Monday started with great ambitions. We had previously asked our friends, but nobody except for Mike and me wanted to visit Topkapı Palace. As a consequence, we left the house at 10AM in a cab by ourselves. Traffic was challenging again, so we hopped out and walked about 10 minutes to the top of the hill to enter the complex.
There is a garden area before, which is not ticketed, but to see the palace and its estate, you need to pay entry. Our ticket combined access to the palace with the Hagia Irene and the harem. Once in the grounds, we headed straight to the harem area, which was the inner sanctum of the palace. It was the most extensive space across the estate, with reconstructions, restorations and illustrations showing what it used to look like. Afterwards we explored the library, council room, and courtyards with a view.
We had agreed to meet with Billy and Cath at the Grand Bazaar, getting some pastries from one of the street carts that are dotted around the city on the way. The carts usually have the familiar simit, the sesame rings known as Turkish bagels (they are nothing like bagels!), but I had a cheesy bread for breakfast instead. We were so fast-paced walking, we ran ahead of schedule a little, and explored the marketplace on our own.
The Grand Bazaar has changed over the years, starting as a stimulus construction project after the Ottoman invasion of Constantinople. It still retains its purpose as a place to trade textiles and jewellery, but nowadays you’ll also find shops selling Turkish Delight, lacework, art, spices, and more. It has a main passage, and several others that run in parallel and perpendicular, and there are metal detectors at each entrance formed by a passage extending to its edge. Personally, I found it repetitive, and overwhelming, but it might be the place you’ll find an irreplaceable expensive souvenir.
Another thing we found challenging was just finding a place to grab a drink nearby. We weren’t after anything alcoholic, just some water or a soda would have been fine. However, we walked for 10 minutes to find a McDonalds (after passing by a Burger King that bizarrely wouldn’t take a counter order, but whose self-order machines were malfunctioning) for a cup of Fanta.
It just made more sense to head for some food, so we met Sam, Tommy, Adam, Aimee, Pedro and Cecilia at Esmer Chef Steak House, and were then joined by Billy and Cath, who had explored the Grand Bazaar themselves. The larger group was intent on exploring the Grand Bazaar also, so Billy, Cath, Mike and I began making our own plans for the afternoon. The topic of experiencing a hammam came up, and Billy and Mike respectfully bowed out, preferring to head to a sports bar instead.
Cath and I headed to the Çemberlitaş Hamam, which was nearby. It is a gender-segregated experience, and offers different levels of experience based on your cost sensitivity. Cath and I both opted for the Traditional Style. The hammam supplies you with a modesty bottom, soap, and an exfoliator in a kit upon payment, and directs you to a changing area, where you can find lockers, towels as well as bath slippers to avoid slipping.
With the Traditional Style, bath attendants scrubbed us down, rather than us trying a DIY approach. The hammam itself was like a steam room, and a very relaxing experience, in contrast with the vigorous treatment. If you prefer, we saw some guests keeping their own swim wear on, including covering up their chest, though we didn’t see if they had the Traditional Style treatment.
We rejoined everyone else 2 hours later, and Yaz and Chase had also made their way to the sports bar. The night before we had all agreed that we wanted to go on a Bosphorus river cruise, so Sam had organised the booking. We headed back to Topkapı Palace, as this was the meeting point for the cruise.
For 2 hours, we listened to Turkish, English and Spanish narration of the scenes before us, as the boat took us into the Golden Horn area around Galata Bridge and the up the Bosphorus (but not as far as where we are staying). The West side was covered more considerably, with a lot of attention paid to mosques and palaces on the shore. On the East side, the highlight was on the Maiden’s Tower, but there was more ‘quiet’ time – instead, the cruise operators blasted music across different genres to fill the silence.
We returned to our departure point, which was on the shore below the Blue Mosque, and everyone was hungry for dinner. The neighbourhood is renowned for rooftop restaurants, so I led everyone to a recommendation from a Turkish travel blog: Queb at the Byzantium Hotel. The view was stunning, the drinks were good, and the food was reasonable, so with full bellies, we all returned to our respective homes for the trip.
Costs to date:
- Uber to Topkapi Palace: £6.83
- Tickets to Topkapi Palace: £37.90
- Bakery cart breakfast: £0.78
- McDonalds Fanta: £0.90
- Lunch: £5.78
- Hammam: £50.66
- River cruise: £5.46
- Dinner and drinks: £45.00
- Uber home: £2.62
Total: £155.93
As a reminder, our previous total was £366.53, so our running total is £522.46
The NESSENTIALS 
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