Topkapi Palace and Galata Tower

Saturday 27 April (Day 4)

We had a fairly relaxed start to the day today and a leisurely breakfast on the roof terrace in the sunshine.  We decided to visit the Topkapi Palace first so set off to walk there at about 11.00 am.  The old city was already very busy but thankfully the queues to get into the Palace were not too long and we were soon inside the enormous complex of buildings and beautiful grounds.

The first place we visited was the Harem which was lovely and cool after the heat of the morning.  The rooms were richly decorated in blue and green tiles and had wonderfully rich painted ceilings.  Once we had explored the Harem we wondered some more around the grounds admiring the tulips and the views across the Bospherous from the terraces.  After a few hours of wandering around the Palace soaking up the cultural side of Istanbul we decided to walk back to a tram station and get a tram across to the new city to visit the Galata Tower and wander through the main shopping area.

It would seem that Cris may have had an ulterior motive as he had spotted a little café when we were out yesterday that he said he would like to come back to for lunch but we were happy to indulge him and we enjoyed a delicious lunch alongside many of the locals who seemed to be enjoying it too.

We then wandered a little further up the high street stopping to take tea in a café on the way before making our way back towards the Galata Tower which we had planned to go up to get some panoramic views of the city.  The queues were still quite long and Cris and Jane decided to go up to the roof terrace of a local hotel instead while Tracey and I queued to go up.  I am glad we did as the views were amazing but it all took rather longer than we expected and we did not make it back to the hotel much before 8.00 o’clock. 

After a quick shower and a bit of rest and relaxation we decided to go out for a drink and found a great bazaar close to the hotel which provided Jane and I with much to look at on the way.  We again found a hotel with a roof terrace and enjoyed a glass or two of the local beer and some food before heading back to the hotel for the night.