Harem's aren't just for Sultan's anymore

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July 9: Topkapi Palace, Basilica Cistern and Harem

After a simple trip via taxi, subway, funicular, and tram and a short walk we arrived at the Blue Mosque, just in time to have it be closed for prayer. Son-of-a...Because Mengu was swearing the HHI was at least a 5 (really a 3.5, we decided to go to the Basilica Cistern which is underground and filled with water. The cistern is huge! Holding about 24.6 million gallons of water but was forgotten for about a 1000 years. It was recently renovated so that tourists can actually walk through it. More importantly it was used as a scene in "From Russia with Love". This place also deomnstrated Turkish engineering and recycling-most of the pillars (186 in total) were actually "borrowed" from existing temples and structures which apparently didn't "need" them anymore. This included 2 heads of Medusa and the pillar of tears. We managed to see the whole site before being overrun by pesky cruise tour groups (of which we will be a part of before too long...)

Next we moved on the the Topkapi Palace (Tohp-Kuh-Puh). HHI officially reached level 4 and had the interesting new twist of having a sudden thunderstorm. We were amazed by actual precipitation and HUMIDITY! The highlights of this palace were the 86 carat spoonmaker's diamond An amazing artifact that was discovered in a rubbish pile by a spoon maker and sold it to a jeweler who only after the purchase discovered that it was real. It was originally set in a ring and then a turban.

Finally we took a tour of the Harem. A completely separate portion of the palace that was the highlight of the tour. Contrary to popular belief, the sultan "only" took up to 4 wives and was often reluctant to marry because of the danger to the wives due to the political maneuvering (Mark thinks there was at least a couple of other reasons). The mosaics, paintings, furniture in this section was well preserved and a nice view into the life of the sultan and his inner court.

We took a much more streamlined and enjoyable route home via a commuter ferry across the Bosphorus. Not a bad way to commute back and forth to work! As you may guess, we were again exhausted, so we stayed in and visited with Mengu's Anna and Baba (mom and dad).

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Photos

Tea Time
Angel has to crouch to take advantage of the W.C.

Tea Time
Tara...doesn't have to duck to take advantage of the W.C.

Entryway at Topkapi Palace
One of several entryways inside the palace grounds