Weather – Sunny
Photo: Standing in front of the entrance to the palace.
Photo: at last - inside and the gardens were exquisite. We didn't know at this stage there was yet another queue lurking behind the trees behind the fountain!
Photo: The lovely grounds in the Harem's Garden.
Temperature – high twenties.
Today we set out for a hop on/hop off bus tour of Istanbul. Before we found a bus we had some important work to do: drop off clothes to the local laundromat to get ready for the tour. The lady was lovely, no English, but was obviously practised as she weighed our bags and quoted prices for washing and ironing extra.
Suffice to say twenty-twenty hindsight would be a wonderful gift as we probably would have managed our visit to Dolmabahce Palace (another must-see!) quite differently. We caught the bus at 10am and this is how our day unfolded:
10am: left Hagia Sophia Square;
10.15: arrived at Dolmabahce Palace and went through security and joined the queue for tickets;
11.00: finally bought four tickets for the tour of the palace and harem and realised the earliest we could enter the palace was 12.20pm as they had staggered entries because of the vast numbers of people;
11.05: decided to stay on site, relax, go with the flow and have morning tea overlooking the Bosphorus to avoid going through security again. As we were held captive the service was slow – but hey, we had the time! We managed to see two changing of the guards as they change on the hour;
12.20: entered palace grounds and found our way to the entrance steps of the palace and queued…waiting for the next English tour at -
12.40: but there were too many people so we waited for the next tour at -
12.55: and after donning pink plastic bootees we finally entered the palace!
I wish I could show you photos however they are not allowed.
Immediately we were in awe as we looked at the magnificent interior. It is a vast palace of very large rooms, massive chandeliers (hanging and freestanding), paintings and luxurious furnishings.
Some of the highlights included the crystal staircase (actually the bannisters are Baccarat crystal with walnut handrails), the elephant tusk ornament which was a gift from Saudi Arabia, two bear skin rugs a gift from the tsar of Russia, the tiled fireplaces, gold leaf ceilings and the incredible amount of rooms.
The Throne Room was outstanding as it housed a four and half ton Baccarat chandelier which was a gift from Queen Victoria. The chandelier has 750 lamps. The palace has the largest collection of Bohemian and Baccarat crystal chandeliers in the world.
We left our tour of the palace and headed to the rear to inspect the harem. Yes, you have probably guessed it….another queue! Fortunately , it was only for ten minutes.
Donning our plastic shoe covers we spent a lovely time exploring the harem. It is not as showy as the main palace although the greeting room was on a par. The Blue Room was our favourite which once again housed a marvellous central chandelier and four free standing chandeliers in the corners of the room.
We eventually left the palace grounds just after 3pm. Would we have done it again? Yes, it was well worth the visit but next time we’ll get a tram and head out very early to avoid the crush of the crowds….either that or join a group tour as they get preferential treatment!
We once again caught the hop-on hop-off bus … without any waiting time, a first for the day and decided to complete the loop of the city and have a very late lunch and early dinner. The bus travelled over the Bosphorus Bridge and it was blowing a gale! We were sitting at the top of the windowless bus with our audio guides plugged in hanging onto anything not strapped onto us! It gave us great views.
Wearily we finally made it back to the Hagia Sophia square at 5pm after battling the non-stop traffic. I decided on the restaurant for the evening which served delicious meals at extravagant prices. I think I will be banned for the next few days!
In the evening we had our first tour meeting and we met our fellow travellers for the next twenty one days. We are a group of fourteen Australians and one American.
Tomorrow the tour commences with a walk to some major sites and the next day we set off in the bus.
More adventures to come……….
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