June 7, 2009 Topkapi Palace

Another breakfast at the hotel preceded our venturing to the famed Topkapi Palace. Its commanding view of the Golden Horn and the Mrmara Sea are not yet visible at the entrance. Walking through the enormous gates whose sides are decorated with verses from the Koran in Persian calligraphy, we enter a long walkway toward the various buildings that remain of the once much larger palace. Our first stop is at a tree, Hosien is fascinated by trees, then a short walk to an exterior pavilion decorated in customary fashion. We pay the entrance to visit the Harem and enter a fortress to protect the wives and favorites of the many sultans who ruled from this palace site. The maze of walkways ensured that women were safely guarded at all times. Surely no interloper could escape without harm the army of guards who patrolled the walkways. The cells that comprise individual sleeping rooms are too numerous to count. We proceed down more enclosed corridors towards the sultan's private, plush quarters decorated wih mosaics, fine fabrics, stained glass windows, and carpets. Room after room reveals that the sultans enjoyed the state of the art plumbing and other comforts unavaible until much later to European and East Asian nobility. Once again photographs speak more eloquently than any writer of the majesty of these rooms.

Exiting the Harem, we entered the treasure rooms of the palace. Much of the famed treasure is perhaps now in other hands. Reports of the huge open baskets of pearls, emeralds and rubies plundered from India seem an illusion now. Even some of the other great Ottoman treasures are not on display. One wonders if they are traveling the world on exhibition. What is there is regal and demands a visit. We had been told that it would take two days to see the Harem and Topkapi Palace, but we managed it in one long morning. We walked to the on-site café for bottles of water. We would consume enormous quantities during our travels in the Middle East. The café offer a commanding view of the Golden Horn and the Marmara Sea somewhat concelaed by the afternoon's steamy haze.

We needed a rest from the morning's long walk so we stopped in an arbor cafe for another water or tea. Later we tried to secure a cab from the Palace, but the taxi drivers appeared unwilling to drive a short distance at exhorbitant prices to the shores of the Bosphorus where we would select a cruise along the Bosphorus. We walked out of this tourist zone and found a willing and honest driver. Once at the harbor we had several options that included a rapid, two-hour tour to a munincipally run 5-hour tour and other private tours on yachts. We selected the munincipally run tour that included a lay-over in a small touristy village where the Bosphorus pours into the Marmara Sea. My friend Murat had assured me that such a cruise was NOT to be missed. In this he is abundantly wise. Anyone who visits Istanbul without taking such a cruise has cheated himself of a visual feast perhaps unparalleled in the world. Istanbul is the hub of all commerce between Eastern and Western Europe and the African Continent as well as Asia. Once again photographs tell the story better than I. We spent our brief lay-over in the village sipping tea while most people had fish for lunch. The return trip offered the same views of the Asian side of the Bosphorus. We had the hot summer sun punishing us for most of the return cruise, but fortunately seat opened up for the last 30 minutes on the side of the boat sheltered from the sun. Once ashore, we had a pleasant fish dinner on a commercial zone under a bridge connecting European and Asian Istanbul. Fishermen tried there luck on the bridge sapn above us, but I saw no helpless fish reeled in by them. We caught another cab to return to the hotel. Nechirvan returned to his appartment and Hosien to his relatives' home. I took a shower to cool off from the blistering day's sun and read myself to sleep.