood with ongoing protests. On his trip to the store, Berkan was shot in the head with a tear gas canister. Berkan had been 14 at the time he was shot, had lingered in a coma for 269 days, and finally passed away at the age of 15. His death has not been investigated, nor has anyone been held accountable.

Berkan is a member of a religious minority, the Alevis, as are many of the other victims of state violence this year.

How strongly did people in Turkey feel about his death? Take a look at his funeral.

No chirping allowed.

Amazingly, less than a week later, Berkan Elvan's death is no longer in the headlines. The conversation has been completely changed away from police brutality. This week's outrage is that Twitter has been censored. Why? So that stories that would be "insulting" to those in power can not be accessed. An election is less than one week away.

Excessive drama and outrageousness happens every week in Turkey. On the one hand, that's what makes it so fascinating to live here. Yet I don't want to be like one of those Jews in Nazi Germany who were in denial about how bad it could get. They didn't leave when all signs were screaming that they should.

Twitter had a bad night in Turkey!

Faster, little bird, faster!

Hoşgeldiniz! [Welcome]

I hope for his sake he doesn't miss!

The Sultan of Twitter

The Byrds! The Byrds!

The Twitter ban may not be as cinematic as it was in Nazi Germany, but there is no doubt about it, banning Twitter was the equivalent of a book burning. All of the tweets people send are just shorter books. Even the United States State Department agrees it was a book burning.

The first episode of Twitter censorship ended with Turkish citizens breaking all records of Twitter use. As you can see, the memes about it were delightfully creative. The second episode of Twitter was harder to surmount as the government had banned more spots.

The Turkish people were ready.

Power to the people!

The government of the

Turkish Nation

seemed to willingly

trash its "place brand"

as an up-and-coming

secular democracy.

It occurred to me watching Turkish creativity erupt due to Twitter being banned in Turkey, that it was the Turkish people's golden opportunity to create more than a single story about Turkey. "The Single Story" is an idea of Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that we often get just one story in our heads about a place and it creates the entire identity of a people.

Oh, he won't fit!

Zipped shut!

Yes, the actions of  their government may have received all of the negative headlines, but the response has been fun [so far] and it continues to be beautiful. Why shouldn't the world hear and have many, many stories about Turkey!

 Sing, Turkish tweeters, sing!

You may be interested in these other posts about censorship in Turkey and elsewhere:

This Blog is Censored In Turkey

Turkish Government Issues List of 138 Forbidden Words on Websites

What did you think of the Royal Wedding?

Blogger Censorship [in Turkey] Finally Ends

Does the World Need the Opposite of a Nobel Peace Prize? 

You can follow both my blog in Facebook at EmptyNestExpat, and on Twitter at @EmptyNestExpat.

Update: Berkin Elvan's Funeral March was memorialized in miniature by miniaturist Alina Gallo. You can read about it here.

A Gift to the Future

The Sidewalk Along

Barbaros Boulevard in Istanbul

 

One of the pleasures of my daily life in Istanbul is this sidewalk. Every time I walk on it, I am filled with gratitude for the thoughtful planner and builders who created it. The width of it seems extraordinarily luxurious in a crowded city.

 

Trees were planted long ago by people who would never get to experience them grown the way I do everyday when I walk under them. These people created a gift to the future.

 

I always ask myself when I am walking here, "did I plant a gift to the future today?"

 

 

 

 

 

You might also enjoy these other posts with amazing walks:

 

It's Tulip Time at Istanbul's Emirgan Park

 

Topkapi Palace, Part One: Would This Environment Keep You Conquering?

 

The Best View in Cadenet, France is now Free to All

 

I Needed Some Cash in My New Neighborhood

 

 



Looking back at Cihangir in Gratitude Not to Be There

A very loud construction site

home to a new hotel

Too loud for me!

Last year, I moved to the neighborhood of Cihangir from the western part of Istanbul. I was very excited to live in a culturally vibrant neighborhood known for its cafes and hipsters. I made it all of a month-and-a-half before moving out of there.

 

It was so loud and dusty! I used to live down the street from that minaret, which seemed like a great location at the time, because it was so close to public transportation and the Bosphorus. Maybe someday it will be. For now, it has this gigantic multi-year construction project going on in the neighborhood. Plus, additional noise coming from Erasmus students coming home from a night of revelry at all hours of the night. Gosh, I'm glad I don't live there anymore. My new place has been a source of constant peace and joy.

Afternoon tea and pastry with Guest Chef Yann Duytsche in the Gazebo Lounge at Cırağan Palace Kempinski

When Istanbullis want a sweet treat, they frequently head to the Gazebo Lounge at the Cırağan Palace Kempinski. The lounge has that see-and-be-seen stir of elegant people discussing engaging things while enjoying exceptional edibles. Were the food not so outstanding, it would be easy to take one's eyes off the edibles to appreciate all of the assembled aficionados of delectable desserts.

But it is actually impossible to stop looking at the food. The Gazebo Lounge features the pastry of Master Chocolatier and Philadelphian, Executive Pastry Chef William McCarrick, who was recognized by the entire Kempinski hotel chain when his dessert was selected 2013 Dessert of the Year in a blind taste test.  His creation is a sweet called the Bosphorale, combining bergamot-scented Earl Grey tea from the Black Sea region, and Turkish apricots from Kayseri with the finest Swiss Valrhona chocolate under a shiny glaze.

Talent greets talent:

Chef William McCarrick on the right

host to Chef Yann Duytsche, on the left

This year the Gazebo Lounge is celebrating its dessert destination status by inviting three world-class guest chefs to share their creativity with the Istanbul food-obsessed community. Pastry Chef William McCarrick suggested Frenchman Yann Duytsche as the very first guest chef for the Gazebo Lounge at Cırağan Palace Kempinski. Yann Duytsche is from northern France in Lille but finds himself drawn to the food cultures of the Mediterranean. He owns his own pastry shop in Barcelona, Spain named 'dolç par yann duytsche.'

 

Chef Yann suggests anyone visitng his shop in Barcelona try his signature breakfast sweet, the Karre Mango Croissant, and then take home his bestselling dark chocolate and passion fruit cake plus two or three kinds of cookies.

 

When Chef Yann asked where I was from, I shared that I was American. He said "America has delicious dessert creations - maybe not so sophisticated -but we all make them: cheesecake, cookies, brownies, and carrot cake."



 The chocolate club sandwich features

a crisp caramelized puff pastry. 

Chef Yann begins to assemble his

chocolate club sandwich

with help from Zeynep.

 

Notice the luscious green pesto

made of roka (arugula) and pine nuts.

It's a trend new to me to feature vegetables

in pastry.

 

A smudge of pesto

and a splash of carrots & apricot

nest a sandwich of thin luxe dark chocolate

with lighter chocolate inside.

"I like to play with a dessert that

one almost wants to pick up with one's hands."

The Chocolate Club Sandwich 

Having a guest chef come to Istanbul for a weekend is very much like having a top musician come in and give a master class, only in this case, it is a master class in pastry. "Yann is one of the top pastry chefs in the world," said Chef William. "I worked with him in 1989 in France for a week. We have kept in touch since then. Yann and I have had conversations through the months before he came about what he would make when he was here. His style has a sense of humor - you can see it in what he calls his chocolate club sandwich."

Cırağan chefs come out of the kitchen

to commemorate the moment

The energy in the Gazebo Lounge was sky-high as Yann and Zeynep, who was assisting him, began to assemble desserts for tasting. "The entire team is really excited to have him here," said Chef William. "I told my team to rest up on their day off and don't go shopping or be on their feet. The would need all of their energy for this moment."  I realized what sound advice this was later when Chef William showed me an app on his phone that showed he had walked 17 kilometers the day before just in the course of his work at the hotel.

The Valrhona chocolate ingots

created an inspiring foundation

for creation.

These desserts

have achieved global appreciation

and not just because of the gold leaf

on top.

 

Chef Duytsche led a team of Spanish

pastry chefs to first place

 at the Club de la Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie

(World Pastry Cup Club) in Lyon, France,

the premier world event for the pastry-making elite.

Chef Yann's creations will be featured at three afternoon teas from 3-5 p.m. Friday (yesterday), Saturday and Sunday. His creations will also be the showpiece of the Sunday brunch.

"Chef Yann is interested in the newest trends. The creative brief I gave him was to push the boundaries even farther." When Chef William McCarrick explained some of what the two of them had planned for Sunday brunch it sounded delicious, and frankly, gravity-defying. Also, on Sunday they will feature a festive cake at brunch enjoyed by Lionel Massi, a sportsman well known to Europeans.

 Another pairing well-matched for Istanbul:

a crunchy chocolate base supporting eggplant.

It was delicious.

 

Surely, the addition of vegetables

means all of this pastry is good for us.

 

Chef Yann has created desserts with

asparagus, tarragon, even potatoes.

He said it is easy to bring sweet vegetables

to pastry, and each element has sense in context.

And what is Chef Yann most excited to learn during his stay in Istanbul? "He's most interested to learn about baklava, because the hotel has our very own baklava chef. We made him a savory mushroom baklava to sample," said Chef William.

Chef Yann also added that "he enjoyed eating at Tuğra, the Ottoman-inspired restaurant in the Cırağan Palace Kempinski that overlooks the Bosphorus. I want to see the markets too, to see how Oriental meets Occidental."

What he most enjoyed sharing with the staff in the Gazebo Lounge is his combinations of ingredients, the sophistication of presentation, and his specific aesthetic. "It's like creating a garden. Pastry doesn't need decoration. The decoration comes by how it is all arranged."

Many of the city's writing foodies

enthusiastically watched the preparations.

Large newspapers and

food website representatives

 were present

plus solo bloggers like me.

A Japanese inspired dessert:

Doraiaki

My selection of treats

served alongside a very elegant

presentation of

Earl Gray English tea.

One of the most fun parts about participating in this

was meeting other writers,

especially Turkish ones.

Two young culinary students

who write for http://iyiyemek.com/:

Burak Özbay on the left and Gizem Dinçbaş on the right.

Burak said this about his studies,

"You don't pick gastronomy to study.

Gastronomy picks you."

Chef McCarrick and his mentee, Ayşe

Chef McCarrick wanted to make sure I met one of his team members, Ayşe. Having cooked all over the world in Switzerland, Austria, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Phillipines, Malasia, Bali in Indonesia, Dubai, London, and Istanbul he felt particularly strong that his legacy at Cırağan Palace Kempinski must be more than "putting cakes on the counter."

He said, "Ayşe is like a flower that just needs to be watered. She has tremendous potential as a chef. I want to help women succeed in this role because she will need thick skin to rise in this industry. Turkey doesn't have a tradition of women moving past helpers or assistants. When I was just starting out as a chef in Delaware, a chef helped me move to Switzerland to learn from another great chef. Part of bringing a guest chef to Istanbul, is to make opportunities happen for up-and-coming chefs to learn all around the world. When someone has personally met you it makes it easier for them to take a risk on you being on their staff for a few months." As I watched Ayşe's face beam under Chef McCarrick's words, I had to turn away less the catch in my throat and the tears in my eyes peaked out.

Thank you, gentlemen,

for an exquisite afternoon tea

and an inspiring day

watching your excellence in action.

I could see why the Gazebo Lounge is the "heaven of desserts" where people in Istanbul go when they feel like having a sweet. It is an avenue to all of the sweet things in life.

You May Also Enjoy:

An afternoon of nargile at Cırağan Palace Kempinski

 

Dinner on the Bosphorus at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski's Bosphorus Grill

 

My first Hammam in Istanbul at the Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Part One

 

Part Two of My First Istanbul Hammam Adventure at Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel

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