Monday, October 3

Fortified by a Turkish breakfast (olives, cheese, fresh and dried fruit, eggs and delicious simit, a bagel-shaped bread baked with sesame seeds and grape molasses), we headed out to tackle Istanbul.  We were at Topkapi Palace when the gates opened and spent the morning wandering around this home of the sultans, their wives, mothers, harem, viziers and eunuchs.  It seemed as if every surface was covered with beautiful tiles, mother-of-pearl, tortoise shell, golden calligraphy, carved niches, and stained glass.  The Harem was particularly interesting, especially so because of the insight it gave us into its place as an institution of the state’s stability.  Who knew?!?  We also had a chance to see the riches of the treasury and the armory, complete with swords bearing verses of the Koran!  The palace occupies a beautiful hilltop location with commanding views of the city, the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus, and the Sea of Marmara.  Note to future visitors: don’t miss the harem.  It’s on a separate ticket, and some skip it; for us, it was the highlight of the palace compound.   Another note: don’t go when cruise ships are docked across the Golden Horn, but I guess that’s just about impossible, so just be prepared for crowds!

After lunch, we descended to the underground Basilica Cistern, built in the sixth century as part of the city’s water storage system.  Over 300 stone pillars support a brick ceiling of hundreds of arches.  Water once filled the space halfway to the ceiling, but now just the “feet” of the dramatically-lit pillars stand in shallow waters in a vast dark cavern.

Then, it was on to the nearby Blue Mosque, ethereal and beautiful.  The enormous space is lit by over 200 stained glass windows and the thousands of tiles that line the walls and domes are glorious.  As visitors enter, anyone (male or female) whose knees or shoulders are visible is given a length of cloth so they can cover the offending body parts.  Much to our surprise, many women inside did not wear head coverings and no one called them on that.

We capped off the afternoon with a stroll through the Grand Bazaar.  Dating from the 14^th century, it’s the world’s oldest shopping mall:  a small city of 4,000 shops, connected by a web of “streets” and covered by arched ceilings.  Carpet salesmen here, as elsewhere in the city, stand in front of their shops, begin their sales pitches as you walk by, and truly cannot comprehend that you might not want to buy one of their beauties!  Along with them, the lanes overflow with shops selling scarves (more of them than we knew were in existence!), carpets, jewelry, carpets, leather goods, carpets, spices, carpets, silver, carpets, lighting, carpets, textiles, carpets, designer knock-offs, carpets, belly dancing costumes, carpets, Turkish Delight candy, candy, tea, antiques, and pretty much everything you might imagine, including – CARPETS!!  Scurrying up and down the streets, men carry trays of Turkish tea in its distinctive curved glasses to deliver to shopkeepers; here, even salesmen are customers!

After dinner, we strolled through the park between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia.  They were beautifully lit and the half-moon was shining.  Enough said; pictures will follow!