Blogs from Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East - page 11

In it's inumerous chambers, the Topkapi Palace holds some of the sacred relics from profets like Muhammad, Abraham and Moses... It is believed that the Blessed Mantle (also known as the Holy Mantle), Abraham's Pot, Joseph's Turban, Moses's Staff or David's Sword can be seen on display and have been kept all this years, along with Muhammad's footprint. It's not allowed to take pictures (not even without flash) and the chambers are very dark - that's why I apologize for the quality, but you can see this and other sacred relics, along with ancient turkish costumes and other treasure parts that belonged to the sultan in the Topkapi Palace - Istanbul...... read more

15 March 2012 11:48 MDT (19:48 local) After a short rest, I walked to the grand bazaar. It reminded me of the vendors at balloon fiesta only if they covered the entire field and under a roof. The area I found myself in was jewelry with a few scattered purses. I got incredibly turned around in the bazaar and when exited north east. This confused me and it took quite a while and finding myself at the new mosque before getting my bearings. Oh, and it was snowing. After getting back to beyazit, I looked a while for the nargile cafe but to no avail. That's okay, I have a hunch the Palestinians in east Jerusalem will hook me up. Finally, I stopped at the hamam. First, I paid and received my cleaning mitten and wash ... read more

15 March 2012 6:35 MDT (14:35 local) What an amazing day so far. Breakfast was fine, I tried the little hotdogs and yellow juice for the first time ( mango?) Then, it turned out my room didn't have any hot water, which was bad because I had already trimmed my beard. Anyway, I made my travel arrangements to the airport, visited the blue mosque, visited Topkapi palace (most amazing place I may have ever been- tile so beautiful it made me appreciate tile, the biggest gemstones I've seen outside the smithsonian, and of course the head of John the Baptist), ate corn and chestnuts from vendor ( chestnuts yummier than expected, corn less so), went to the Byzentine cistern which reminded me of Carlsbad- really big underground chamber. And to think the city had several (many?) ... read more

13 March 2012 23:00 MDT (3/14 7:00 local) First, thoughts from this morning. The bears needed a receiver and have for the last 92 years, but Brandon Marshall is too unstable for my comfort. I work with people with borderline personality disorder regularly and I couldn't imagine they are great teammates. Maybe the locker room is veteran and can absorb it, but last year we had a drug kingpin on the team and that went unpoliced (until of course it did)- Im still waiting for the other shoe to drop from that. At least he came cheaply. The Jason Campbell signing is brilliant. Go bears! Now, let's see if I can rewrite what I lost last night: I woke up early ~4 , but that means I got about twelve hours of sleep and am close ... read more

12 March 2012 04:55 MDT (12:55 local) I had a very rough night last night. No sleep at all - but I am caught up on Doctor Who. Breakfast was yummy. One of the breakfast breads is a roll with hot dog pieces on it. I am noticing that a characteristic of Turkish food is to randomly include a jalapeño or its equivalent. Pretty much the same breakfast as yesterday. I had more fruit and less cheese. I really like the apricots. After breakfast, I went on a walk. I started out north hoping to catch a ferry to eyup. I was stopped three different times by people trying to sell me an umbrella. I became very cross ( Sisy would say pissy). It was misting. I had a very hard time making it to the ... read more