Istanbul, Turkey (day 6)

Day 6 - January 12, 2023

 When I started planning my trip to Istanbul, I didn't do very much research on the places I wanted to visit other than a quick look on Google Maps and adding interesting looking places to a list. The hope being that there would be a bit more of a wow factor when visiting the sites. This turned out to be the case today.

I made my way North on the tram to visit Dolmabahçe Palace. We had driven by it on the bus tour the second day I was here. From the bus, there was really not much to see, just two gates and a clock tower. There happens to be a large palace where the Ottoman Sultans resided inside those gates. There are large gardens with flower beds, trees, and fountains surrounding the palace. A long white fence with large gates every so often runs along the coast of the Bosphorous. Definitely would be worth coming back in the spring or early summer to see all the gardens in full bloom.

The palace itself is an incredible structure. Construction was started in 1843 and completed in 1856. The amount of detailed work, both inside and the outside structure, is remarkable! It seems the Ottomans spared no expense when building this palace. Inside are large rooms with high, domed, ceilings covered in paintings and molding designs. Huge wooden doors, glass chandeliers, golden mirrors, grand staircases, beautiful artwork and furniture. A lot of the work was brought in from places like England, France, Africa, and Japan. The style of the building is a mixture of Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical, and Ottoman architecture. The palace continues for room after room with elaborate decorations everywhere you look. Unfortunately they don't allow photos inside the building, but I managed to sneak a couple :)

Top of the front gate. The seal in the center is the Sultan's signature.

Room after room are decorated like this, but never in quite the same color or style

The Ceremonial Hall

These pictures really don't do justice to the scale of the palace. You will have to check it out for yourselves one day :)

After a short break for coffee, I made my way uphill towards Taksim Square. In the middle of the square is a monument for the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the Republic Monument. Next to the square is another mosque, Taksim Mosque. You can find mosques just about everywhere. Smaller mosques are tucked away in places you would often hardly notice. It is always interesting to peak inside just to see what color and design pattern each has. 

It is here at Taksim square where we meet the lady of the day. Towards one side of the square center, an older lady is walking around carrying a couple little plastic cups full of seeds. There is a flock of pigeons gathered around her that follow here wherever she walks. She was trying to sell the seeds to people passing by or sitting on the benches next to her. I was a little ways away, leaning against a light post, trying to get a picture of her. We made eye contact once or twice and I smiled at her. Even though her face at the time was covered by her head covering or scarf, I could tell by her eyes, that she was smiling back. I wasn't quite close enough to get the picture I wanted, so I did the introvert shuffle over her way. Pretty much wanting avoid all communication and still making quick glances over, trying to avoid eye contact at all costs :D 

It seemed like she could tell I was trying to get her picture and she pulled her face covering up a little higher and she got up from where she had taken a seat, turning her back to me. She glanced back once in a while to see if I had left. Eventually she sat back down again. Still trying to get the picture, I kept glancing at her, and she happened to look my way one of those times. She raised one of the cups, trying to tell me to come over and buy them. After a quick mental battle, 90% of me wanting to say no and 10% saying ok, I obliged and walked over. 

Next issue was trying to figure out what the price was. She pulled her face covering down so we could figure out the price. She did not speak English and I tried to hand her a smaller Turkish Lira bill. Problem was, I had leaned over and opened my wallet, she saw one of the larger bills. The seeds probably should have cost 5 Lira (about $0.27 USD), at least judging on the prices of other things I have bought here. I took a 10 Lira note, she shook her head, I tried a 50, same thing. Then she reaches into my wallet and grabs the 100 Lira bill. I had the feeling she was ripping me off, but I figured, chances are, she could use the extra few bucks anyways. 

I sat back down on the bench I had been on with the seeds in hand. As I watched the older lady, she had a bit of a smirk on her face like she had just got the better of that American. But she didn't know, that I knew that, that is what she knew :D Someone else passed by and essentially told me I had just paid way more than I should have. Haha figures. Anyway, it seemed to make the lady a little less camera shy. And I would say for the pictures I got, it was well worth the 100 Lira :)   

All this happened in a space of about two minutes. There is a little glimpse for you of what goes through an introvert's mind :D

I made a few more stops to finish out the day, working my way back in the direction of my hotel. İstiklal Avenue is a long street with a single tramline down the center. Each side of the street is lined by six or seven story tall buildings, crammed together. This is the pedestrian only street and is a major shopping area. Each of the buildings contains shops, at least three or four times bigger than the ones I have seen so far. I still have not seen anything that resembles a supermarket in my time here so far. Might just be due to the fact this is more of the old tourist area. Loads of people move through the street getting their shopping done. 

Döner kebab is meat cooked vertically on a rotisserie next to a heat element. It is cut in thin strips with a large knife from top to bottom and used in a number of different dishes.

Off a few different side streets, I stopped at a couple of churches. The first one, Hagia Triada Greek Orthodox Church. The second, the Church of St. Anthony of Padua (Sent Antuan Kilisesi) a Roman Catholic Church. Quite a contrast from the mosques. Where the mosques are a more subdued design style, these churches are filled with elaborate artwork, statues, and decorations.

Hagia Triada

Church of St. Anthony of Padua

That's all I got for today, goodnight all.