16 October

I couldn’t help it – my body clock is still set for Moscow time and so I woke at 0500 and then dozed until 0600, when I got up and started to get ready for breakfast. I was down before 0700 and checked my email (and looked for a reply for the Americans on whose behalf I had sent a request about a lack of transfer to the airport but there was no reply – not happy chappies!). At 0700 I started breakfast – perhaps I have been spoiled by the choice at some other hotels, but there was only one real problem – no toast! To add insult to injury, I was told afterwards I could ask for it.
Then after, down in the lobby, I met Jo and Rick from Australia (and there are others jogging around Istanbul in shorts, as I saw them on my walk to the Topkapi Palace Museum).
I left by 0830 and walked to Topkapi Palace Museum. It wasn’t that far to walk, but I must admit I did cheat a little – I used the GPS to mark the position of the hotel and walked in the general direction until I saw hordes of tourists and directional signs. Once I got my ticket to go in at 0915, I went in, then queued and got a ticket for the Harem. The guide book said it was a guided tour and it was quick, but in fact there was no guide, no guided tour and I cold walk at my own pace, read the boards (Turkish and English) and spend time looking at things. While looking, I met Marshall and Barb from Canada. We commented to each other about the detail and quality of the work in the buildings, and ended up talking about trips and visiting Australia. After that, we parted (they are Istanbul 0157) and I continued looking over the different areas. Unfortunately like in any of these, the continued opulence and show of wealth becomes tiring when taken in one go (I think the idea of two day entry tickets has a lot of merit). After seeing the library, circumcision room (enough to bring tears to one’s eyes) and what is now the restaurant, I met Christina, a nurse from Chicago/Utah while in the Treasury and looking as precious stones. We parted after that, sharing only a little, but ran into each other again (where a guard thought we were together) and swapped names and a few more life stories. She went to get a ticket to the Harem and was under the belief, as I HAD been, that there were only guided tours. I went and looked over the Palace Kitchens. These housed a display of porcelain from China and Japan, which had mostly been transported over the Silk Road. I found the notice about it rather poignant as I had been at Xi’an less than two weeks ago. Here I met couple from Brisbane.
After that, which was nearly four and half hours, I walked back to the hotel. The day was warm and I wanted to divest myself of my jacket and any valuables, as I wanted to visit the Grand Bazaar. I left most things (and the batteries plugged in to charge, but I found out the power goes off when I removed the key, so flat batteries still for the camera AND for the computer), then went for my walk to the Grand Bazaar. It wasn’t as far as I thought, and there were a great many things on sale. It is very large (like the Queen Vic markets on steroids) but covered over completely. Contrary to reports, I found it wasn’t crowded, but that may have been because the number of cruise ships in has diminished (and they leave soon). A carpet salesman (Istanbul 0324) tried to get me interested in purchasing a carpet, but he had no success. Unfortunately I have no money left to purchase things not budgeted for and the shipping would break the budget for the next few months. After having a good look around, I walked back to hotel and had some interesting sights on the way back. Apart from a variety of shops and restaurants, and of course interesting people, there was one man carrying a heavy load and bent nearly double, but he burst out laughing when he saw me photograph him. I got back to the hotel about 1700 and decided I would call it a day – although I may have dinner in the hotel, as I had a bread loaf and kit-kat for lunch (but I did have vegetables for breakfast and am keeping up with vitamin pills).
I uploaded the last previous photos to catch up, then processed today’s photos (and sent a copy to the carpet salesman) and wrote this up while the photos were being uploaded (and 392 photos take a bit of time, even if they are shrunk!).