Then we had a trip to the Spice Market. This is a rabbit warren of stalls selling spices, fresh foods, decorative items, etc. The locals people buy a lot of their daily food here.Than it was on to the Topkapi Palace. This was the official center of government for the Ottomans. Like many other ottoman sites, it had elaborate decorations. It is currently a museum, so we got to see the kitchens and several displays of jewels and pottery. At one time, as many as seven thousand people worked and/or lived here and they all had to be fed. The dagger portrayed in the film Topkapi is featured here plus a very large diamond.
We finished this day's tour at the Grand Bazaar, the largest 'souk' in the world housing over 4400 shops. You can buy just about anything here and you have to bargain for it. Claire decided she needed a carpet for our dining room, so our tour guide sent us to a store he knows well. The buying experience was quite nice (as opposed to being constantly badgered as you are in many places). We made a purchase and the rug will be shipped to Gualala. The Visa card is starting a meltdown. We visited several other shops inside the bazaar, including a nice leather shop where Bill saw a nice jacket but he didn't buy it.On the bus ride home, our guide decided to take us to the Basilica Cistern. Built in 542 AD, it is the largest and most magnificent covered cistern (there are a lot) in the city. Millions of gallons of water were stored here so the city would have water in case of attack or emergency. No longer used, it is purely a tourist site now, beautifully dark and mysterious with low lighting and mossy columns and statues.
1 comment:
I'm way behind on my blog reading, as well as everything else, but wanted to tell you how happy Jer and I are that you got to experience the Cistern in Istanbul. For us, it was one of the highlights (seems like the wrong word, but you know what I mean) of our all-too-brief visit to Turkey.
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