Wednesday – Istanbul Day 1
Because we weren’t due to arrive in Istanbul until midday, I took the opportunity to do some painting in the cabin in the morning. Satisfied with what I’d produced, I joined Tracey on deck at about 11:30, when we picked up the Pilot to take us into port. We were lucky; the Black Watch had bagged a good parking spot, on the best side of the river, and within easy walking distance of all the most notorious landmarks… things were looking good!
After lunch, we armed ourselves with maps and water (cos it was quite hot), and headed ashore. The first thing we were confronted with, on leaving the port was the traffic, and a choice of whether to turn left or right.Our objective was Topkapi Palace, just visible through the trees of a park on the opposite side of the busy road, yet there seemed to be no pedestrian crossing. We mentally flipped a coin and choice to go left, towards where we believed there to be an entrance to the park. Crossing the road was simply a matter of going for it, and hoping for the best (Turkish drivers do seem to like to exercise their car horns as often as possible).
Our choice turned out to be a correct one, and provided us with the shortest distance to one of Istanbul’s greatest attractions. You could tell it was one of Istanbul’s greatest attractions by the sheer numbers of people milling about there. Topkapi Palace was the residence of the Ottoman Sultans and the administrative centre of the state until the middle of the 19th Century. The place is HUGE! We bought our entrance tickets and passed through the Gate of Salutation into what is known as the Second Courtyard. It was absolutely manic; massive groups of people on guided tours were everywhere, and the first thing we did was to purchase a guidebook from the shop to give us a fighting chance of being able to navigate our way around.
Most of the buildings housed exhibitions; clothes and weaponry, and relics from the era of the Sultans. The biggest queues, though, were those to get into the Treasury, where one particular item grabbed the most attention. The Spoonmaker’s Diamond (Kasikci Elmasi) is the largest and most famous in the Imperial Treasury; it’s an 86 carat, pear-shaped diamond, surrounded by 49 brilliant-cut diamonds. The story goes that it was actually found on a rubbish tip by a tinker in the year 1090, who exchanged it for three spoons, not knowing at the time that it was a diamond. In the world of diamonds, it seems, this one is a bit famous! Unless I’m very much mistaken, there was a movie about it, where thieves planned to steal it…. I’ll need to research that, though (I need access to the IMDB – I think it starred Peter Ustinov).
The individual exhibitions were interesting but, for me, the stars of the show were the buildings themselves. We passed through to a third and fourth courtyard, each with their own exquisitely decorated rooms; quarters that belonged to members of the Sultans advisors – there was the Oval Room, where the council met and made important decisions and passed the laws of the land, and rooms belonging to the Physicians, and rooms devoted to sporting events, and one devoted to the circumcision of young sons of the Sultan (an event that sparked off days of festivities amongst the people). All the rooms were ornate and quite beautiful to behold – the only rooms we missed out on, which, in retrospect, we would like to have seen, were the private quarters of the Sultan, his family and their entourage – the harem. To view this area of the palace required a separate payment, and it wasn’t until we’d been around the rest of the palace that we decided we’d cough up the extra to see it – unfortunately, it was getting late on in the afternoon and the harem had closed for the day.
We spent about four hours in Topkapi Palace, and still felt that we hadn’t seen it all – quite an amazing place! Time was getting on, and it was gone 5pm when we emerged back onto the streets of Istanbul. We strolled towards the Blue Mosque and the large square nearby, to check our bearings and formulate some sort of a plan for day 2. There were still lots of people milling about, but we realised that we were hungry, so we headed back towards the Black Watch for dinner.
After dinner, we took a walk along the waterside, towards the Galata Bridge. The sun had long since set, and the lights of Istanbul reflected in the water. All along the waterfront there were stalls with men selling fish and hot food, and people milled around as energetically as earlier in the day. Istanbul is as lively a place at night as it is during the day – the traffic is just as mad, too. Galata Bridge is a fascinating bridge because it is so much more than just a bridge. Beneath it, there are rows upon rows of brightly lit restaurants, from where their owners pounced and tried to lure us in for a meal or a drink. Each one wanted to know where we were from – we’re from England we would say… whereabouts in England they would ask? Eventually, I just got into the habit of saying to each manager as they approached us – thank you, but we’ve eaten – we’re from England – North Yorkshire – where it rains a lot!
Along the top of the bridge, alongside the constant stream of traffic runs their Metro trains, and along the sides of the bridge were rows of fishermen – loads of them – with their hooks dangling in front of the restaurants below, and to the water, mostly men, but some women too, and some couples – probably catching tomorrow’s tea.
We were quite entranced, and very pleased that we’d made the effort to take a walk in the night air – we even vowed, should we get the opportunity to return, to have a meal in one of the restaurants we’d passed, all of which looked thoroughly inviting. Istanbul, it seems, is a city that never sleeps; in almost every direction you look, there are mosques, floodlit, and looking quite resplendent. Even the suspension bridge, on the Bosphorus, visible from our berth, had an impressive light show on it, changing colours and flashing in different patterns… quite magical.
We slept well on Wednesday night….
