North Africa ‘Plus’ Travel Diary

2011

 

Istanbul is a lovely city with a wonderful cosmopolitan, diverse, welcoming feel to it.  It has been great to spend the day with Tim, on this, our last full day together on the trip, exploring more of this fabulous city.

I had heard that one of the “must-dos” of Istanbul was to go for a boat trip on the Bosphorus, that narrow strip of water that separates the European and Asian parts of the city.  We had booked a boat trip that left from a wharf on the Golden Horn (the even narrower strip of water that separates the old and new European sections of Istanbul) at 11 am, which meant we had the time to do some nearby exploring before boarding the ferry.

Our first stop was the Spice Bazaar, located across the road from the ferry wharf.  I enjoyed this old covered market even more than yesterday’s Grand Bazaar as it was less tourist-focussed and immensely more colourful, the sweet and pungent aroma of the spices being more than sufficient to cover even the most extreme fart that any father’s son might hypothetically have produced.  The good humour of the stall owners was also amusing - one spice stall owner was getting the attention of passers-by by shouting “Everything in my shop is free today” and “I even have poison for your mother-in-law”.  The robust trade in traditional aphrodisiacs was also interesting see, especially as many of the buyers were ladies of various ages dressed in body-covering black chadors - a brave attempt at anonymity perhaps?

Having explored and shopped in the Spice Bazaar, we spent a quarter of an hour in the Yeni Cami (New Mosque) located near its entrance.  It is a comment on Istanbul’s antiquity that a building named the New Mosque would be 400 years old.  Although construction began in 1597, it was not completed until 1663, but the result was a lovely example of Ottoman architecture, one that was very much in active everyday use (if our Friday visit was any indication).

By this time, it was drawing close to 11 am, so we crossed the street, boarded our ferry, and began our 80 minute cruise on the Bosphorus.  The weather could not have been better, with temperatures about 27 or 28 degrees, sunny clear blue skies and a light refreshing breeze blowing across the bright blue waters.

Istanbul looked wonderful in today’s clear sunlight from the perspective of the ferry.  We sailed up the western (European) side of the Bosphorus to the second bridge (known as the Fatih Bridge), and then back again along the eastern (Asian side).  The western side had more commercial development, more hotels and more palaces, and a higher density of settlement than the eastern side, which was mainly residential in nature.  The most northerly point of the trip was the recently renovated Köprülü Amcazade Hüseyin Paşa Yalı, the oldest castle on the Bosphorus which played an important role in the Muslim conquest of Istanbul.

The boat returned to the shore at about 12:20 pm, and by 1:00 pm we had returned to our hotel to do some necessary e-mails.  Having attended to these, we set off on foot for the walk of a kilometre or so the Topkapi Palace, stopping for just a short while at a sidewalk cafe to have a light lunch.

The Topkapi Palace covers a huge hilltop expanse of land overlooking the Bosphorus.  Construction began shortly after the Muslim conquest of Istanbul in 1453 as a palace to house the ruling sultans.  As the Lonely Planet guide describes it: “Home to Selim the Sot, who drowned in the bath after drinking too much champagne; İbrahim the Mad, who lost his reason after being locked up for four years in the infamous palace kafes (cage); and Roxelana, beautiful and malevolent consort of Süleyman the Magnificent, the famous Topkapı Palace would have to be the subject of more colourful stories than most of the world’s museums put together”.

We arrived at the palace just as an orchestra of traditional musicians was leaving, the discordant sounds reverberating loudly across the courtyard, echoing as the sound waves kept bouncing back and forth to the stone walls on either side.

The palace was indeed huge, and much of the architecture elaborate and intricate while also being grand in scale.  For me, though, the highlight was undoubtedly the area known as the Harem.  To enter the Harem, an additional entry fee had to be paid, which I realised later probably means that an item will appear on my credit card bill next month as “Istanbul Harem”, or something similar.  That might require some explanation!

The word ‘harem’ literally means ‘private’.  Popular legend says that this particular harem was a place where the sultan could engage in all sorts of debauchery at will (and Murat III did have 112 children), but in reality,the Harem was the imperial family quarters, and every detail of life there was governed by rigid tradition, obligation and ceremony.  The women in the harem had to be foreigners as Islam prohibited making Muslims, Christians or Jews slaves.  Girls were bought as slaves, often having been sold by their parents at a good price), or they were received as gifts from nobles.

Once in the harem, the conditions actually seemed to be very comfortable.  The rooms we saw were elaborate, with heating and cooling, running water and sometimes quite lavish amounts of space.  Of all the parts of the palace, the Harem was the most intimate in scale and elaborate in decor.

Another interesting place was the Circumcision Room.  To state the obvious, this beautifully decorated room was used for performing circumcisions.  Interestingly, it was by far the least crowded room in the entire Palace - even Tim stayed for only a few seconds before leaving quickly and waiting for me outside.  I loved the fact that the signs at the door prohibited not only smoking but babies’ prams, the only room in the Palace to do so as far as I can recall.

The other area that I found especially fascinating unfortunately didn’t allow photographs inside.  This was a room with various religious relics, including the rod of Moses, Abraham’s saucepan, the turban of Joseph, the footprint of Mohammed, several pieces of the beard of Mohammed (and cases in which to carry it), and a tooth of the Prophet.  I must say that the rod of Moses looked remarkably well preserved considering its alleged age.

The visit to the Topkapi Palace was a wonderful experience, and gave us a wonderful insight into the life of the sultans during the early Islamic period of Turkey’s history.  We left the Palace in the late afternoon and after a short rest in the large gardens downhill from it, we walked to the restaurant for dinner.

As tonight was Tim’s and my last night together on the trip, we decided to have a special meal at a restaurant with a good view over Istanbul.  I did some research on www.tripadvisor.com and found the Imbat Restaurant, which ranked number 4 out of 1103 restaurants in Istanbul.  As the prices looked reasonable and it was within walking distance of our hotel, it seemed to fit the bill.

It was a great find, with excellent service, a great view and fabulous food - a perfect choice for our final meal together on the trip.

Day 26 - Istanbul, Turkey

Friday

8 July 2011

Today’s Bonus Images