Istanbul Day 2

Istanbul Day 2

The morning started with me completing the blog from yesterday at breakfast on the rooftop terrace. What a great place do do a little writing. But as I was finishing the last blog, Andrew was hassling me to get it done and get off to the Grand Palace of the Sultans. And did I do that? Yes indeed. We crammed our Turkish breakfast in our faces and headed off to the Palace. It was a short walk from our place in great weather with cool breezes and sunny skies. This place is a walled in fortress for the sultans in the years past which has stood up to the test of time and is a truly beautiful site. The problem is... It is SO big. The grounds are extensive and the architecture is magnificent. Every room had a unique ornate fireplace and many tiles covering the walls with supreme artwork. These guys had the life. There were rooms for concubines and eunuchs and the warriors were bringing in beautiful women to the sultans from the lands that they conquered. Each woman would then bear around 8 children and then partially be part of the royalty. We were trying to figure out where everyone slept in these rooms in the palace. The consensus was that they just hung out in the rooms with carpets and couches. It was a comfortable place and I guess you would nap in the day and party a bit, smoke the whatever, and tend to royal business. Nowhere were there beds of the western European kind.

After that long walk around the palace we headed to the Spice Market. This was just a little walk to the NW from the palace throughout some local busy streets with locals running about. Let me tell you, this was the largest mass of people in a shopping area I have ever seen. Yes, there were spices piled high and a wide variety of tasty morsels, but the vendors were yelling and the energy was intense! I got a few pics of the rows of shops and still had to tell the vendors "no thanks" about a billion times. After exploring the inside market it was time to wander the streets. This is where the locals did their shopping. We saw the equivalent of a home depot Turkish style and a shop that sold chainsaws. Another favorite was the one that sold only rope. In the middle of the street, only a few meters across, we saw guys selling pineapples, belts, spiragraphs that you use with a pen, and numerous fake items. The fake things were mostly Adidas and Abercrombie which makes Andrew feel really great since he used to work there. Most things looked like grey market items or things people made. I never got pick pocketed or hassled real bad even though I was warned about this place. Maybe the Grand Bazaar will be worse? We head there tomorrow. This evening we came back to the hostel and have a new roommate from San Franciso named Stacie. She's a 3rd grade teacher and seems really funny. Never had a pal in the room. We'll see how this goes.

Staying in the tourist area of town has it's pros and cons for sure. Andrew tried to barter with a street vendor that looked like he was shutting down for the night. We were in search of food before bed and it looked like he had a few kabobs left on the rack. He wanted 5 lira each and he offered 10 for three. NO DEAL! He said. Smell you later, we said and got a banana and some food at the local mini market. Wow, how everyone wants to make a deal, but not on your terms. We will try again if we need to. I would love to play their game and beat them sometime. Probably won't happen.

Tomorrow is off to the Grand Bazar, Cisterns, and a Turkish bath. Bring it!!!!