Travels with Kathryn

Due to FlyOne having cancelled our original flight from Yerevan, which would have given us an extra day in Yerevan and departed at the very reasonable time of 9am, we had a panic rebook on a Pegasus flight on Friday 13th (risking it!) leaving at 6.35am. We had a 4am departure from the hotel (I was not at my best), got to Yerevan airport in 15 minutes (which makes a nice change for a city airport), and checked in. I am pleased to report that I have managed to ditch some weight from the giant yellow rucksack, and I am now down to 18.6kg.

Once again, Pegasus did me proud, and it was a smooth and on-time landing into Turkey (having lost an hour somewhere, which was confusing as we flew west) at 8am local time. A short walk to passport control, but there we waited AGES to get through – the first bit of the queue is fine, but once you select your person to stand behind you are at the mercy of the people in front of you. If you happen to pick the wrong queue (I blame myself entirely for moving queues), you just don’t move for am age! It took us nearly an hour to get through, by which time our luggage had been removed from the carousel… Anyway, we got it, found our transfer man, and loaded it into our vehicle for the 1.5h drive from the airport to Istanbul.

I should mention at this point that my old people are broken. Someone from my last group (he shall not be mentioned, but he knows what he was) shared his cold with them, and they are not doing well. Both are coughing, but Mum sounds a little like she may be dying. I have therefore done some substantial re-gig of their itinerary for their couple of days in Istanbul, and I let them sleep on route to the hotel:

As I mentioned, we arrived in Istanbul a day earlier than planned, and unfortunately, the hotel I had booked was full, but I did manage to book into a hotel around the corner. Hotel Divas has some pretty ropey reviews (2.8 on Google), but our triple room at £64 right in Sultanamet was excellent value (and had been recently refurbished) even if the bathroom was a little dodgy. We arrived too early to check in, so we went out for a Turkish breakfast – this was the veritable spread and included an omelette each and 17 other small plates and bowls of other deliciousness. Back to the hotel to check in, have hot showers (particularly for the ill people), and a nap (even me!).

At about 4pm somewhat refreshed, we headed out for a little walk around Sultanahmet Square to see the columns, the Blue Mosque/Sultanahmet Cami, and the Hagia Sofia/Ayasofya Cami (from the outside).

Istanbul is so much busier than I remember (and my last trip was only last year – I had to use my travel credit in 2022 or else I would be spending longer in Turkey), or maybe I have been spoilt on my trip until now, but there were hoards of tourists and huge queues to enter both mosques. I shall have to plan my time carefully and/or just be prepared to wait… 

We started with just a hint of sightseeing by just having a walk around the Hippodrome of Constantinople, which is now known as Sultanahmet Square. Back when Istanbul was Constantinople, this was the centre of sporting and social life and was used as an arena for chariot racing and other entertainment for the masses. Now its a pleasant square used to contain the tourists (and tour groups) so as not to bother local people who are trying to go about their business. There are three monuments – the first is the Obelisk of Thutmose II which was brought by Theodosius the Great in 390, the second is known as the serpent column which was cast to celebrate the victory of the Greeks over the Persians in 5th Century and Emperor Constantine decided he would like it here, rather than where it had happily been living in Delphi, the third is known as the Walled Obelisk from the 10th century minus its gilded bronze plaques which were nicked by latin troops during the 4th crusade.

We had an early dinner, and I reckon we were all asleep by 9pm local time. I am pleased to report that we did all survive the night (although there were a number of scary sounding coughing fits from the old people overnight) and it was a straightforward check out, and transfer of bags to new hotel, and breakfast – I was able to get in my first serving of menemen which is one of my favourite Turkish meals of scrambled eggs, peppers, tomatoes all cooked up together.

Based on the state of health of the group (even I have picked up a sore throat and am not feeling 100%) rather than try and tackle too much too soon we headed to the Topkapi Palace which I did not manage to fit in last time I was in Istanbul. We also brought the enhanced ticket, which included the harem, which I do not remember visiting last time.

The Topkapi Palace was the main residence of the sultans (and his family) as well as the administrative centre of the Ottoman Empire from the 1460s to 1856 (when it was replaced by the Dolmabache Palace we are visiting tomorrow). Work commenced just after the conquest of Constantinople (when the Byzantine Empire fell to the new Ottoman Empire) and expanded over the centuries, so unlike a European palace it is made of a number of courtyards and buildings rather than one connnected structure. There are 4 main courtyards, the 1st is unticketed, and then we purchased our ticket to enter through the gate below to the second courtyard:

I get the impression that Istanbul is encouraging tourists into tour groups, and in particular, ones that offer “skip the line.” There is lots of mixed feedback online, but we decided to risk it and walked straight in with just a short queue for the audioguide, which was totally worth it.

Our first stop was the Hareem. Not all groups visit the hareem (which I suspect is why I was somewhat underwhelmed on my previous visit), and for me, this was the most impressive section of the palace. The hareem was home to the sultan’s mother (known as the Valide Sultan), his wives (up to a total of 4), concubines and the rest of his family including children as well as a plethora of servants. No one other than the sultan was allowed in or out of the harem without his express permission and it very much had its own power structure (between the Valide Sulatn, whoever happened to be the favourite of the sultant at any particular time, and the Chief Harem Eunuch). Much of what we can see today was built around the 15th century, and it expanded over time to a huge complex of over 400 buildings.

Unsurpisingly, the most impressive rooms were those used by the sultan and, in particular, the Imperial Hall, which served as an official reception hall of the sultan as well as where he would be entertained by the hareem…

We exited the hareem in the third courtyard and then worked our way around other buildings, including joining a long queue which we then found out was to enter the Imperial Treasury which has a HUGE collection of artworks, jewellery, weapons and other shiny things belonging to the Ottoman dynsesty. A few of interest:

• Topkapi Dagger – this was made in 1747 by Sultan Mahmud I for the Shah of Persia, but unfortunately (for him), he was assasinated before it left the Ottoman Empire (fortunately for the Ottomans). It is made of gold with 3 large emeralds topped with a golden watch with an emerald lid. Apparently, it is more famous for almost being heisted, and a film on the attempt originally entitled “Tokapi” is available.
• Throne of Sultan Mahmud I – made of walnut and inlaid with nacre and tortoiseshell. Note that these thrones were designed to be reclined on/sat cross-legged.
• Spoonmaker’s Diamond – an 86 carat pear shaped diamond (considered the 4th largest of its kind in the world) and is set in silver with a double row of 49 diamonds surrounding it. It is not known exactly who commissioned it or how it came to form part of the collection as its first mention is in 17th century as already being owned by the Sultan.

Into the 4th courtyard, which is called the pleasure garden, even though it does include the circumcision hall! A delightful complex with views across the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus:

We next visited the (rather disappointing) throne room which is furnished in 19th century style, but on exiting, we did fall on a small refreshment stand (it by now being late afternoon and all our water having been drunk some time ago) to rehydrate.

Below is a delightful little exhibit: this is a target column erected in the honour of Selim III to commemorate him, shooting a jug 898m away using a rifle. the inscription is a 10-couplet poem celebrating his dexterity. One feels he may be being over praised somewhat…

Our final stop was the receiving room of the Sultan:

We certainly got our moneys worth leaving the complex at around 5pm and heading back to our hotel room to watch the sunset (as well as shower, change for dinner, etc):

So we may not have quite achieved the list of sites I had hoped we might have done, I do feel that we did the Topkapi Palace proud. Tomorrow, we are off to the Dolmabahce Palace (which came to replace it), and I shall report back on the brokenness of my travel companions.