The Palace and the fabulous Hagia Sophia

The Topkapi Palace was impressive but the crowds visiting it even more so, particularly after a day of closure.  We bought the Museum Pass at our hotel and avoided the line up for tickets at least.  As our hotel was just around the corner from the Palace, we got there early and thankfully visited some of the exhibits without having to peer over shoulders.  I was particularly awed by the mould with the footprint of the Prophet and a hair from his beard, strung and carefully encased.  We ended up seeing the same thing again the following day at the Museum of Islamic Arts without having to jostle the crowds.  There must have been as many relics of the Prophet as there were hairs on his beard!

It was a scorching hot day and the crowds didn't help.  At one point we had decided we would skip the Treasury exhibit for which there was a long line up in the sun.  But then the line started  moving and so we caved in and joined the crowd.  We were flabbergasted when after a half hour in line, we ended up in a one room exhibit and the crowning glory here was the so-called Spoonmaker's Diamond, an 86 carat monster, which while impressive, was really not worth the long wait.  The only gratifying offshoot of the lineup though was the ample people photo opportunities afforded by the wait.

Entrance to Topkapi Palace - looks like a fairy tale castle

The Imperial Council Building

Gorgeous tile work and stained glass windows throughout

Mihrab, depicting the Holy Mosque in Mecca

Inside the Harem

Outside the apartments of the Crown Prince

The spectacular hollow tree outside the Treasury where there was a constant lineup to see the treasures, including the 86 carat diamond

We spent the rest of the day at the Hagia Sophia, once more thankful for our Museum Pass which enabled us to skirt the lineups - it's worth every lira!  And having read so much about this epitome of Byzantine architecture, it was awe-inspiring to be standing under that magnificent dome, with its architecturally next-to-impossible windows.   We almost missed the climb up to the upper gallery where we got a closer view of the dome and some of the mosaics.  It was almost a relief to exit the overwhelmingly magnificent structure - it was too much to absorb in one visit.  Breathtaking, to say the least.

The mix of Christian imagery and Muslim calligraphy that stemmed from the building's history as both an Orthodox Church and a Mosque.

Awesome marble walls in the church

Huge stone urn inside entrance

Marble stone threshold - worn down by 15 centuries of footsteps...

Closer to the dome - from the Upper Gallery

Closer to the mosaics - from the Upper Gallery

Little girl captivated by the child-sized mannequins in the stores outside the Hagia Sophia

The Arasta Bazaar selling hand crafts and of course, carpets on the way to the Mosaic Museum

One of many mosaics in the Mosaic Museum

The Obelisk in the Hippodome and the Blue Mosque, glowing in the last rays of the setting sun 

Beautiful Blue Mosque, the Bosphorus and more

Our second day in Istanbul fell on Eid, the biggest festival in the Muslim year.   Everything was closed except for the mosques so all the tourists descended upon the Blue Mosque, the only landmark open.  The lineups to get in were around the block but it was worth the wait. The mosque was gorgeous although the area fenced off for worship was empty.  Somehow the visit to the New Mosque the previous day seemed more meaningful because we saw people at worship whereas the Blue Mosque, deprived of worshippers, was just another beautiful building, albeit a magnificently beautiful one.

Whirling Dervishes on the fountain in the courtyard

Lone figure in the worship area inside the mosque

Yes, one couldn't help but gawk at the magnificence!

Here come the next target - on one of the touristy backstreets

A streetside pomegranate juice presser - no seeds to remove, juice in a minute!

To make best use of our time in Istanbul, we booked ourselves on a half day cruise up the Bosphorus Straits in the afternoon since there was nothing else open.  It was a perfect sunny day for a cruise and we saw not only the interesting bridges and landmarks on both sides of the straits, but also saw them in a changing light as the cruise went from early afternoon to dusk.  The boat was full and afforded great people watching opportunities as well as allowing us to mingle with fellow tourists, some more pleasant than others. 

Great views on both sides of the Bosphorus

A half-finished bridge at the entrance to the Black Sea

We caught a glimpse of the Black Sea at the farthest point of the cruise before we were dropped off in the so-called "fishing village" of Anadolu Kavagi.  All we saw were seafood restaurants and shops on our walkthough.  It was here also that we were impressed by the innate sense of responsiblity some people had.  I had left a tote bag on the upper deck of the boat when we went downstairs for lunch.  I told the little boy sitting beside us to keep an eye on it as it marked our seats.  When we were told we could spend an hour in the fishing village and that we would be going back on the same boat, I left my bag on the boat.  The little boy's father came running through the village with our bag thinking that we had forgotten it.  We apologized for inconveniencing him and bought candy for the boys, visiting from Saudi Arabia.  It was a pleasant encounter for us.

The highlight of the stopover for us was a little mosque - we tiptoed in through the open door and admired the beautiful tiled mihrab.  It was quite an adventure for us simply because it was unattended and we felt like we were intruding even though we behaved ourselves, took our shoes off and pulled on our scarves.   We were struck by the intimacy afforded by this one-room mosque - what a difference from the magnificent Blue Mosque we saw earlier in the day.

The "fishing village" of Anadolu Kavagi

Mihrab in the little mosque in the village

On the way back -  skyline of the new part of Istanbul

Bosphorus Bridge linking Europe and Asia

Istanbul silhouetted at dusk - perfect end to the day

Sensational Istanbul

We spent four days in Istanbul before our cruise of the Greek Isles in late September and discovered a beautiful old city with magnificent mosques and palaces but above all, we were struck by our encounters with honest, friendly and helpful people.  

We had come to Turkey likely with some subconscious notions stemming from listening to children's tales like the Arabian nights - exotic and treacherous territory.  More than once, we were happily surprised by the honesty we encountered - a ticket collector who disappeared with our money but came back with change; a fellow passenger (visiting from Saudi Arabia) on the Bosphorus cruise chasing after us through a fishing village to bring us a bag we had deliberately left on the boat during a stopover (we knew we were going back on the same boat); the cashier at the Whirling Dervish show who promised us front row centre seats and came through with it even though we didn't pay extra.

The one incident that will stay forever in my mind was the friendly shopkeeper who helped me remove something stuck to my shoes. I had tried to remove this mysterious substance (maybe Turkish delight??) by scraping my soles on the pavement without success.  This man, who was just randomly standing in front of his shop, stooped down and helped me with his stick, and after many attempts, finally removed the stuff.  There was no reason for him to help me, a complete stranger, and a foreign one at that.  There was no ulterior motive - he wasn't trying to sell me anything.  It was sheer helpfulness on his part, beyond the call - hard to fathom for someone used to big city indifference.

We were also thankful we stayed at a boutique hotel with a helpful staff.  The guest relations officer sat us down the morning we arrived and told us the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market would be closed for the next four days because of the big Muslim festival of Eid.  We reshuffled our plans and visited the two markets the day we arrived.  Other tourists were not so lucky and missed these two key sights.  And sights they were, remarkable array of stalls set in a maze of internal streets although after a while, all the stalls looked similar and it's not really a place I would like to shop in.  But both were very photogenic.

Here are some photos from our walk through the old town.

We found our way to the Grand Bazaar holistically, the map wasn't really helpful as the streets are not on a grid and it got quite confusing.  But there were plenty of signs around, including this one on the pavement!

The gate to the Grand Bazaar - one of several entrances

A maze of internal "streets" like this one with more branching off on each side

Love these lamps!

Carpets galore!

Neat way of packaging candy

Pistachio stuffed baklava - delicious!

Turkish delight in any combination of nuts and fruit - love the pomegranate ones!

So many options for water pipes! 

The spice market entrance (it's really another Grand Bazaar on a smaller scale - spices were not the only things sold)

Street hawker selling roasted chestnuts - note the gloves

We happened upon the New Mosque when we left the Spice Market.  This is a beautiful active mosque.  We went in the door for worshippers, not realizing there was one for tourists.  No one stopped us.  

We also stumbled upon this amazing sweet shop that had been around since 1864.  It had an impressive array of sweets and because it was so busy, likely the freshest you could find anywhere.  The place is packed at all hours of the day - once we found it, we kept passing by it until we finally found time to go in and try it.  The second floor had open windows - great place for people watching as it is situated across from the Sirkeci Station, one of the busiest train stations in Istanbul.

We got lost a few times on our first day in Istanbul, but always received helpful directions to our destinations from locals.  We caught a glimpse of Istanbul at sunset as we ate the first of several grilled sea bream dinners at the end of a very long day after a 10 hour flight from Toronto.