Thursday, July 12, 2012

Turkey Trip - Day 4: Haram Museum and 1453 Panorama

We walked to Topkapi Palace(25 TL) for 9am opening plus the Haram Museum (15 TL) within. Took lots of photos before my camera battery died: caftans, jewels, gifts from other governments and royals.




It was built in the 15th century as an official complex then made by Suleyman into official residence.

After long morning tour, we took the tram to the Eminonu stop for a winding walk to the Spice Bazaar. An upper restaurant Pandeli was recommended for a lunch of eggplant salad & ayran. It seemed pretty dead, so we headed down to the warren of shops. Then a long walk to Sulimonye Mosque by Sinan architect – no photography allowed.

Returned by tram to the Topkapi stop where guide Carl had earlier shown us the breach in the Roman wall. We wanted to view this incredible diorama of the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans. By far, this was the best educational tourist stop with audio tours in 8 different languages.

Returning to Sarnic hotel, we had our photo taken with Nadira, and the hotel staff helped order a bus for us for travel to Konya on Friday. For dinner, we ate at the hotel's rooftop restaurant where we were greeted effusively by a young waiter. Then we waited 20 – 25 minutes for our drink order to arrive! My appetizer sampler (dolmate, tomato salad, eggplant salad, & fresh cheese) was out done by Elaine's order of sea bass which was painstakingly de-boned by the same youthful waiter. Alas, dessert and service went down hill as we waited nearly 20 minutes for our check. Then back to our room to pack for the next morning's travel.

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