Istanbul, the Topkapi Palace

Thursday, May 21.

We realise that while we have been having fun, we really have made no plans beyond Istanbul which we have decided to leave on the 25^th. The morning is spent planning and booking. Our decision is to alter our provisional itinerary. Instead of going from Istanbul East and then South, we have decided to fly to Cappadokya. Or host Yalcin helps us to find a very cheap air fare to Nevshehir with Anadolujet – 99tl each. When I try to book it, the payment is not accepted. Yalcin obligingly does the booking with his card and I pay him in cash. The only concern is that, as with many budget airlines, there is a baggage limit of 15kg!! We have over 20kg each + a suit bag. What to do. Yalcin suggest Lois produces some tears at the check in. After Cappadokya, the thought is to hire a car and follow our originally intended route in the other direction.

Breakfast with our host Yalcin.

The traffic jam of the morning deliveries in our one way lane. The car just has to wait until the truck at the bottom end is ready to move.

Now that we can get to Nevshehir, where do we stay. Being only a few days ahead, we need to decide quickly. On the net, I find what looks like an interesting offer in Ortahisar – the Cave Hotel. It is not cheap but why not give ourselves some comforts for a few days. Regrettably, by the information on the internet, some of the lower priced accommodation does not always offer private bathrooms which we want.

All that done, we set out for the Topkapi Palace – the traditional seat of the Ottoman Empire. As Lonely Planet puts it, “Topkapi is the subject of more colourful stories than most of the world’s museums put together. Libidinous sultans, ambitious courtiers, beautiful concubines and scheming eunuchs live and worked here between the 15^th and 19^th centuries” when it was the centre of the court of the Empire.

Pieces of ancient buildings almost litter the way to the Topkapi Palace.

The model showing the kitchen wing on the right.

The colonnade of the kitchen wing forms one formal side of the great courtyard.

The fine brick vaults and domes of the kitchen wing. The holes let out the smoke and heat.

As elsewhere in Istanbul this month, there are crowds. Beyond that, I don’t find the built setting as captivating as I did on my first visit a little over 50 years ago. There are sure some fine spaces but I was more impressed by the exoticism then, having left London a couple of months earlier and done little other travelling except Europe.

Everyone wants to see the BIG diamond.

One of the big attractions is the supposedly world’s biggest diamond – the Topkapi diamond. Years ago, I saw a very fine film about an attempt to steal it. It still seems to fascinate people. Testimony to that is what seem like an endless queue. We decide not to join it.

Most rooms do not have any smaller furnishings which might convey a sense of how they were lived in. 

The grounds run out to the waters edge.

Here are undoubtedly some very fine rooms. However, having been developed over a few centuries and by many different sultans, to me somehow it lacks an over sense of unity and harmony. However, this may be an unfair comment as, by its size, it is almost a small city in its own right. One wing which is referred to as the kitchen, apparently had to feed up to 5000 people.

The signage and presentation of many parts do not impress us. There is a sense of arrogance that, if you don’t understand Turkish, too bad. Despite English being the language of tourism, the English language information is scant.

The weary visitors.

On the way to the tram, we share lunch of a Metze and bread, which regrettably is stale. The freshly squeezed orange juice is not.

One of the very fine trams of Istanbul. 

We are at Galata Bridge when we discover we are on the wrong tram which is going back to where we started from. A young man with good English helps us out and directs us to a tunnel Metro which takes us from the other side of Galata Bridge to just beyond the tower. It is supposedly the world’s second oldest underground transport system and runs between two stations only. It saves us, by its original intent, the climb up the hill to Beyoglu. 

Back home – to have a rest, more blogging and retirement.