Day Tour of Istanbul

Today we had a wonderful private tour of Istanbul. There was supposed to be another couple but at the last minute they decided not to go. So, we had the van and the guide, Ozi, all to ourselves.

We started at Topkapi Palace, built in 1460 and home to the Royal Family until the mid-19th century.

There were three different large courtyards surrounding the palace.

There really is no “inside” to the buildings. It was a U-shaped building with the rooms open to the outside and leading to the courtyard.

The site had originally been used by the Romans when they occupied the area.

The next gate is the Gate of Felicity which lead from the 2nd courtyard to the Sultan’s private apartments.

Just inside the door was the ceremonial golden throne the Sultan used for important visitors.

The palace has a museum in which they store the Holy Relics, but it was being renovated (as was a lot of the palace) but we got to see the items in a different part of the building.

Another building we visited was the library. Like all the buildings, there was not much furniture. The early Ottomans were nomads, so they didn’t have traditional furniture. They used rugs and pillows instead.

Then we headed to the armory where many types of ceremonial weapons were displayed.

The Topkapi Daggar is from the mid-18th century and was made as a gift for the Shah of Iran. It was returned to Istanbul when the Shah was assassinated before it could be delivered.

The spoon maker’s diamond is an 84-carat pear shaped stone. It is the 4th largest diamond in the world.

I think this was another audience room.

After an enjoyable time at the palace, we walked to the Hagia Sofia, built in 360AD. It was a Greek Orthodox church until Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. This is also when the name of the city was changed to Istanbul.

Since it had been a Christian church before it was a mosque, there were several Christian mosaics on the walls.

When it was a church, it was used for coronations.

Across from the Hagia Sofia is the Blue Mosque from the early 17th century. The tour was supposed to include access to the mosque, but Ozi said it has undergoing reconstruction for the last 4 years and there is nothing to see on the inside as everything is under drapery.

Here are a few pictures of the inside I found on pixabay.

We had lunch at the Pudding Shop, a restaurant popular in the 60s as a meeting place for hippies and beatniks.

I had the Iskender Kebob (kebob is a style of meat rather than the way it’s served; there were no sticks).

Peter had the Diner Kebob, which was basically the same except it had no sauce and was served with rice and fries instead of the yoghurt. He ate it before I could get a photo.

After lunch we cut through the park to catch up with the van driver. On the way, we passed a water fountain.

We also passed an obelisk given as a gift from Egypt.

The base was marble and told the story of how the structure was made and transported to Istanbul.

We saw the reproduction of this brass pillar last week in Delphi. This is the original.

The last stop on the tour was the Grand Bazaar constructed in the early 15th century at the same time Topkapi Palace was built. But first we stopped at Vezirhan, a wholesaler of handmade carpets.

I saw a demonstration of how they make silk. It was so cool.

I’ve never seen so many rugs in one place before. They were literally piled everywhere in this massive building.

This building is also from the 15th century and had been a hotel for over 500 years.

Of course, the main reason for bringing us into the store was not just to help us learn about how they make carpets, but to sell us a rug. And they did. We bought a gorgeous one to put under the table in our dining area. All of their rugs are handmade and dyed naturally with vegetable dyes.

After that damage was done, it was on to the Grand Bazaar. The place is gigantic, with 4,000 stores on 61 covered streets. According to Wikipedia, it has between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. In 2014, it was listed as the #1 most visited tourist attraction in the world with over 91 million visitors annually. Ozi said that the locals never shop there…it’s all for the tourists.

It is a shopper’s paradise. You can buy virtually anything here.

After leaving the Bazaar, Ozi took us back to the hotel which is only about 10 minutes away. On the way, we passed the Istanbul University, which was founded in the early 15th century making it one of the oldest universities in the world.

It was a terrific, albeit expensive, day. Ozi was great and we’re really glad we had her as our guide.

Tomorrow, the only thing on the agenda is a 2 1/2-hour boat ride on the Bosphorus River. They will pick us up at the hotel, but we’ll need to get home on our own. My Greek SIM card doesn’t work here and it’s not worth getting another for just a couple of days, so I don’t have GPS. Before we leave in the morning, I’ll have the front desk write out directions for how to take the tram home from the dock. There’s a stop about 50 meters from our front door so as long as we get on the right tram, we should be fine.