Our second day of touring started at the Chora Church, featuring early 13th century mosaics and frescoes.
But the highlight of today’s history section was Topkapi Palace, home to the sultans for centuries. In addition to beautiful tiles and fantastic views, the treasury section held an 86-carat diamond, and the relics section had what is said to be the staff Moses used to part the Red Sea (in remarkably good condition!) and pieces of Mohammed’s beard.
I think I shocked our tour guide by having very little interest in shopping in the Grand Bazaar. We had to see it, of course, being the granddaddy of malls, built in 1461 and holding about 3,000 stores. It was cleaner and less crowded than I expected, but it helped that there were no cruise ships in town today.
We ended the day in Ortakoy, a fun little waterfront neighborhood. Thanks to recommendations from a friend, we headed to the House Cafe for another night of cocktails with a view. You could probably spend years in Istanbul and not hit all the restaurants with great views.
Here are the fancy drinks.
And here is the town mosque.
Like I said, greats views are everywhere!
After a simple dinner at a meyhane (kind of like the Turkish equivalent of a pub – this one had a singer doing late-era Elvis), we headed back to our hotel.
In a ten-minute span we experienced two extremes of Istanbul. We dropped into the Four Seasons Bosphorus to use their bathrooms before making the trek back to our hotel. It was eye-popping luxury, with an expansive view across the Bosphorus, marble everywhere and beautiful plants and flowers. A few stops into our tram ride two women boarded the train, one with a parrot and one with an iguana. Not something you see everyday.
Last view of Istanbul before heading to Cappadocia to tomorrow – the Dolmabahce Palace.
It's What We Do 