Turkey on our plate

Istanbul, Turkey September 14

I could have cried.... for happy.

This city was once called Byzantin, then Constantinople, and now Istanbul. For so many centuries it was Christian, now it is Moslem.

As soon as we got on the tour bus this a.m. I realized that this city is awesome and has so much to offer in the way of culture, history, religion, and commerce.It is green, and tropical but temperate today.

Topkapi Palace was our first destination. It was a palace and place of business for great sultans in the 1400s. There is a large area where the harem was. Some of the sultans were very young and they were really ruled by their mothers. Each sultan was allowed only 4 wives so the other beautiful, well educated ladies married the sultan's brothers, etc.

Everything inside is so ornate, filled with colourful tiles and mother of pearl and rich painted colours. We saw a large display of sultan clothing, mostly from the 16th C. The room with the treasures was astounding, some of them were gifts from other potentates, some were taken as war spoils. The bowls, boxes and bottles are gold and encrusted with very large rubies and emeralds and diamonds is beyond amazing. We even saw gold gilded stirrups with rubies and emeralds all over them. One of the biggest diamonds in the world (86 caret) is displayed here. It is called the spoonmaker's diamond. (Look up the story).

We were not allowed to take photos in the display area. They also had a 'holy' display area. Inside we saw a cloak that belonged to Mohammad II, the sword that belonged to David, the rod that belonged to Moses, and many sacred Muslim treasures like Mohammed's tooth, some hair and beard. I'm sure some of them are the real thing.

We were amazed again at historic sights and lovely things to see.

We were driven back to the hotel for a wonderful lunch buffet and time for a little rest.