The competition for the tourist dollar is fierce here in Sultanahmet. You cannot walk by a store or restaurant without hearing at least “Yes, Please” and usually more like a polite plea to look at the menu or a question of “Where are you from” to get you engaged in conversation (thus making it harder to walk away from the restaurant or carpet shop).
The strangest thing I saw being sold on the street was a toy I remember from childhood… I think it was called a Spirograph, somebody tell me if I am wrong – I am attaching a picture. The guy in this picture was selling his Spirograph on someone else’s turf and they came after him moments after I shot the picture. He was a quick runner, but he lost all his Spirograph supplies on the tram tracks.I mentioned the prayer call we heard in Goreme before. It is stranger here in Istanbul because instead of one mosque, it seems like every mosque shouts out the prayer call… it is almost like they are competing with each other for getting their prayer calls out there. I don’t know how you could tell which one you should be listening to…
We will also miss the stray kitties here that we have been petting. There are many stray cats here, just like in Greece. I even have a photo of TJ petting a kitty who was hanging out inside the Ayasofya. That will go nicely in the “TJ pets cats around the world” photo album.
We had to leave for the airport around 10 pm, so we spent our last evening hanging out with the two guys who worked at the hostel. They were so funny. I teased them a little about how boys act toward each other here. It is nice, but I was thrown off the first time I saw two friends meet up on a bus who hugged and kissed each other. I have seen many men walking arm and arm, but it is just a cultural norm here and it is not a sign of their sexual preference.(TJ) I spent my last day at the Dolambache palace which is where the last sultans of the Ottoman Empire lived up until the end of WWI. There were a couple of tours that you could t
ake at the palace I opted for the Harem tour (family quarters). The exterior grounds are very nice, the palace sits right on the water and there are gates to the water that are palace guards watch over. The Harem itself consists mainly of apartments for the Sultan, Sultans Mother and the 6-8 concubines and their children. The apartments themselves I did not think were all that nice. The sultans quarters were nice enough along with some the state rooms. I did not think that it had the grandeur of say Versailles or the Winter Palace (a.k.a. Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, Russia) however. Another interesting historical item about the palace was that Ataturk lived there when he was ruling Turkey and he died there. They have kept his room intact along with his personal bathroom and treatment room, since I believe he had stomach cancer.
ake at the palace I opted for the Harem tour (family quarters). The exterior grounds are very nice, the palace sits right on the water and there are gates to the water that are palace guards watch over. The Harem itself consists mainly of apartments for the Sultan, Sultans Mother and the 6-8 concubines and their children. The apartments themselves I did not think were all that nice. The sultans quarters were nice enough along with some the state rooms. I did not think that it had the grandeur of say Versailles or the Winter Palace (a.k.a. Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, Russia) however. Another interesting historical item about the palace was that Ataturk lived there when he was ruling Turkey and he died there. They have kept his room intact along with his personal bathroom and treatment room, since I believe he had stomach cancer.
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