Day 12, 22nd April 2026 Istanbul

 Big lie in after all that walking yesterday and it was a pretty cold and rainy night.


Went for breakfast at the Mesopotamian roof terrace restaurant quite near to us, again i had read about it on someone’s blog and it has a highly recommended Turkish breakfast.

Sadly there is no sitting on the upstairs terrace as it is really cold (and still raining) phone says its 10 feels like 4 !


The spread for breakfast was crazy but delicious and clearly we wont need to eat until dinner time.


What to do on a rainy day?? 

With the Topkapi Palace next door it seems like a great idea to spend some time there.

Us and the rest of the tourist population of Istanbul it seems.


Sold a kidney to pay for the entry ticket, well maybe not quite,but it did cost €55.


What to say about it?

Well, it is very beautiful and was home to the sultans until 1861 when the Ottoman royal family moved to another palace in the mid 19th century.

The palace was built in 1453 after the fall of Constantinople.

There is an awful lot to see here as the palace and grounds covers 700,000 sq metres.

There is The Harem but not what you would first think.

This is where the wives, servants ( both female slaves and eunuchs ( there were about 800 black eunuchs living there to look after all the women) female relatives and the Sultans concubines.

There are more than 400 rooms there, i dont think we saw them all.

The sultans quarters were extravagant and opulent, i mean do you really need a fruit room? 


Visited the palace kitchens which was very interesting. There was the confectionary kitchen, the general kitchen and the Sultans kitchen.

Everything was supersized but I know there were many mouths to feed.


The weather is getting the better of us now. It is miserable and so cold that we will call it a day and head back to the warmth of our little room to dry out.


We have been adopted by a very pregnant cat who has insisted on coming into our room to lie near the warmth of the heater.

Her name is Jasmine.


The weather looks like it trying to brighten but regardless, dinner wasn’t far away, just in case.


Praying for better weather for tomorrow as always there are adventures planned.


































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