We joined our fellow tourists in the theatre all ready for the “Classical Istanbul” tour, but it took an hour to get into the bus and another hour to queue through traffic to the Topkapi Palace. So by this time I was losing the will to live, especially when I saw how busy the Palace was. Maybe a Saturday is a particularly busy day. We were running so late by this time that we went straight for lunch in a restaurant inside the first courtyard of the Palace, which was very nice and perked us up a bit. Our guide, Ibrahim, was very pleasant and extremely patient with our very straggling group! There was always someone or other missing but they eventually turned up. One time it was me, when I lost the group in the queue for the Blue Mosque! I really don’t know how Ibrahim kept track of us.
So a quick summary of a big day: the Topkapi Palace (Top = cannon and Kapi = gate) is huge with three courtyards and various museum rooms. The bejewelled weapons are stunning. The people in the shop were very helpful in choosing a headscarf for me to wear later in the mosques and there were wee kittens living in the hollow trees in the courtyard.
The Blue Mosque is full of scaffolding so we didn’t really see it at its best; I foolishly wasn’t wearing socks so I felt a bit concerned about catching something e.g. a verruca, when I had to take my sandals off to walk around inside the mosque - the carpet has been walked on by so many other bare feet. Maybe I didn’t need to worry though because there were special buildings with separate washing areas for men and women just outside each mosque, where the worshippers were having very thorough wash-downs including their feet.
We were too late to see the Hagia Sophia before it closed for evening prayers so we were taken to the Grand Bazaar first. It was much as we expected; very large and busy. Then back we went to Hagia Sophia. It is so old and historic, you could see both the Christian and Muslim decor. It has been a Byzantine Christian Church for a long time, then briefly a Latin Catholic Church, then a Muslim Mosque for many more centuries, then a museum in the 20th century, and since 2020 it has become a Mosque again. It is beautiful old building but could do with some serious refurbishment inside; it looks tired from all that history. As we walked back to the bus the Call to Prayer was ringing out from several minarets. It was very melodic and haunting.
By the time we got back to the ship it was nearly 9 p.m. and we were exhausted so we ordered room service and watched a silly but compelling film called The Fall about two friends who climb a ridiculously high radio mast. What an intense day we have had, so busy and full of amazing sights.
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