Weather: Sunny
Photo: The front of the Archaeological Museum.
Photo: This is called Alexander's Sarcophagus - very beautifully preserved.
Photo: The Fountain of Life in The Tiled Museum. It was built in 1590.
Photo: Walking the streets of Istanbul - a merchant with his rugs.
Photo: The Egyptian Obelisk - you may just be able to make out David and Cameron in front.
Photo: One of the six minarets from The Blue Mosque lit for evening.
Temperature: mid twenties.
As the boys were interested in watching the Broncos game at 12.30pm at the Irish pub we chose an activity to fit into a morning program. The Istanbul Archaeological Museums are not far from us and in the vicinity of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.
The complex has three museums: The Ancient Orient Museum; The Tiled Kiosk and the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. The three museums consist of different civilizations and periods. Today we tackled the Tiled Museum and the Tiled Kiosk.
Once again we purchased the audio-guides which gave us detailed information on the excellent exhibition housed in this nineteenth century building.
The museum is worthwhile visiting for the sarcophagi alone with exhibits from Anatolia, Lycia, Egypt and Sidon. The Sarcophagus of Alexander (purportedly that of Alexander the Great but it’s not!) is displayed behind glass. The particularly exquisite ones are bathed in subtle light in two halls.
The Tiled Kiosk is original in its site position and was built in 1472AD. It houses a vast array of tiles through the ages and the audio guide was very useful here.
The gardens at the museum are beautiful and have several old pieces interspersed throughout the site…perhaps they didn’t fit inside!
It was time for the Broncos game so Desley and I left them and wandered into a new little shop and looked at some of his fabric wares. We were looking forward to talking to our family on Skype so we headed off to the hotel.
The boys had met up with some Australians keen on the game as well. The situation looked dire for the Broncos when we caught up with them so the boys conceded defeat and we chose the same restaurant we dined at yesterday….once again delicious food. Desley and I shared a “chicken breast” for dessert…..scrummy!
Onwards….(there’s no stopping us)….it was onto the old Turkish Baths (Cemberitas) which were built in 1584. The doorway and steps to the baths are particularly inauspicious and you would miss the staircase down if you weren’t looking. Desley, Cameron and I chose the body scrub and it was quite an initiation into this age-old ritual. To put it mildly we were scrubbed within an inch of our lives! The large marble slap held about fifteen women lying down waiting for a massage. The instructions – verbal and nonverbal were minimal: turn, sit and pat on bottom. The room was very hot and we sweated it out until it was our turn.
I then was motioned to the Jacuzzi tub which was very hot. I’d had enough of the heat by then and made my way to get dressed. You could go back and lie down on the slab or go to the central area and have drinks including apple tea. We all agreed afterwards that we would enjoy it better knowing the procedure now.
We met David ( who waited outside in the foyer watching all the comings and goings) and feeling super-clean we headed out to find the Egyptian obelisk. After a few wrong turns we eventually found it just up from the Hagia Sophia. There are two obelisks housed in the old hippodrome which is the old very large running track. The Egyptian Obelisk was taken from Egypt and erected by Emperor Theodosius in 390AD. It is a huge granite block with hieroglyphics and we all wondered how on earth it was transported there and put in place.
We continued wandering and decided to have a brief glimpse inside The Blue Mosque before our official Monday tour with our Peregrine group. We followed procedure and removed our shoes and donned a blue scarf. The interior is particularly impressive as it completely tiled.
More wandering was to follow and we discovered a wonderful old street completely given over to restaurants….most with views of the Bosphorus River.
A small dinner on a rooftop with views of the Bosphorous was lovely with a fresh breeze. We could see the wonderful Blue Mosque with the minarets now lit for the evening so we wandered back to view it and the Hagia Sophia before we made our way back to the hotel.
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