Topkapi Palace

Having seen most of the high profile sights in Istanbul, we start the day with just one last target on our list, Topkapi Palace, which is back in the Sultanahmet area (near the Blue Mosque). It’s only about 3 or 4 kilometers away, so we figure we’ll skip the hassle of the metro (which we have mastered I must say) and jump in a cab for the short ride over. At least that’s the plan, until we find that despite all of the advancement in Turkey over the past decade, the cab drivers haven’t lost that adorable third world penchant for ripping off tourists. After an offer from the first driver for 20 Euros (about $30), and a second driver for 20 Turkish Lira (a still extravagant but not outrageous $14) we admit defeat and head for the train.

The second bad omen of the day appears in the form a giant cruise ship docked near the bridge where we stopped for the tasty fish fin sandwich. It quickly hits home that somewhere in Istanbul there are 3,000, mostly blue haired tourists that weren’t here yesterday. We know the palace will be one of the stops on their itinerary, so now its just playing the odds to see if we can get in and out first.

Games of chance are not my strong suit, a fact reinforced as we near the ticket booth for the palace and soon realize it is packed with people. Not only tour groups (many from the cruise ship no doubt), but the cherry on top is that today seems to be elementary school field trip day. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of kids moving around like locusts, denuding the landscape of all silence and serenity. Nevertheless, we’re here on a mission, so we get in the long line (the first of many) for tickets and soon enter the gates.

The palace itself was the home of the sultan’s for about 400 years before they moved to Dolmabache. The entire complex is quite a bit larger and it was common for people to live their entire lives without ever stepping outside the walls. The architecture doesn’t seem as interesting though, so after going through a few of the buildings, we focus instead on more of the artifacts that are kept here (like the Topkapi dagger, the Spoonmaker’s Diamond (the world’s fourth largest cut diamond), some bones purported to be from prophets, the Staff of Moses, and a hair from the beard of the prophet Muhammad. Each of these requires getting in a line of sheeple and moving slow and steady past the glass cases (which is the kind of thing I live for).

After a few hours, and about half of the complex, we decide we are palaced out and head for the exit. With nothing else on the agenda, this leaves Angela free to resume her quest for the elusive carpet, and we spend the rest of the afternoon dealing with rug merchants. Now in some quarters, it has come to be a bit of an insult to be called a rug merchant, but I can say firsthand that the reputation is not entirely unearned. I’ve met more people salespeople in Istanbul over the past few days that have “very good friends in Vancouver” (we still fudge a bit and say we’re from Canada) than I think I’ve met in Seattle in the last ten years.

The good news is we finally find a carpet that Angela falls in love with. The bad news is it costs more than a year of college. But, because we did not come on a tour bus, they will give us a discount, and that’s good. However, the new price is still more than a new car, which is bad. But, the carpet comes with a free frogurt, and that’s good. However, the frogurt is also cursed (ok, that last part’s not true, but it is one of my favorite Simpson’s episodes so I couldn’t resist).

Suffice to say, we remain rugless, and soon will officially have spent more time searching for one than has been spent looking for El Dorado. With one last full day Istanbul, we’ll see what tomorrow brings, but I think even the great rug hunter herself is running on fumes.