Thursday 16^th June – Ataköy, Istanbul (Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar, Basilica Cistern)

40:58.262N 28:52.579E

We were up very early and on the 8am bus to Eminönü in the centre of Istanbul.  The bus station is on the coast near the Galata Bridge which is the bridge which spans the Golden Horn (Haliç), the estuary which separates the European side of Istanbul between Old Istanbul in the south and the newer area of Beyoğlu in the north.  >From here we could see across the busy Bosphorus strait to the Asiatic side of Istanbul.

We then took the tram up into Old Istanbul where the major sights are.  After a slight delay, having got geographically challenged on the location of the Topkapi Palace (we stayed on the tram too long), we arrived at Sultanahmet, home to the spectacular Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace.

We got to the Topkapi Palace (Topkapi Sarayi) around 9.30am rather than at opening time at 9am but this seemed to work as there was only a short queue for tickets.  We spent the morning touring the Palace which was the home of the Sultans from 1462 until the 19^th century.  The highlights were the large Harem and the Imperial Treasury with fabulous jewels on display (sadly no photographs allowed).  Whilst we were in the Palace we were pleased that most of the attractions were inside as on wandering around on our audio-guided tour we saw that rain was pouring down outside.

After the Topkapi Palace we headed out for a late lunch, stopping on the way to visit the impressive mausoleums of Hagia Sophia.  We found a lovely small restaurant/café tucked away in a side street and ate a great lunch in the tiny dining room; the vegetarian plate that I ordered was a fantastic range of salads that even Richard had to admit was good when he tried some.

We decided to do something different after lunch and went to the Grand Bazaar (Kapali Çarşi); we read that the bazaar has 22 entrances and some 4,500 shops.  Richard was here around 30 years ago and it had changed somewhat.  It now has newly painted ceilings with modern TV monitors hanging from them and tourist police at every turn, sort of like a Park Lane version of the medina in Tunis; fortunately away from the main streets some traces of its original character could be found.

After the Grand Bazaar, we went to visit the Blue Mosque but it had just closed for prayers as we arrived so we went across to the ancient Roman water cistern instead.  The vast Basilica Cistern is underground and really surprisingly good, with a variety of columns and plinths supporting the ceiling.

We then called it a day and walked down the hill to find the bus, which eluded us for a while as it wasn’t leaving from the bus terminal but from a bus stop the other side of the busy main road.  With multiple lanes of traffic and barriers to stop people crossing, the only way across was to find the pedestrian underpass which here is lined by further shops and stalls.

I realised when we arrived back at the marina that we had spent the entire day as a tourist in Istanbul without visiting one of the fabulous mosques – hopefully we’ll put that right tomorrow.

Eminönü

Hippodrome

Topkapi Palace

Grand Bazaar

Basilica Cistern

Around Old Istanbul

End of a long day

© Pyxis 2011