Wednesday October 2nd, 2013 Istanbul, Turkey

A full day in Istanbul!

The weather was quite miserable today; raining and cold with strong winds - but we vowed not to let this get in the way of our sight-seeing. Having visited Istanbul a few years ago, we wanted to focus this trip on some of the things we had not seen or that we felt were worth a second look - first up was the Dolmabahce Palace.

On exiting the cruise terminal, to get to the Dolmabahce Palace, turn right and walk about 1km along the main street - it took us about 15 minutes. Our umbrellas were working overtime to keep the wind and rain out, but we were in good spirits as we knew we had a good day ahead of us.

The Sultan and his harem moved from the Topkapi Palace in the old quarter of Istanbul to the newly constructed Dolmabahce Palace in 1853. The new palace is constructed almost entirely in European style - there is very little Turkish influence. The last six Ottoman Sultans lived in the Dolmabahce before the empire collapsed at the end of the first world war in 1918.

There are two ticket options for the palace; the full tour which includes the palace and the harem, or a ticket for just the palace - we opted for the full tour.

We were a bit surprised and disappointed to find that all tours of the palace are in guided groups - Sandra had visited many years ago and wandered freely. After only a short wait, while donning plastic overshoes, we were ushered into an entry hall - our group consisted of about 75 people, way too big for this kind of tour. After the first stop on the tour, we gave up trying to hear what the guide was saying. The other big disappointment was that no photography was allowed inside the palace - Sandra and others tried a few shots to test the strength of the anti-photo police and after the group was politely reminded of the policy, she put her camera way. Not so several idiots who continued to shoot away and attract the wrath of the palace employees - this was very irritating. While I found the camera policy a bit baffling, you have to respect the rules - we don't want anarchy breaking out!

Even with all these annoying issues, I found the Dolmabahce Palace to be absolutely amazing - it is one of the most elaborately adorned palaces I have ever visited. The interior is filled with original furnishing left from the time of the last sultan - I suppose this has to do with the relatively "easy" transition from Ottoman rule to the Turkish republic, compared to counties like France for example.

The building is basically divided into too separate functional areas; the formal Palace side where matters of state were attended - and the "family" side (AKA Harem which mean forbidden), where the Sultan lived with his mother, up to 4 chosen wives (any more than this had to live outside the palace but close by), other female family members and male members before they were circumcised; after they met the knife (at about age 10) they were considered men and had to go and live on the Palace side. Interestingly the sultan never actually officially married any of his "wives" so as to avoid giving them any legal standing they might challenge his power.

Strangely, after finishing the palace tour which lasted about 45 minutes - we were required to exit the building, walk all the way around to the back, line again, put on overshoes again and reenter for the harem part of the tour which lasted an additional 30 minutes.

Our next intended stop was the Grand Bazaar. We exited the palace and walked about 5 minutes back down the main street in the direction of the ship to get to the streetcar stop. Though limited in the extent of the system - the streetcars in Istanbul are very modern and cheap to ride. Access to the system is gained by purchasing a "giton" token for 3 Turkish Lire (about $1.50) from machines at the stop, and for this price you get to ride as far as you want on that particular streetcar. The streetcars can get very crowded, as ours did as it made its way closer to the center of the city - by the time we got off at the Sultan Ahmad stop (right by the Blue Mosque), the car was packed. It’s always a good idea to keep alert in situations like this as we were well aware that we probably stuck out as tourists - and may be targeted by pickpockets. We had no problems of this kind - however after the streetcar had pulled away, and we were walking along the street, Sandra informed me that she had been groped as she was getting of the train; she did not know whether to be flattered or furious (she was slightly furious).

After a quick lunch at one of the many restaurants along the main street we headed up towards the Grand Bazaar. Along the way we discovered an unexpected treat; the shrine of the last 3 Ottoman sultans. We had noticed this area the last time were we in Istanbul, but it was closed - it's on the right-hand side of the main street that leads from the Blue Mosque to the bazaar. After walking through a small cemetery, we entered the mausoleum of the sultans where we had to remove our shoes and Sandra had to put on her headscarf - it was a very small building, and we were the only ones in there. Unlike Christian tombs in a Muslim tomb the dead are buried at a slight angle, with the head raised up. Another quirk we noticed was the fez placed on the pinnacle of each tomb. Awesome and well worth a visit.

Off to the Grand Bazaar - the place is both grand and bazar. There are over 4000 shops in the grand bazaar arranged in a warren of covered streets and alleys – it’s not like any other market I've ever visited. The bazaar dates from the 15th century and sells jewelry, carpets, spices, leather goods and various other trinkets. This was not our first visit, so we knew to expect a certain amount of hassle as shopkeepers tried to get us to come into their stores - a firm "no thanks" usually does the trick, but sometimes it feels as though you have something stuck on your shoe and you have to just keep shaking to get it off. Our visit was more about soaking up the atmosphere than buying anything in particular - so we wandered the streets trying to avoid sensory overload which is pretty difficult. We eventually bought a few trinkets, haggling over the price - as expected, and headed out.

Close by the Grand Bazaar is the Suleymaniye Mosque, constructed for Suleyman the Magnificent. Even though smaller than the Blue Mosque we found the Suleymaniye Mosque to be delightful - and it seemed to be more of a "working mosque", we were the only tourists inside.

By now it was getting a little late in the day, but we decided to make one last stop at the Blue Mosque - even though we had visited it in the past we felt it was just too good an opportunity to pass up. The area around the Blue Mosque is now largely pedestrianized and had been updated since our last visit; in the open area to the side of the mosque we came upon two Egyptian obelisks - quite impressive!

Entering the courtyard of the mosque really takes your breath away…

We made our way to the visitor’s entrance, there is a main entrance for those who are entering for prayers, and line up with the small crowd. There is a bit of a ritual to follow when entering a mosque; shoes must be removed and placed in provided plastic bags, no shorts for men, and women must have their shoulders covered and wear a headscarf - all this must be done in "production-line like" fashion as you are ushered to the entrance. We just made it inside before they shut off the entrance to get the mosque ready for prayers. 

The vast interior of the mosque is amazing; the men involved in prayer are permitted beyond a barrier that separates the front from the back, tourists are only allowed in a middle swathe and then, behind screens at the very back, are the women in prayer. Some people are unbelievable; we watched in amazement as one tourist who was not satisfied with trying to peer through the screen to see the women then pulled out his camera and held it above the screen so he could see what was going on - and then took flash pictures!  

While the Blue Mosque is very busy, and it does feel a bit like being in a herd of cattle, it still rates as a "must see" in Istanbul.