Day #5 — Thursday at Topkapi and on the Bosphorus

 I'm a little behind here...  It's nearly midnight on Friday and I haven't yet had a moment to write about what we did yesterday, let alone today. So this will be mostly photos, not so much text.

We started the day visiting the Topkapi Palace, which is less than a 10-minute walk away from our guesthouse. The photo above is from inside the outermost door, looking out at the city.

The sultans of the Ottoman Empire lived here in this palace until younger generations, centuries later, having visited Paris and other European cities, thought they ought to live in a warmer and more comfy place.

I was very taken by the long rows of rose bushes leading along the paths from the main entrance.

At the far end of the huge park-like courtyard, we come to yet another gate — a wall within the wall.

The chambers of the sultan, rooms where he greeted emissaries from other countries, are fabulous.

Stepping outside to get from room to room, we get a good view of the inner courtyard.  I love those cypress trees!

Back inside the chambers...

Inside there were museum rooms filled with clocks of the Ottoman Empire. They are round analog clocks, but instead of the numbers we have on our clocks, there was a "0" where we have a 5. The rest of the markers were all arrows, some single, some in pairs. I couldn't figure it out. I SO wanted to take photos to show you these clocks, but there was a sign saying "dontcha doit."  

Another room held displays of Ottoman weaponry, incredibly ornate, gorgeous, shiny creations of metal. Could these beautiful items every have actually been used in a fight? No guard was looking.... I slipped my little iPod out of my pocket and, before I could begin to focus, a LOUD male voice intoned, "NO PHOTO INSIDE!"  okay

Leaving the sultan's quarters, I was pleased to find benches where we could sit down and rest a while.

Next was the Harem. I always thought the word "harem" referred to the collection of women kept by the sultan. But now I find out it also refers to their living quarters. 

The tile work inside the harem is so lovely:

And the rooms so incredibly beautiful:

And yet....  there are bars on the windows.

No jumping out to freedom for these girls. 

There was much more to the Topkapi Palace that I never saw. (See Sara's post for some wonderful things here.) Alas, I'd gotten off to a late start and had to hurry back in the rain. (Naturally, this was the one day I chose NOT to take my backpack with me, and so it rained. No umbrella.)

Only on my way out did I notice the lovely trees in the outer courtyard. I'd been looking down at the roses on my way in.

In the afternoon, we decided to become full-fledged tourists and signed up for a tour of the Bosphorus. This was billed as a "half-day" tour. To our surprise, the first couple of hours were spent doing things on land....  again in the rain. 

First we visited the Rüstem Paşa Mosque, one of the smaller mosques.

More lovely tiles:

And then we walked over to the Spice Market!  Oh, joy! I bought a spice grinder from this guy:

Finally, we got on the tour boat and went up the Bosphorus for a while. Lots to see. 

Here's a mosque that was built out above the water on a land-fill:

The walls of the city:

When we got back to shore it was nearly dark. Here's the Galata Bridge.

Later that evening, we went back to the Galata Bridge, walked through the fish market, and descended into the basement of a fish market building to dine in subterranean charm.

We had our first bottle of rakı here. It looks like water. Pour it into a tiny glass, half-way up, and then fill the glass with water.  The liquid turns milky white!  And it tastes like anise! Turkish ouzo? It really warmed us up.

Fortified with rakı and good fish, we went up into Beyoǧlu to hear some music. And we were mesmerized. 

It was around 1:00 am by the time we got back to our room. Very full day!