Days 3 and 4 in Instanbul

March 22, 2015

After breakfast, we walked across the street to the Istanbul Mosaic Museum.  Beautiful mosaic tile is being preserved for the future.  The tiles were recovered from the Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors.  The palace had hundreds of rooms, many with gold mosaics.  What they have recovered is about 2,000 square feet, which makes it one of the larges preserved mosaics in Europe.  The craftsmanship is just mind boggling!  Each tile is about 5 mm and the effect is very similar to oil painting.  There is still a lot of color in the tiles so they must have been very vibrant when first laid.

We wandered through the shopping area.  We decided that if it remains warm and sunny this afternoon, we'll have lunch at one of the side walk cafes.  The only remains of the Hippodrome are some of the columns.  Most of the Hippodrome is underground, buried by today's buildings.  However, the columns are reminders of the biggest sporting complex of that time.  The Obelisk of Theodosius (Egyptian Column) was erected in 390 AD and the Serpentine Column is from Delphi.  Our wanderings took us to the Fountain of Kaiser Wilhelm II erected in 1898.  It looks rather out of place among all the "older" ruins.  The fountain is still being used today.

Our next stop was at the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art.  The building used to be the palace of Ibrahim Pasa.  One of the ministers to the King/Emperor of the Ottoman Empire.  He was executed because he thought himself equal to the King.  One of the many treasures in the museum is a boat shaped Beggar's Bowl.  It is from the Safaved Period, early 17th century.  There was a room dedicated to the Relics of the Prophet, whiskers of his beard, footprint, plus the keys to Kaaba.

There is also an impressive collection of carpets/rugs from the 13th Century Seljuk to the Ottoman Empire.  Some are fragments while others are whole and only slightly worn.

Lunch at a sidewalk cafe!  Had a lentil soup and rocket (AKA arugula) salad - yummy!

March 23, 2015

Met up with our small group of intrepid travelers.  Visited the Blue Mosque and learned about the history of the mosque.  There are thousands of tiles inside that were made by master craftsmen.  The patterns are unique to the mosque and cannot be replaced as no one today knows how the tiles were originally made.

The entry fountain to the Topkapi Palace is representative of Turkish Rococo/Baroque art.  It is a combination of Islamic, European, and Turkish art.  Very interesting blend and pleasing to the eye.  Started raining by mid-afternoon.  Saw the Baghdad Pavilion - beautiful wood doors with inlay of mother of pearl.

Brain is on over-load!  More to come.