Istanbul.....

As im nightshift..i have all day to explore...of course...i have to sleep...but i can work around it....so...today i decided to take a tour....which included Topkapi Palace and Harem, Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar...i will chat more about the first two cause the other two i have seen and talked about before...but i did learn some new facts..which might interest you....hahaha.....

So...on the first day we normally arrive in Istanbul only after lunch, so tour dispatched at 13:00, which for me was perfecto cause it allowed me to sleep for a little bit....the tour guide was very good....on the way to the palace she explained a few things about Turkey....here are some facts...

- Before 380AD the capital of the Roman Empire was Constantinoples (which today is Istanbul).....in 380AD however, the Roman Empire was divided into East and West and Rome and the Vatican became the capital of the Western Roman Empire while Constantinoples became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire....

- There are about 75million inhabitants in Turkey...and about 15million in Istanbul which is considered the Financial capital

- The Turkish "eras" are as follows: now....Turkish era, before that Ottonum era, before that Byzantine and before that Roman empire

- There are 5 beliefs Muslims follow....prey 5 x a day, once in their lifetime they must do the Pilgrimage to Mecca, give 10% of excess weakth every year to the poor, Ramadan (fasting) and the 5th i forgot....

So...now time for the visit to Topkapi palace and the Harem....first we entered the Harem and Tuly (our guide) explained us some things before we entered, that is because once inside the Harem groups are not allowed to hover....movement needs to occur at all times....here some facts...

- The head of the Harem is the Sultan's mother

The mother will choose many Concubines for the Sultan (ladies which stay at the Harem), and the ones the Sultan fancies, he marries and they become his wifes

But which son (taken that he has many sons from the different wifes), will become the next Sultan.....well the mothers all want to become mother Sultan so they compete (in other words it is not neccessary the oldestson), the mothers/ wifes comete against each other, even going as far as asking their slaves to kill the cometition (other sons).....

The slaves in the Harem are all black and castrated, this is to ensure that thereis no babies in case one of the ladies sleeps with a slave

- As mentioned, the Sultan's mother rules the Harem and in order for the Sultan to get to his room, he needs to pass through his mother's room....and every morning, he will kiss his mother's hand

- 36 Sultans lived at the Topkapi Harem and after that they moved to the Dolmabahce palace

So....now anough facts...and time for some pics...the Harem is nice inside but not as impressive as European influenced palaces....but this the guide told us....very different...but still amazing to see...a lot of tiles and gold encrusted things....here some pics..

What fascinated me was this fact...there are a lof of taps...why....taps show that it the room of someone important...and when the water flowed it meant that the people inside the room were having an imprtant conversation and the ran the tap so that no one would hear their conversation.....interesting...here a pic of one of the taps/ fountains....

We didnt see all the rooms..but we saw the highlights which of course included the Sultan's room and the mother's room....the were also a lot of fire places...all very simialr in style but different finishes...also stunning to look at....here is a pic of one

Afterwards we Tuly explained the other buildings which all form part of the Topkapi palace...from the relics building to the library to the treasury room and we got free time to decide which ones we wanted to explore....i explored the treasury....amazing daggers and ornaments...all covered in gold, diamonds, emeralds etc....but the highlight was a diamond....86 Carat....unbelievable....that was really wow...i also just wondered around looking at the outside of the buildings...cause as you know...i love the architecture....inside the treasury we were not allowed to take pics...so here some pics of other buildings which all form part of the Topkapi palace...

I enjoyed getting free time and being able to explore what we desired....after that...a short walk to the Blue Mosque, which as you might remember from a previous blog is near the Haiga Sofya (red mosque).....we had a winderful view of both mosques from the outside...really wow....the blue mosque has 6 minorets and the red mosque has 4 minorets...what are minorets....as i mentioned muslims prey 5 x a day...so in order to hear the preyer...they had minorets which made the sound go far....and the more minorets...the more imprtant the mosque is....here a pic from the outside of the two mosques...first the Blue Mosque aka Sultan Ahmet Mosque and then the Red Mosque (Haiga Sofya)....

Inside Tuly showed us the indent which indicates the direction of Mecca and she also showed us thatthe carpet has dark spots and then a larger light spot and then dark again and so on...the dark spot is where the Muslims must put their feet...the light spot is where their head will go....also the men prey in the middle of the mosque while the women prey in a u-shape around the men....interesting....after that it was tiem for Grand Bazaar...when i heard we would have free time for 2 hrs i was like...what the hell....not for me.....so i found myself a Starbucks (not my favourite coffee as it s too weak, but foam is good and there is wifi) and passed my time like that...yes, yes....i did walk around for 40min....and then found a Starbucks...hahaha....this is a typical cart selling millies and rasted chestnuts...they are all ver Turkey....quite cool...especially cause i love roasted chestnuts...here a pic....

Around 19:30 we arrived back at the ship....Kim ordered room service...and the best surprise was...when i ame inside the room....it was all there already...so nice...really appreciated that...so...tonight of course...nightshift again...night 5....then 9 more to go...hmmmmm....okey dokey...cheerio.....till next time.....

 

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