TODAY WAS A GORGEOUS SUNNY AND WINDY DAY.
THE WIND BLEW THE SMOG AWAY AND REVEALED THE BEAUTIFUL TURQUOISE
BLUE OF THE BOSPORUS STRAIT
Friday, May 23rd, 2008
Woke up late to discover
that my phone with its expensive Turkish SIM card purchased yesterday has been
blocked. This after wordy messages in incomprehensible Turkish had appeared on
my screen, all of which I deleted, of course. Turned out I was supposed to
register the phone - they could have said this (but didn’t), and now it will
take 5 days to do start the process over. We push this to the back of our minds
and march over to the Topkapi palace, where we spend the whole day, there is
just so much to see, battling for space with the hundreds of schoolchildren
(many of whom now know my name!), who are out for the day. I am innocently
taking pictures of the Sultan's garments, when over the din of the many
children I hear the angry shouting of a guard. He may be screaming for the
children to quiet down, but also at me, who has failed to see the little sign
that says NO PHOTOS. I am so shocked at being screamed at that I feel quite
rattled, but after that am very careful about when I can use the camera. There
is something strange about the massive wealth showered on the Sultan - the
emeralds are the biggest I have ever seen - and so many! Not to mention rubies
and diamonds. There is a whole throne in solid gold liberally dotted with large
emeralds over every available surface. Meanwhile the concubines ‘recruited’
from all over the country were confined to the Harem under the command of the
Sultan’s mom.
The less accomplished
and/or unattractive girls ended up as servants, whereas the luckier one, the
ones that bore the Sultan’s children, got to live near his mother in nicer
apartments. They never left the Harem, of course.
We take a lunch break in
the Konyali restaurant set in the grounds of the palace and overlooking the Sea
of Marmara. Oswaldo, with his parking-place-finding karma finds us a perfect
table, where we enjoy cold beer and Turkish specialties.
On our weary way back to
the hotel we find the Basilica Cisterns, deep underground and curiously restful
with the cool humid air and columns lit in red and orange. Oswaldo and I then
struggle uphill to deal with Turkcell, stopping to make a couple of purchases
in a local English bookstore (one should always support bookstores!), and
eventually accept that we have to BUY yet another phone (we’ve lost count of
how many we have at home) - and then we drag ourselves home. Outside a little
kitten is stuck somewhere and meowing steadily waiting to be found. I try, but
cannot see her. Later we slip out to try local Raki, surprisingly pleasant and
smooth milky anise-tasting liquor with a light meal, but when we get back, and
even now, much later as I write this, the kitten is still hoping to be found. Here are the photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/siric/sets/72157631337199830/
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