Weather was pretty good the 3rd day we arrived in Istanbul. We took a short walk after breakfast to the Palace.
The gate is not as grand as some of the other palaces we have been in the world before but it holds its own. Everyone had to dismount before the gate except the Sultan back in the imperial days.
This long corridor used to be the place for carriages.
The courtyard is very large. There were many very old trees like this one.
Doors are fine decorated with gold and color marbles.
Buildings are heavily influenced by Greek and Roman designs.
There are colorful tiles for decoration everywhere. Patterns show very fine details in design. After so many hundreds of years exposed outside, the tiles are still so colorful.
There are several of finely decorated marble wash with gold by the entrance of buildings.
View is unbeatable. This side looks out to the bridge connecting Europe and Asia. Istanbul is the only city in the world that situates on both continents.
Classical decorated building.
Beautiful stained glass windows.
Lovely tiles on a wall. I wonder if they have used real gold burning into the tile. Otherwise it would not be so shinny with rich gold color after hundreds of years.
The colorful marbles (under the tiles) reminded me of marbles in Hagia Sophia.
This is where the parliament met.We went to a restaurant just outside of the park where the Palace and the archeology museum are located. We wanted to rush back to visit the museum.
We have ordered a mixed meat and a beef sausage pita sandwiches to share. There are lots of food. It came with salad too. We were not able to finish all the food among 4 of us. It was good that we have asked before ordering.
Pita sandwiches were not what we had imagined. The pita sandwiches we have had in the US. The pita sandwiches we have had in the US are almost the same as regular sandwich but using pita bread instead. The pita bread puff up with an air pocket. Cutting the break in half, one can stuff lettuce and meat inside. In better places, they use homemade yogurt source with special spices for the sandwich. Other places just use Ranch dressing. Turkish pita sandwich is more like a pizza. They use different spices so the pita sandwich tasted different from a pizza. The just made pita has very thin crest. It is crispy and soft at the same time. The smell of the pita sandwich just make you want another piece. It is delicious!
The Museum of Archeology is big with 4 major buildings. The treasures inside really surprised us.
Alexandra the Great sculpture was done 300-400 BC.
The legendary Alexandra stone coffin. This was also done 300-400 BC. You can still see the colors. The sculptures around all 4 sides depicts the major battles he was in.
Resting in the open coffee shop in the museum.
Another pleasant surprise was seeing these from the Babylon period.We had very good impression about Istanbul.
1 comment:
Hmmm Topkapi Palace
Must see in sultanahmet
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