Friday we made our way to Topkapi Palace. Used to the Westerner's overuse of signage that directs you to the ticket offce,we missed the ticket office,went through the security scanners and then found that we couldn't go through the turnstyles as the ticket office was about 100m back the way we had come! Two of the four of us, retraced our original route, purchased tickets at the office, went back through the security scanners and then we were finally able to get through to Topkapi Palace. Well worth the to-ing and fro-ing!
If only we had read the signs! Entry to Topkapi Palace, and security screens on the other side.
Iznik tiles and the harem's interior design
Harem exterior taken from the courtyard.
The Grand Bazaar
Our trusty guide (my sister) successfully lead us to a café in the bazaar where we had a late 3pm lunch. We then hit the antique section of the bazaar where one of our group made a good buy, and we then went on to purchase – impromptu – a lovely carpet for our front entry hall. Oh well, even if we see the same carpet in Sydney, we will always have the lovely memory of visiting Istanbul when we look at ours!
Our trip back from the bazaar was chaotic, as having purchased a carpet we thought taking a taxi to the hotel would be the best option. The first taxi driver said it would cost 40 odd Turkish lira, which we couldn’t understand, as it only cost us 10 to get there! We walked on, found another taxi driver, and once in the taxi he let us know that Sultanahmet Square was closed, so traffic was horrendous heading back to where our hotel was located. We managed to get part of the way back via taxi, and then the taxi driver let us off near a tram stop, so we could tram it back to our hotel.
Our trip back from the bazaar was chaotic, as having purchased a carpet we thought taking a taxi to the hotel would be the best option. The first taxi driver said it would cost 40 odd Turkish lira, which we couldn’t understand, as it only cost us 10 to get there! We walked on, found another taxi driver, and once in the taxi he let us know that Sultanahmet Square was closed, so traffic was horrendous heading back to where our hotel was located. We managed to get part of the way back via taxi, and then the taxi driver let us off near a tram stop, so we could tram it back to our hotel.
Later that evening, while sitting down to dinner, we noticed a man outside on the street, setting up a stall with a couple of rabbits and a rooster. We thought perhaps that this set up was for diners, so they could choose what they wanted for dinner!
After dinner we went for a stroll and went over to find out what the animal set up was all about. The animals told people their fortune! It works a bit like a fortune cookie, the owner of the animals asked your name, what language you spoke, told the animal (depending on whether you chose the rooster or one of the two rabbits) and the animal then picked one of the cards from the correct language section,with it’s beak or it’s twitching nose. Very cute,but no photos I apologise, as I didn't have my camera! (Link to fb will only work if you are friends with me,hopefully it works!) https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150942109753286&set=a.10150913472918286.431835.772073285&&theater
After dinner we went for a stroll and went over to find out what the animal set up was all about. The animals told people their fortune! It works a bit like a fortune cookie, the owner of the animals asked your name, what language you spoke, told the animal (depending on whether you chose the rooster or one of the two rabbits) and the animal then picked one of the cards from the correct language section,with it’s beak or it’s twitching nose. Very cute,but no photos I apologise, as I didn't have my camera! (Link to fb will only work if you are friends with me,hopefully it works!) https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150942109753286&set=a.10150913472918286.431835.772073285&&theater
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