Wednesday 19 September 2012

Saying goodbye to Istanbul

I decided to leave my visit to Topkapi Palace to my last day in Istanbul. I wanted to say goodbye to this amazing city in style.



This palace has a history of colorful stories and was the home of my new hero Selim the Sot. Why is this dude my hero ... well besides the very cool name, he managed to drown after drinking a skinful of champers. There are much worse ways to go ... gotta love a bubbles drinker.

Work on the palace commenced in 1453 and it was home to a whole load of sultans until the nineteenth century when they built somewhere better can you believe.



The palace is enormous and is made up of four courtyards. The first courtyard was open to anyone, the second to people visiting on business, and the others to the sultan, family and staff. The courtyards get more opulent as you move through them.

My favorite section was the Harem ... the hang out for the sultan when he wanted to party.


The eunuchs, poor dudes with their lopped off bits, had their own area within the harem but it wasn't half as fancy as that of the concubines.


The buildings within the third courtyard were built in the 16th century and were plush indeed.




The fourth courtyard is uber plush and has very cool views.




You've gotta love a place that is full of decadence and good times ... and these guys were masters of both.

Posted from somewhere round the world...

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