Topkapi Palace

The Topkapi Palace was on our schedule for the second day. We actually just made that schedule in the morning during the breakfast. We again didn't eat until 10 min before closing of the restaurant, because we just don't get enough sleep. We caught the noon bus again to Sultanahmet.








This time we used the main street to get to the Palace directly from the bus station. I was happy there was no line here either, because we were told that all of these buildings to visit have 1-2 hours wait in front. The ticket was again 20 lira, about $15, just like in Ayasofya. It is positioned on the hill between the Golden Horn and the Sea or Marmara. It is a maze of building that was the focal point of the Ottoman Empire between the 15th and the 19th centuries. Sultans and their court used to live there. A magnificent wooded gardens, again with wild parrots, fills the outer, or first court. In the second court, on the right, shaded by cypress and plane trees, stand the palace kitchens, which now serve as galleries exhibiting the imperial collections of crystal, silver and Chinese porcelain. To the left is the Hared, the secluded quarters of the wives, concubines and children of the sultan, which we didn't get to visit because it was an additional fee and we were already tires. Today the third court holds the Hall of Audience, the Library, and exhibition of imperial costumes worn by the sultans and their families, the famous jewels of the treasury, some of which were as large and a tennis balls, and a priceless collection of miniatures from medieval manuscripts. In the center of this innermost sanctuary, the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle enshrines the relics of the Prophet Mohamed brought to Istanbul when the Ottomans assumed the caliphate of Islam. After few hours of walking, we had coffee there on the terrace of the palace overlooking the Bosphorus.

We were pretty exhausted after this long walk, but we headed to the Grand Bazzar or Kapali Charshi. This labyrinth of streets and passages houses more than 4000 shops. They sell everything from gold and silver, hand crafted tea and coffee pots, to carpets, leather and oriental looking clothing, and touristy t-shirts, of course. This multitude of colors and people really wore us out after just 90 minutes, and we walked outside for some ice cream in the park. We had just enough energy left to go back in for the "aksham pazzar" where people usually have a chance to get good bargains because it's considered a bad luck to turn customers down at closing and opening store hours. All the walking and heat made us so tired that we didn't really have anything to eat the entire day, and even the dinner was going to be light. We were plann ing to go down for some sea food on the Bosphorus.

We took the bus just before 10 PM from the main Taxim square down to the water. It was supposed to be a 10 min ride. We met some people on the bus who were advising us not to get off at the first water station, because the restaurants there are more just for having a drink. So, we continued on and the bus got into some grid lock. Mom was sitting down and I was talking with these people so I haven't even noticed that we were driving for 45 minutes. The man was from Washington state and his wife from Iran. They lived in the Philipines for the last few years, waiting for her US visa. He also couldn't get visa for Iran, so they decided to come to Turkey and see her parents on vacation. They ended up getting and appartment and settling ın here a month ago, because they just can't go together to either of their countries. They were telling me of the things that are now happening in Iran, the real things, not what the media is broadcasting. Horrible things that this revolution is bringing. Her brother has been beaten up. The Ayatola is bringing in the troups from Venecuela, Palestine, Hamas to fight the people, because their local police cannot do it. Ayatola is in the hiding in an underground city, that regular people there do not know where it is. The guy was also in the marines in Iraq on two terms, so he was telling me stories from there. In turn, I was recalling some of my experiences of war in Sarajevo. Neadless to say, I didn't notice that we were moving so slow that we only passed one station in half an hour.

Mom was getting tired, and it was already almost 11 PM, so we decided to get off and walk. We were moving faster than the trafic. We quickly relized this was not a good idea to begin with, and mom wasn't hungry for dinner either. So, we just crossed the street and cought the bus back. We had dinner at a near by small restaurant, meat and cheese pita covered with jogurt and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice - just what the doctor ordered.