On Monday we finally made it Topkapi, but quite late in the evening to be honest. Plans changed in the morning because Murat was called off to work. The family have a Chai place which of course is supplied by tea form their plantations and he was called in to help sort the latest shipments I believe. Anyway, so there was a load of toing a froing before it was decided that he would take us out and then work tomorrow. We ended up going to Topkapi, myself, Murat an
d Rabieh but we only arrived at like 3pm and it closed around 5pm. We rished round but it was still amazing. I really wanted to see the Harem but we couldn’t seem to find it! However, in the end I wasn’t too bothered because I got to see he Sacred Trusts exhibition which was really the most amazing and most important part. It included items from throughout Islamic History- Prophet Dawood (AS) sword, Prophet Musa’s (AS) staff and relics from the Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) time. These included a mould of his footprint, strands from his beard, the bowl he drank from, his sword and the swords of various Sahabat’s as well as the mantle 
of Fatima (RA). It was amazing!!
SubhanAllah I spend every day thinking “Alhumdulillah”. I am so truly blessed by Allah, he has given me so many blessings and every day of this trip is a gift. I am so grateful.
Afterwards we went to Kapaliçarşe, which is the famous indoor underground market of Istanbul. We weren’t there for long though. We got there around 6 and it closed at 7pm. Got a few quick errands done for my aunt- buying some house stuff and some bags in particular. It was nice to see it even though I don’t have space in my baggage for anything extra until after Pakistan when I unload!
That night we got home very, very late. Istanbul Traffic! Oh my Lord was there traffic! We spent 2 and a half hours in a traffic jam. Yes, 2.5 hours!!! Arrrggghhh!!
Thankfully, I have the wonderful knack of falling asleep in any and all forms of transportation. All I need in the movement, however slight. Add warm air and I am most definitely off to the land of nod! So, I slept for most of the journey- unlike my fellow passengers, poor them! This meant we were late for dinner, again. Not a great impression on the in-laws.......
Tuesday 30th December 2010 
So Murat went off to work and we took a Ferry across to the European side again so we could do some more shopping at Kapalicarse. I was not satisfied with the shopping of the day before. I don’t particularly enjoy shopping and there was nothing in particular that I wanted to buy but I enjoy bazaars and old shopping places. They just have a different atmosphere. As a result, we mostly just walked around and I didn’t buy anything at all really except a couple of souvenirs for friends.
We went across in one of the old ferries and came back in one of the brand new deluxe ones- a taste fo the odl and the new all in one day. I have decided I love the Bosphorus, it is beautiful both night and day. I love the ships, be they cargo or ferry. I love the fishermen, the bridges, the waves, the gulls, the lights, the wind..... ahh! It just has this amazing feeling to it. If you’ve been, do you know what I mean?
As we had taken the ferry, the trip there and the trip back were very short and we were home early so we skipped off to dinner at the in-laws. Lots of home-made Turkish foods again, including home-made vine-leaf dolma, sorba (soup), something made from raw bulgur wheat and again sweet dish- baklava!
No comments:
Post a Comment