Istanbul - Day 2

After breakfast on Saturday 18th, we set off for the Topkapi Palace, the palace of the Ottoman sultans. It was a short walk from the hotel. The day was another hot, humid day in the high 20's.

On the verandah outside the council chambers

We spent some hours exploring the Topkapi Palace, the primary palace of the Ottoman sultan from the 1450's to the early 1800's. It consists of four courtyard areas, each more private, with buildings devoted to audiences, pavilions, a circumcision room, barracks, administration and sleeping, along with a separate area reserved for the functions of the harem.

Considerable use is made of colourful glazed tiles, of painted areas and of inlays (mainly mother-of-pearl), with fountains and pools. A treasury contains stunning masses of gems and objects along with relics important to Islam (such as the rod of Moses, the sword or David or parts of the prophet's beard).

View over the Bosphorus from Topkapi Palace

Set high on a rise, the final part of the palace offers excellent views over the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn.

We stopped for lunch (the classic Middle Eastern fast food of a doner kebab) and a soft drink to relieve the impact of the heat and humidity before heading off to Beyazit Camii, a square before the great gateway to Istanbul University. A hike in the heat around the University walls brought us to Suleymaniye Camii, the grand mosque complex built by Suleyman the Magnificent in the mid 1500's (before the Blue Mosque).. Recently restored, the interior is large and full of light.

We continued to explore before walking back to the Grand Bazaar. We explored more of this maze and found a few more items to complete our shopping requirements, before taking the tram back to our hotel.

In Suleymaniye Mosque

It was "beer o'clock" so we headed down the street and up to a terrace bar overlooking the main street. As trams wizzed by beneath us and the masses strolled in the street, we had some beer and nuts.

Later we headed for our last evening meal in Istanbul. It consisted of a meze plate, followed by a dish of meat and vegetables on a heated metal plate, accompanied by a Turkish Chardonnay/Sultana. The wine was from Izmir (on the Aegean coast) and was quite refreshng.