It was our first night's sleep without an interruption from Jimmy so we woke up feeling much better than the last week.
We cooked some breakfast (eggs, oats, toast) at the apartment so that we could save a bit more, as we've been rather extravagant with our meals so far.
Finished breakfast and dressed, we headed out and reached the Topkapi Palace at 10am, ready to did soak up the sights. The palace is absolutely huge and at one time housed 10,000 people who all served the Sultan, so you can imagine how much space you'd need. The kitchens alone were massive, with a separate kitchen for their confectioners, as the sultan loved sherbet, baklava and lokum (Turkish delight). Of course the architecture was grand, with every corner bursting with detail. Turns out the sultan was a bit of a pimp, with his own library, toilet room, sporting/entertainment room and even a Harem where he kept his many concubines. We also saw some questionable holy relics such as Mose's staff? Mohammed's foot print? His beard hair? That was weird. Also saw some enormous diamonds, and a slew of 'medals' given to the sultan by other Royal families.
Lunch time then next we headed to the Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) which was breathtaking. I didn't quite expect the inside of it to be so beautiful, but it was stunning, with detailed mosaics and golden domes. As it's a mix of Roman Catholic and Byzantine architecture/style, it was interesting to see how these clashed, with much of the Catholic mosaics half covered by plaster when it was a mosque.
Final sight of the day was Sultanahmet (The Blue Mosque) which was just as magnificent as the Hagia, except that I had to cover up with borrowed blue sheets because my head was showing and my long pants were not appropriate - because I was a woman! Ryan meanwhile walked in fine with his head in full view, a T-shirt and long pants. Anyway, the mosque was still beautiful inside, but again, much to my disappointment, I saw the Muslim men were praying in the HUGE open area, under the beautiful domes, while the women were regaled to pray BEHIND a wooden wall to the far side of the mosque, and I swear it was only a slim 2 metre wide area.
Afterwards we headed back Taksim way, and went to Aga Hamami, a Turkish bath that's been in service since 1454. It was an amazing experience and Ryan and I loved every minute of it. First we each got taken to a room to strip off our clothes and lock up our stuff, then we walked with towels around us to the wash area which was a completely marbled room with taps and marble basins lining the wall. It was super warm in there, so we started to wash ourselves by simply using this metal bowls to pour water on us, which we'd set the temperature ourselves in the personal basin. Then we went to the steam room for only 5 minutes, because by that point Ryan was dying from the heat, and then we lay on the hot marble stone in the middle of the wash room. About 20-30 minutes later, I was rushed into the ladies room, stripped of my towel (I was totally naked!) And scrubbed forcefully by a half naked woman from top to toe with an exfoliation mitt. Then I was rinsed, then lathered up with foam, quick massage, then told to sit on a chair, and got my hair shampooed and washed. Then it was back to the wash room where I found Ryan looking bright red from the heat. Turns out he had a similar experience, except he had a half naked guy, and he was scrubbed right on the middle marble slab in full view of other female patrons. Then after a quick wash down, we walked out of the heat and sat in the lounge area to dry off and enjoy apple tea.
We took it easy from there and walked home slowly, stopping to enjoy some 3TL pizza slices, then dinner at a kebap place (Ryan tried some spicy turnip juice which was not nice), and Istanbul's most famous baklava and Turkish delight.
All in all a very productive day and one experience I don't think we'll ever forget.
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