Into the Palace

Friday - our (one) day off, and this Friday is of course Australia Day.

We decided to try again to go and see Dolmabahce ("filled garden") Palace, the place where the great Ataturk breathed his last.

Charlotte thought maybe the place was "filled" with flowers ... but actually it's name comes from being built on reclaimed land, right by the Bosphorous.

The gardens were beautiful, with some flowers, and a few statues of lions playing with their babies and fighting off crocodiles.



At the gate we joined a crowd standing around photograhing the guard. Well, you must admit it is rather tempting to count the number of times he blinks.



While he appears to be standing "at ease", he is in fact battle ready. When you go around the back of him you find he is far from relaxed.



The Tour
I hate guided tours. I want to stop and look at things that interest me, and hurry past the rest ... and even chat to those I am with about what amuses me.

At the Dolmabahce palace :

• You must join a tour group - they have English and Turkish at least.
• You have to pay for the right to use a camera - you pay 6 lira for a ticket (10 lira for video) which you tie to your camera with a little red ribbon. And then you are not allowed to use a flash - which is a problem in a lot of the rooms which are not well lit.
• You have to wear these cute little plastic slippers over your shoes. Ah, well, I love watching CSI!

The tour group was big, and we seemed to always be at the back of the group. We were told we had to walk on the red carpets as the floors were handmade wooden parquetry and not glued in.

The rooms were full of exquisite furniture and magnificent chandeliers. There was a huge number of salons - sitting rooms - and variety of styles.



We spent an hour looking at these rooms, trailing around after the tour group. The guide was reasonably interesting to listen to, what we heard of her, but it was hard to imagine what life would have been like for those living here in those times.



We finished looking around the main palace, then we went into a little cafe for a cuppa before going on the tour through the harem quarters. This time there were beds and rooms with children's furniture, and the bed where the founder of Turkey died.



This was part of the ceiling of the grand meeting hall.

Stephanie was already tired after the main palace, and set off home by herself. Charlotte, Peter and I battled on, but by the time we finished and walked to the bus stop we were totally weary.


A lovely day out. I guess our family in Oz are watching fireworks and celebrating Australia Day.