Topkapi Palace, the Grand Bazarr and other adventures

Today Meredith and I headed off to this massive palace. It is basically a walled in city. The palace has two main areas the museum and the harem. The museum has several sections including an area with family jewels, armor, weapons and clothing from the sultan and his family. The palace was constructed in 1478 and was a residence of royals for 380 years. I really enjoyed seeing all the artifacts, but the harem area was very cool. The harem has 300 rooms for the sultan, his family and his concubines. The tile work in the harem was absolutely amazing!! The different patterns went from floor to ceiling and the windows had ornate designs in the stained glass. The harem had many beautiful copper and tile fireplaces in very interesting shapes. It also had several late courtyards with outstanding views. It was a great way to spend the morning.

We found a place to eat lunch an I had vegetable crepes that were covered in cheese and then baked in a stone dish with a tomato sauce. It was delicious!! I also had apple tea and some pita bread. A wonderful lunch!

We found a market by the Hippodrome, which is a nonexistent ancient area. It's kind of hilarious the hype that the Hippodrome has when in reality is has a column from Egypt and the serpentine column. But anyway this market is local venders only held during Ramadan. There was a man hand designing a copper platter with a mallet and a knife type thing. It was so intricate and wonderful to watch him demonstrate his talent. They also had other crafts and things.

We finally made it to the grand bazaar which is a giant maze of stores and people. You could walk in circles and see something different each time. Some venders are very pushy and I don't like it but others are just plain hilarious. "You look like a spice girl come to my shop" or "You have hair golden like an angel" or "Are you from China?" Just an assortment of random phrases and such to get you to shop. Bargaining is really fun though. I bought a skirt for 10 Lira or about $6. The bazaar is intense and a generally crazy time.

On the way out of the bazaar my wonderful day had to have a little time of insanity. Wet tile = Julie on her butt in the middle of the walkway. Yeah it was great and hilarious at the same time. Shortly after Meredith almost broke her ankle by tripping on the stone roads. But we survived.

Tonight we went to the Galata Tower and a soon as we walk in they closed the top observation area. Guess we should have researched a little more. Oh well, the tower was still beautiful. We found some ice cream and some more apple yea and had a wonderful night. There was a street band with 6 people playing various instruments and singing in various languages. It was awesome!!