Circumcision: first topic after blogging hiatus

After revisiting my photos from Istanbul, I realized I totally forgot to blog about Circumcision Room at Topkapi Palace.  So I'm going to jump back to Turkey for a hot second and just point out how crazy it is that that there was an actual room DEDICATED to circumcisions.  It's a special room covered in rare Ottoman tiles.

I mean, check out the plush red couches.  I'm cringing and I don't even have the goods.

The sexy and forbidden (Harem)

The highlight of Topkapi Palace was Harem, the forbidden quarter that housed all the sexy concubines.  Well, maybe not all of them were sexy because the non-sexy ones were married off to staff members but the real sexy ones received better schooling and were chosen to have the Sultan's babies who would eventually become crowned royalty.

Walking through Harem was amusing for the pure sake of imagination.  I just kept playing soap operas over and over in my head of beautiful girls running around, discovering their sexuality with the Sultan, and probably experimenting with each other and the other male staffers.  I also imagined Telemundo-like scenarios with the Valide Sultan (prize woman) coming down with a rare illness while the others fought to be the next one chosen, or mysterious murders, or snickering of the Sultan's pee pee size, and lots of slapping.  In slow-mo.  C'mon, haven't you seen Raise the Red Lantern?  I grew up in China watching all kinds of shows and movies about concubines!

So in the pictures below, I map out some possible hiding places and escape plans for those who had enough of the concubine lifestyle!

Topkapi Palace: you kind of have to go

Just like the Forbidden City in Beijing, you can't go to Istanbul without a visit to Topkapi Palace, which used to be the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans.  I was impressed with the simply elegant architecture (no where near as showy as Chinese palaces) but not so impressed with the typo on their audio guide brochure.  As the main attraction, you think they'd get their materials spell checked.  And this is coming from a girl who was in ESL.