October 7

(in which our heroes get their first Boat Trip, but Jerry is struck with the infamous Turkish Gastric Distress)

Morning: Topkapi Palace

First, it must be said that Istanbul is full of cats, many of whom are friendly even after you have established that you are not going to feed them. The grounds of the big attractions are no exception. A black kitty ensconced itself in Mikka's lap at the Blue Mosque. At Topkapi Palace, the cafe area had about six cats, who would arrive like an avalanche after any motion that even vaguely suggest food.

There shouldn't be a dot over the I of "Topkapi". Turkish has two Is, one with a dot and one without a dot. It makes me think that our version is a little weird, with a dot over the lower case but not over the capital.

The palace is splendid, with awesome views; it appears that well-looked-after tile wears pretty well. You can look up close, and see that there are cracks and such, but from across the room, it looks pretty good.

We got the harem tour, which was OK as far as architecture goes, but more interesting for the education about how it actually worked, as distinct from the lurid imaginings of Victorian-era outsiders. One thing that did impress me, though, is that it is a very small world to be restricted to... That part is historical.

It was interesting to contrast to the Alhambra, my other experience with this sort of architecture. Topkapi Palace had more colorful tile excitement; the Alhambra had more that was plain white.

After Topkapi Palace, we gathered in front of the Hagia Sophia, which is a convenient and easily-found meeting place... But this is our last day in Istanbul. The Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque seem like old friends after a few days of navigating by them. Sniff.

Early afternoon is a stroll down Istikial street, over in the New City. New, meaning that it's mostly less than a thousand years old. Istikial is a pedestrian mall, sort of... there's a tram, and occasional cars with no official markings that I can see, and occasional clusters of riot police vehicles. The riot police are for the IMF riots. Our trusty guide suggested that we not walk past Taksim Square, though we didn't really have time to look for riots after we stopped for lunch. We did see some spider-web-cracked storefront windows. The riot squad did not seem tense. Though, we did see a monument in Taksim Square that was blocked off with portable fencing. Not sure what was up with that.

Scenery is lovely (c.f. New Zealand), and history is nice, but there is something about being in another city that I find fascinating. The New City feels more like a city that people live in, rather than a place tourists visit.

After our jaunt in the New City, back to the Old City, to the Spice Market. Smaller than the Grand Bazaar, and more spice-oriented, with some bonus pre-food (like fish) markets added in.

We were told in no uncertain terms not to buy fish. Really not what you want for a bus trip.

Marleigh got a bracelet. The vendor tried to convince her to take my hat for it, but happily, I was out of reach.

When faced with one store of Turkish Delight, I could pick one. When there are a dozen, with nothing clear to distinguish them, I am more at a loss. Istanbul organizes its shopping by topic - we have driven down the wedding dress street, the farm implement street, the chandelier street, the hubcap street...

We left the Spice Market before long, not being much for shopping, and having tired legs. Perhaps unsurprisingly, three different groups of MIT nerds converged on the next meeting spot at least 45 minutes early.

From the ferry landing in the Old city, we took a 2-hour cruise up the Bosphorus, to the other (Asian) side. Alp is sufficiently versed in KS: Americans to start by saying it was a three-hour tour, which everyone got.

The cruise was a nice way to see (briefly) a few things that you just can't see properly in just a couple of days in Istanbul. We got the quick-and-dirty guide to Turkey's involvement in WWI, which Derrick and I (at least) already knew. It's been interesting to hear Alp's body of facts and opinions; there is stuff that we see differently, but all of his facts seem to agree with mine, so that's good. Alp lets his pride in his country and religion show through, while being pragmatic about their issues. If only we could all be so approachable.

Awesome view of the Old City skyline at dusk, with Hagia Sophia reigning supreme, the Sultan's Tower at Topkapi nearby, and the minarets of the Blue Mosque barely peeking up... among many others. Sadly, I doubt the pictures will come out.

On the Kadikoy (Ancient-Chalcedon) side, we had dinner at a place recommended by Alp, and he ordered us some stuff, since it was less English-friendly than the other places we've been. Dave was sad at the low meat quotient, but I was fine... not like I'm going to order a bunch of tasting dishes I haven't tried before if left to my own devices. Dessert: Walnuts (still in the shell) and olives. Mad, you say? Marinate them for long enough, and they're very different from what you expected...

Night train to Ankara!

(There seems to be a problem in the next room - they cannot turn the heat off.)