Monday 13 July 2009

Tokapi Palace + Taksim - Istanbul

FuFu World Tour






Turkiye
7th - 22nd May 2007
Istanbul, Day 3 - Part Two

So Necla had prepared the breakfast before 9am. Main dish was Kuzu guvec, beef stew with onions, garlics, potatoes, tomatoes and eggs eaten together with bread, ham, white cheese, and olive bean.


A very healthy breakfast.

We quickly left the house right after filling our stomachs. We took train to town and exchanged some money from the money changer before started our journey of the day.


50,000 Yen (US$ 500) to 551 Turkish Lira.

We then walked to Topkapi Sarayi (Topkapi Palace), one of the most attractive palace museums in the world. Topkapi was the first Ottoman palace to be built (1466-1478) in the newly conquered capital of the Empire by Mehmet II.


Garden in front of the palace.


Topkapi Sarayi (Topkapi Palace), the main entrance.

There were between 8-10 thousand people living in the palace, mostly being the Janissaries when Topkapi was served as the residence of Ottoman sultans for about 400 years. It was then turned into a museum in 1924. The most attractive exhibition halls of the palace are treasury, Islamic holly relics, costumes of the sultans, divan, harem, kitchens, Chinese porcelains and several kiosks.


Babussaade (Gate of Felicity).

Gate of Felicity, also known as the White Gate of the Eunuchs is the entrance to the sultan`s private domains or the Third court which houses the costume gallery, the Treasury Gallery and the Islamic Holy Relics Rooms that all are must to see.


The miniature of Topkapi Palace.

The world`s fifth largest diamond, Spoonmaker`s Diamond is on displays in the Treasury Gallery and other various objects that richly decorated with precious gems and gold. The Sacred Safekeeping Rooms holds the holy relics of Prophet Mohammed. These room were richly decorated Iznik tiled rooms. Because these are holy relics of the revered Prophet Mohammed, no photographs were allowed in these rooms.


The courtyard of the Treasury Gallery.

Then we entered the second court where the palace kitchens and harems were situated. In the palace kitchen is the porcelian gallery. The glassware and silverware galleries are just next door.


Porcelian gallery in the Palace kitchen.


FuFu and Necla, posing in front of Marble Terrace.

This palace boasts one of the most beautiful views of Istanbul, incorporating the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn, Galata and Taksim, the two shores and the sea of Marmara. There are appealing eating and resting facilities for visitors on the palace grounds with a great view.


View of Galata Tower and Suleymanite Mosque from Marble Terrace.

The terrace is a nice place to linger around with wonderful views of the city. The circumcision room, which we cannot enter, is beautifully tiled on the outer walls.


Necla standing in front of the Circumcision room.



"Let`s proceed to Harem." said the tour guide. And Necla added that Harem should not be missed out. Thus we left the terrace and headed to the Harem.


Tower of the Harem.

The word meaning of Harem is private, not open to all. Be in the palace or a family of the common people, harem was the private living quarters of any Muslim family. It is roughly divided into four sections. The first section is where hundreds of eunuchs headed by the Palace eunuch lived. These were responsible for the security of the harem.


The Eunuchs courtyard.


Different view of the Harem.

The second section belonged to the concubines. Here the girls who were selected at a young age would be educated. Because they had the chance of becoming the mother sultan in the future, the most beautiful and talented among the girls would be specially educated and presented to the sultan. The third section belonged to the mother sultan who lived between the private quarters of the sultan and among the concubines. She was the most powerful woman in the harem. The fourth section consisted of kiosks belonging to the Sultan and the hamam (baths) and joined with the marble Hall.


Courtyard of the Mother Sultan. Picture taken in front of the big mirror in the corridor.


Private chamber of Murad III.



Hamam, separates the section of the harem belonging to the sultan from the section just for the women. These baths were built in nearly 500 years ago. They are the double baths for the sole use of the Sultan, the Mother Sultan and treasury keepers. They have the typical features of a Roman bath, cool room or the resting room, warm room and the enclosed cubicle. This double bath used to be heated by a single boiler room. The bath complex demonstrates the importance of hygience. Within the bath complex there is also a toilet.


Hamam (Baths).


The Imperial Hall.

This is the centre of the Selamik (reserved for men only), the Imperial Hall. A location within the whole of the palace where women of the dynasty and concubines abound. In the harem, the enthroning ceremonies, festivities and banquets used to take place here. I could call this place the private stage for the dynasty. Again, the ceiling and wall were gorgeously tiled. Look up or you will miss it.


The tiles on the hall.


The ceiling.

Both of us didnt notice that we had spent nearly four hours in the palace. Because there were too many to see. Thus, we really took our time to see and enjoy each little thing. I enjoyed so much. It real deserves to be one of the most attractive palace-museums in the world, completely agree with no complain.



It was time for our late lunch. So we just walked to Eminonu. There are so many stalls selling balik ekmek (fish sandwich), a grilled fish fillet inserted in the half loaf of bread along with a scoop of salata (lettuce, onions and tomatoes), served with lemon juice and salt.


Fish. Salata.

Sitting on the low chairs, enjoying our balik ekmek.


Eminonu Yeni Camii (Eminonu New Mosque).

Later, we crossed the road and visited Eminonu New Mosque. Its interior is incredibly impressive. This was like another excellent mosque for me after the Blue Mosque. This mosque is filled with pigeons outside and you can buy plate of wheats to feed them.


Room for the female prayer. Mimbar.

Great view of the mosque.


At the entrance of the mosque.


FuFu and Necla were feeding the pigeons.


An old man hard sell Turkey`s flag to me.

After that, we took taxi to Taksim.


Taksim Square.

Taksim is a main transportation hub and a popular destination for both tourists and the native population of Istanbul. Istiklal Caddesi (Independence Avenue), a long pedestrian shopping street, ends at this square, and a nostalgic tram runs from the square along the avenue, which is the world`s second-oldest subway line after London`s Underground.


Beginning of the street.

Surrounding Taksim Square are numerous travel agencies, hotels, restaurants, pubs, and international fast food chains such as Pizza Hut, McDonald`s and Burger King. It is also home to some of Istanbul`s grandest hotels including the InterContinental, the Ritz-Carlton and The Marmara Hotel.


The nostalgic tram car runs from the square along the avenue.


The long pedestrian shopping street.

The old tramcars re-entered into service, which shuttle up and down this fascinating street, and otherwise the street is entirely pedestrianised. There are old embassy buildings, Galatasaray High School, the colourful ambience of Balik Pazari (Fish Bazaar) as well as souvenir shops and restaurants in Cicek Pasaji (Flower Passage).


Cicek Pasaji where you can get nice made in Turkey stuff.


Turkish souvenir.

Also on this street is the oldest church in the area, St Mary`s Draperis dating back to 1789, and the Franciscan Church of St Antoine, demolished and then rebuilt in 1913.


St. Mary`s Draperis. The interior.


Beautifully made glass stained window of the church.


Franciscan Church of St Antoine. The interior.


One of the most famous chocolate in Taksim, Beyoglu cikolatacisi.


Lokum, Turkish delights.

Various flavour of Lokums.

Dried fruits. Lokum.

We then turned back from the end of the street. I told Necla i would like to try dondurma, turkish ice cream. It is hard to melt and with a consistency like taffy, it is unique to me. We both had one the beaten ice cream of Sohret Kahramanmaras. The guy was fooling me at first and only gave me after couple of minutes. Nonetheless, it was fun. And Necla took number of pictures how he teasing me. Okay, I will let the pictures do the talking.


Come come come, turkish ice cream.





At last, i got my ice cream.

We went back home very late. Lucky, dinner was cooked and on the table once we reached home! What a nice service provided by Necla`s mother.


Dolma and Tavuk Corbasi.


Dinner time. With yogurt and the watermelon left yesterday.

Turkish cuisine is famous for its stuffed vegetables, Dolma, which come in two main varieties. The one we had is the minced meat stuffing with rice, cheese, onions, and tomatoes. The other one is Tavuk Corbasi, cooked with tomatoes, beans and chicken. They are eaten hot or cold, often with yogurt. After shower, both of Necla and me went to bed and rest for the next day.

29 comments:

Jason said...

哇。。
你拍的照真得很美,刚刚好的感觉。
多羡慕可以到处去。

猪公主 said...

fufu go turkey wit tourguide or wit frenz??
lol....envy fufu can walk around the world.Looking 4ward ur next blog.

ET女子 said...

那边的食物还真特别~~

Pete said...

The Turkish Icecream is really very sticky, I have seen that in the Mall in KL. Nice country! Wow, they hard sell the flag too!

AliVe said...

只能用华丽来形容
ice cream杯很高!
==

Jonzz said...

Wow, you're so fortunate to go to all these cool places. Nice palace.

And the food.. wow! HA HA

Mavis Ng said...

很爽hor?你就好啦~~~我也想试看他们的食物~

Somewhere in Singapore said...

Thanks for sharing...

毛毛 said...

喜欢你那衣服的图案~ 好可爱丫

ladyviral said...

Wow, look at that garden in front of that palace... so beautiful!

And the food yummylicious! The ice cream o_O is made like that? That before ice cream looks chewy.

Fufu really goes to interesting places.

GeOk kEE好きな♡ うち said...

Noticed that most of their daily food have olive bean...and the ice cream looks so delicious...

Penny @ Faye_777 said...

fufu,

the turkey foods look nice!

especially "balik ekmek" (fish sandwich) , i want eat!!!!


pls help me ' bungkus', ha ha...

> Have @ Nice DaY~~~

~珊姑娘~ said...

不止食物特别,连冰淇淋也很特别!!!

那些食物味道如何的你还记得吗??给我不打敢吃咯=p

3ugene said...

turkey ,那个curcumcision room是for 哪种的吗??很特别~

小闷瓜 said...

感觉他们对食物好像蛮有研究的
吃的好像都很有营养的哦!

迷迭香 said...

i din know tulips are in purple too!!
they are so lovely...^_^

vialentino said...

chun pics...

yo bro...me a daddy now...kekee...will have less time to visit ur blog unless i online from office

Nick尼克仔 said...

突然觉得世界很大...
虽然这里没有很华丽时尚的建筑
但是却有古色古香的古迹
虽然没有高科技的街道
但是倒多了一份人情味
那个“古堡”(找不到用什么)
真的很华丽
里面的陈设
以及它的摆设与设计
都好有中东味道
突然很想要当王子啊~
哈哈~
这是梦,不会实现的梦~
找机会也要去那里~
这次又是很例牌的~
一定有自己的照片咯~
只是怎么上身照
都不怎么出现了?
反倒有点想念
可以看了大大声笑~
哇咔咔咔~
大佬富啊
其实你有修过摄影的吗?
不然怎么可以拍到
这样好的照片?
角度和光线都很不错
真的羡慕啊~

Yih Yann said...

Wao...Turkey is really a different world there :D

夏娃公主 said...

fufu~你几时回来?很久没来拜访你的blog了..

summer said...

土耳其的色彩好特别~浓浓的文化气息让人有淡淡的神秘感:)

第一眼就看到了我喜欢的郁金香~呵呵:)

jenny said...

FUFU~~
i come already!!
haha XD
long long time never login~
u went to TURKISH??
geng!
i saw the breakfast~
look so delicious~~
haha XD
the ice-cream oso damn high!
haha XD

QQ said...

那里的食物卖相还瞒奇怪的哦!!富富吃的习惯吗??哈哈!!怎么那里的人民好像很爱他们的国旗似的。。。建筑物也很特别,很有阿拉伯或是麦加的味道哦。。。那里好玩吗?那里的人好象挺热情的。

Shin said...

那片籠罩在樹蔭下的草地好美啊~~~~

賣土耳其冰淇淋的每次都喜歡作弄人的!

小虫 said...

那里的文化好喜欢哦!!!
食物也蛮特别~!

Ayie said...

a place very rich in culture and tradition. I like the miniature model, I miss making scaled models =)

Princess Heathasia said...

LIKE UR BLOG SO MUCH~~~

最喜欢看你写关于旅行的了,
因为我也很喜欢。

希望有天能走遍全世界。
这是我最大的梦想。

可惜我现在的课业太忙~

FUFU,加油哦~
我支持你!

toto said...

中东民族都爱吃酸乳酪和橄榄豆的吧?
从 Topkapi Sarayi 宫殿的模型缩影就能感觉到它的辽阔面积,大理石露台的视野绝佳,城市景观都尽入眼帘。
古时穆斯林君主朝代时的遗迹展览实在也让人大开一番眼界,羡慕你。
Taksim 广场的行人步行街之货品真的是琳琅满目。。。。
无论是那一种冰淇淋,我都对它爱不完啦!

Vaniehiz said...

fufu~你几时回来?很久没来拜访你的blog了..