Breakfast was in the Garden Room and there were figs much to Alan’s delight! We met our guide, Ria, at 9.15 and left on foot for the Basilica Cistern. This dates from 532, and was built as a water reservoir for the Great Palace of Justinian. It has 336 columns each 8m high, which were brought from all over the Roman Empire, so there are many different ones. These include two finer, shorter columns, which are 'propped up' on massive Medusa heads. Also the Column of Tears, where we stuck our thumbs in a hole and twisted it a full circle while making a wish. The columns are eerily lit from below and about a metre depth of water is still contained in the structure where fishes swim, and some people throw in coins for good luck. They hold concerts of chamber music here in the summer.
Our next visit was the Ayasofya Museum. This church/mosque was the biggest church in Byzantium. Its dome was 32m in diameter, but subsequent earthquakes have knocked it out of shape. The last one in 1999 has done considerable damage and a huge scaffolding now occupies considerable space inside. It is interesting to see how the Ottomans converted the church to a mosque by covering over the Christian symbols with Islamic words. We could still see quite a lot of the original mosaics. The best one was as we left, mirrored in front of us to make us turn round to see it.
Now we walked across to the Blue Mosque as it would close for prayers at 11.30. Lots of people were visiting, and we had to walk through the courtyard with its extra two minarets and central fountain, and around the corner to the non-Muslim entrance. Shoes off and carried with us in poly bags, we entered into the mosque, which is covered in blue Iznik tiles of various designs. It is a huge space, completely carpeted and having low slung chandeliers of black metal with lots of plain glass cups for lights. There is also a lot of stained glass windows in Islamic style, aping the glass from the Byzantine era.
We replaced our shoes and made our way to the Topkapi Palace Museum. This was the palace of the Ottoman Emperors, and was added to by each successive ruler. There are some beautiful areas, some are set as rooms of the time, and others are exhibition areas. We saw the Spoonmakers diamond (86 carat) and the Topkapi Dagger with its three huge emeralds, as well as many, many cabochon emeralds of enormous size. Golden thrones and ceremonial swords are also on display; but no photographs are allowed for obvious reasons! We stopped for coffee and pastries with a view of the Golden Horn and the Bosporus, before moving on to look at the fabulously decorated pavilions in the fourth courtyard – the Circumcision Pavilion and others.
At last it was time to visit the delightful harem, or private apartments of the Emperor and his family. There were eunuch quarters, concubine quarters as well as the family quarters. We also saw the Sultan's and the Queen Mother's hamam. (QM seems to be the most powerful woman in the Harem). It is a very luxurious place.
Ria arranged for us to visit a carpet makers, where we had a demonstration of the double-knot carpet weaving; also a display of some beautiful carpets with detailed explanation of each with a few prices thrown in! We also had refreshments of Turkish coffee (medium with a little sugar) and apple tea.
Now at last we headed for the Grand Bazaar, and having noted our entrance gate's name, Ria gave us instructions on how to walk back to our hotel. So she left us to wander about the labyrinth of passageways lined with shops selling everything you never knew you wanted to buy!
We must have been tired as after not too long a time we decided that was enough, so sought our exit and wandered back to follow the tram track leading us to Ayasofya and the guest house.
The hotel made a reservation at the Istanbul Balik (fish) Restaurant, where we had a huge grilled prawn each for starters, then a steamed, whole snapper; caught in the Bosporus and covered in tasty liquor. Finishing with a glass of Turkish tea; we were whisked back to the GH by the mad driver of the restaurant Hyundai MPV at breakneck speed.
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