Robyn's Blog: Day 9 - sightseeing in Istanbul including Topkapi Palace

I can't remember what this is, but it was such a bizarre looking
building, I just had to take a photo.

Today was another day of sightseeing as well as some shopping. I had a lovely experience in one sourvenir shop. I bought a really nice tablecloth and some other things. The owner was really happy to help me a bit with my Turkish, even after I had given him quite alot of money.

It was just great to finally get in to see the Ayasofya. Its a remarkable museum that used to be a church, and then was turned into a mosque and then into a museum. If you want to read about it, you can check out this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia

My DK Istanbul travel guide was really helpful and guided me around so I didn't miss anything. I took absolutely heaps of photos, so bear with me. Many of the mosaics are still in quite good condition, and can be easily seen. It was nice to be able to climb up to the second floor without having to pay any extra (although admitedly I had already paid 25 lire to get in but that is only about $13. ). There were school children on an excursion. Imagine going to ancient Constantinople on an excursion. How amazing would that be. They all wanted to say hello to me, which was lovely, but they beat me to the queue at the bathroom, which was not so lovely.

The Empress (on her throne) used to sit here to watch the service.

Gate of Heaven and Hell

Grave

Mary, Jesus, Emporer and Empress.

Jesus and some emperors (friends, apparently?)

Because I had time, and Mal was not interested in it, I went down to have a look at the Mosaic Museum. They have saved and restored many mosaics from the old palace, and they are amazing. I could not beleive that they have 40,000 tiles per square metre, so the big mosaic from the floor has about 70 million tiles in it. Amazing.

Sultan Ahmet mosque in the middle of our suburb, Sultanahmet.

Front gate of Topkapi Palace

Mal and I met this afternoon and went to see the Sultan's Topkapi palace, which is an amazing display of the opulence of his lifestyle an kingdom. Much of it was not allowed to be photographed, but we had a great time just wandering around and looking at the many beautifully tiled rooms, and many treasures. I took lots of photographs. As well as the amazing displays of rooms, there were treasures, arms and clocks.

Harem salons

If you are interested in the photos, continue below. There are many. After a long afternoon, we went down to the Carpet Bazaar and had yet another excellent Turkish coffee and some baklava and icecream. Love this life!!
I have bought all the makings of turkish coffee now, and can't wait to make some at home.
Mal has not had much chance to do any shopping, so we looked around the bazaar a little and bought a few souvenirs.