Wednesday 10th October Afternoon, Magnificent Istanbul - Topkapi Palace

Oh My, Oh My! What can I tell you? Istanbul is wonderful. Full of mosques and minarets, history, architecture, opulence, curly, over the top squiggly patterns and more shopping than can ever be achieved. So many sights and smells, so much noise, colour and life here. I love it.

The Black Watch was given the best berth in the port, right alongside the old city and all the places we wanted to see. As we finished docking, the muezzin (pronounced muathin) started to call the faithful to prayer, the sound blasted out of loudspeakers on the the minarets of the mosque nearest to us. Then another muezzon in another mosque started his call, then another and another. The air was filled with wailing song, almost like the various mosques were trying to out do each other. There are no Mosques where I live, and I found the sound quite magical.

And so here we are, in Istanbul and there is so much to see. We knew we wanted to get to the Blue Mosque, and I’d taken note of the Hagia Sophia, as well as the Topkapi Palace, but the tourist maps are covered with marks detailing interesting places. We aimed was to see as many as possible.

 Istanbul Topkapi Palace The Gate of Salutation

We got off the ship and started to walk in the general direction of the Blue Mosque and made our first discovery on the way - Gulhane Park. We walked through it to get closer to the Sultanahmet District, where all the interesting stuff starts, and thoroughly enjoyed the very pleasant,tranquil nature of the little park. The noisiest things there were the green parrots winging through the tree tops, and the hooded crows scrabbling on the ground. Lovely to see. The park runs alongside the Topkapi Palace. When we got to the end we turned left to find the entrance of the palace. I warned Peter that this place is massive, and would probably take us all afternoon to look round. I don’t think he believed me. It cost 25 Turkish Lira (about £10) each to get in.

Topkapi palace was the centre of power and home of the Ottoman Sultans and their families for several hundred years. Over that time it grew, successive Sultans adding new buildings, each as opulent as the first. Some of the riches and wealth that used to be part of the palace are displayed in various museum rooms throughout. We saw the Spoonmaker Diamond, a pear shaped 86 carat diamond found on top of a rubbish tip and stunning gold candlesticks, 5 ft high. weighing 46 kg each and covered in diamonds. There were religious artifacts including a footprint of the Prophet Mohammed and a cutting of his hair. There were magnificent examples of weapons, armour, uniforms, furniture and household items. We did wonder how on earth the people of the time could have worn some of the clothes though? They were massive! The owner would have had to have been about 10 foot tall.

The museums were all very well, but not really what we wanted to see to be honest. There is a Harem in the palace, but it’s not what you think. True, it was the home of consorts and concubines for the Sultan, but actually, the Harem was the part of the palace where the whole family lived, including the Sultan’s mother. There were Eunochs and slaves, and the whole hierarchy is very interesting. It seemed that to be captured as a slave girl and sent to work in the Harem was a bit of luck. You would be educated, learn to sing, sew, play musical instruments and be looked after. You would probably have to work, doing the cooking and cleaning, but you might become a consort or concubine to the Sultan and give birth to his first son. If that was the case, you’d hit the jackpot, because you would become the next Sultan’s mother. But if not, no worries, you only had to work in household for nine years, at the end of which time, you could leave and get married and the Sultan would pay for the wedding.

We wanted to see the Harem, but that needed extra tickets to the ones we had. We left it to come back to later and continued our walk around the rest of the palace grounds.

Not all the room or buildings captivated us, but several had us staring in absolute wonder. They are so highly decorated, it is impossible to take it all in. I think, if you lived there and studied the rooms every day for several years, you might get a handle on all the detail. They are truly amazing. To anyone else visiting the palace I recommend The Domed Chamber/Imperial Council in the Second Courtyard, and The Kiosks, right at the back in the Fourth Courtyard. Just overwhelmingly awesome! It did take us all afternoon to wander around the grounds, and we didn’t get to the Harem because it closed at 5pm, just as we were making our way back. I’m sorry we missed it, but all in all, an amazing place.

Having spent so much time in the Palace, we thought we’d take a look to see where other particularly interesting sights were.

 Istanbul Ahmet fountain outside the Imperial Gates of Topkapi Palace

We found the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and the Hippodrome.We took loads of photographs in the evening light, soaking up the atmosphere before deciding we needed to eat and it was time to make our way back to the ship.

Istanbul Hagia Sophia and fountain of Sultan Ahmet Square or Hippodrome

Our next treat came as we passed a Turkish restaurant. There were two men playing traditional Turkish music. We stood and listened for a while, the song finished, the dulcimer player switched to an instrumental piece, and then, just as we were about to leave, a third man, who up until now had just stood still and upright, stepped forward, bowed, and then started to spin. And spin and spin and spin and spin. I Googled it, “Sufi whirling (or Sufi spinning) is a form of Sama or physically active meditation which originated among Sufis, and which is still practiced by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order” and it’s where the term “whirling dervish” comes from:  Wikipedia - Sufi Whirling.  I was absolutely astounded that this man didn’t stop, he kept turning, like a top, for the length of the song, 4 or 5 minutes. I don’t know if he was dizzy when he finished, but he seemed to be OK. Amazing! 

Istanbul is full of wonders, and I am loving discovering them. But after that, we really did have to get back to the ship for our dinner. Tomorrrow we have so much more to see, and not enough time to see it in.

Yalta - Another Ukrainian city, but with ice cream.

We left the ship a little earlier than usual, and as we were making our way out of the port, a man speaking very good English leapt in front of us and asked if we’d like to go on a minibus tour to the Livadia Palace and Swallow’s Nest Castle. For some insane reason, we agreed and got onto a tatty minibus, already full except for our two spaces, and set off through the streets of Yalta towards the first palace.

I’m still not sure after the trip whether it was good value for money or if we were mugged. I think it was the former. Our host spoke excellent English, knew a lot about the area, and gave us an insight into the changes that were going on. He told us how it had been difficult to live within the Communist regime, and now how Ukraine was trying to develop into a Capitalist way of life. He complained that it seemed like 10% of the population had 90% of the wealth. Hmmmmm, I don’t think he realises this is quite normal...... But he was very knowledgeable and provided all sorts of information.

Livadia Palace was originally built quite recently (1912) by the last of the Tsars as a holiday home for himself and his family. They only visited four times before the communist revolution. The story of the demise of the Russian Tsars and the brutal murder of the last Russian royal family is well known.

The palace went through a stage of being a convalescent home, and was also occupied by the Germans during WWII who stripped it of its wealth when they retreated. Livadia’s real fame lies in the fact that it is the place where Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt met just before the end of the war to decide on the future of Europe. There are historic photographs of the meeting and for 6 ½ Euros, you can visit inside, and see the table used to decide the fate of Germany and the occupied countries. We chose not to do that, but I wish I had now.

We had a wander around the grounds, admired the view, caught a glimpse of a private concert in the gardens, and visited the little chapel at the back built for the Tsars family. The Tsar, his wife, four daughters and son, are now Saints in Ukrainian religion because they died for their faith it seems. The Communist regime decided atheism was the way to go. Cathedrals and places of worship were closed and Christians could not worship or show their faith. For the Ukraine people, Glasnost didn't come soon enough.

After the Livadia Palace we stopped at a viewing point to get some pictures of the Swallow’s Nest Castle, (now an Italian restaurant, which destroys any ideas of a romantic history), and spent money in the souvenir shops.

After an entertaining little trip, we returned to Yalta and visited the cathedral before taking the cable car up the mountain. The cathedral was beautiful on the outside, all white and gold, but inside was very dark, all the wall paintings were very dark, and it didn’t have the same appeal as many of the others we’ve seen.

The cable car was a bit of an adventure in itself. The cars are tiny, only just big enough for two, and like a ski lift, the cable doesn’t stop to let you on, you have to make a bit of a dash for it. Bearing in mind you have to navigate doors to get to the seats, it’s all a bit hairy. Getting off is very similar and the whole experience certainly caused a few giggles. The cable car only goes about a third of the way up the mountain, and from it we had to find our way to the War Memorial. Although the memorial is quite massive, it was also kind of understated, with expansive views of the city and its surroundings.

Towards the end of our day, we took a walk along the sea front absorbing the atmosphere and eating ice cream. At the port end of the sea front, a statue of Lenin, founder of the Communist Republics, surveys his legacy with pride. With a sense of poetic justice, the governors of Yalta have allowed a McDonalds to be opened directly in front of his gaze. Cool irony huh?

Yalta is a pretty city, clean and obviously one of the places to visit if you are a Ukrainian. The mountains make a magnificent backdrop and sort of reminded us of Madeira. All in all a nice place to visit and we had a good day.

Tomorrow is Istanbul, I have no idea what to expect, just something completely different.............

Sevastopol

Another very nice port city in the Ukraine.  Apparently it was a closed city until the late 1990’s, meaning no-one but naval staff and families were allowed into the area.  The city has only recently become the trendy place to visit for Ukrainians, and ships too apparently.

Sevastopol seems proud of its military and naval heritage and there are loads of monuments celebrating the cities heroes and history, such as Stalin granting Sevastopol the title “Hero City” in 1945 after it held out against the Germans in 1942.

We spent the morning walking around.  First thing I noticed is that the city lacks shop windows, (of course I would, I’m female), so we couldn’t really tell what was being sold.  Apparently this is “chic”.   We didn’t see any street or market stalls either. There didn’t seem to be many bars or restaurants, but that could be because, like shops, they’re not advertising.  There were loads n loads of banks and cash machines though and of course, a cathedral.

                              

The last thing we visited was The Panorama.  This was very much worth our time.  An amazing piece of art and design which demonstrates a little of Sevastopol’s history beautifully.  Very graphic and realistic, it is quite stunning and thanks to two tour guides, (one in front and one behind) I learnt a little regarding a siege in 1854-1855, and why some of the city memorials.

We were back on ship by 1pm and agreed there was no reason for us to go out again.  I think if we visit in future, research is needed beforehand and we should be ready to book a taxi somewhere.   I am sure Ukraine has plenty to show us, just not necessarily in Sevastopol. 

Next stop Yalta, another Ukrainian port.