We awoke to yet more rain, on a very gray Istanbul morning. Nevertheless, we were up early to get to Topkapi Palace, one of Istanbul's most famous sights.  

Topkapi Palace was the Sultan's palace between the 15th and 19th centuries, serving as the court of the entire Ottoman Empire. It was home to over 4,000 people at the height of its glory, including the royal wives and children, concubines, eunuchs, and servants. Our guidebook described it as "opulent," "magnificent," and "fascinating."  It was certainly priced to those superlatives- a ticket to visit the Palace, the Imperial Treasury, and the Harem was a eye-watering 65 Turkish lira (about $16 USD, and about three times the cost of any other museum ticket in Turkey). 

We entered the Palace through the royal entry arch, and were directed to tour the kitchens. The kitchens were massive; feeding 4,000 people daily was such a huge undertaking that the head chef was part of the Sultan's royal court. The kitchens and their storage took up nearly half of the massive second courtyard complex. The chef half of my touring entourage was sufficiently impressed.

We visited the harem next- this was a massive dormitory of sorts, comprising hundreds of rooms. The harem housed the Sultan's three hundred or so concubines, and their eunuch attendants. We had read that this was the most spectacular part of the tour, both in opulence and in legend; entire Arabian Nights-style stories originated from this complex. And while it was interesting, there wasn't any history or commentary offered as to this salacious history; and once again, half of it was closed for refurbishment. This, of course, was cleverly revealed after we'd purchased the ticket upgrade to see the harem.

The third court of the Topkapi Palace housed the "Relics of the Prophet," which are objects believed to have belonged to the Prophet Muhammed. Like the Holy Grail or the Shroud of Turin, I tend to give these types of religious-magical thinking items a wide berth and an eye-roll. I'm fascinated by the history and architecture of the world's religions, but I will never understand the object worship they inspire.

By now it was pouring rain, so it seemed like a good time to visit the Imperial Treasury. This is when we found out that surprise, the Treasury is closed indefinitely for refurbishment. Again, many thanks to Istanbul for informing us of this after we'd paid for an upgraded ticket. Muzzerf*ckers.

We left Topkapi disappointed and underwhelmed. So we decided to (re)visit the Grand Bazaar, in the hopes that this massive slice of Istanbul life could wow us as Topkapi hadn't.

The Grand Bazaar houses 4,000 stalls. It is so huge that it has street signs directing you to different areas. It has its own app in the Google Play Store (fun fact: The app not only provides maps and directories, but a "show me the closest toilet" feature). I'm not sure I can convey how huge this place is, or how many people crowd in there, or how cavernous the space is....but I will say that if you are not a fan of hordes of tour groups, hustling salesmen, noise, and a general feeling of claustrophobic imprisonment, then this probably isn't the destination for you. For me, I was expecting a locals' shopping bazaar of every item that could be bought- a physical Amazon.com, as it were- but it has become a tourist shopping zone instead. Most stalls sold either jewelry, Turkish lamps, pottery, or Turkish Delight and spices. That's not much variety for 4,000 stalls, and we were quickly bored until we discovered one amazing feature: Every one of those Turkish Delight and candy stalls give out samples. It was like Saturday morning at Costco, baby.

The Grand Bazaar failed to live up to our expectations as well; so we decided to visit some of the notable mosques. However, after discovering that the New Mosque AND the Rustem Pasa Mosque were both closed for refurbishment, we officially gave up.

Given that our itinerary today had been officially derailed, we decided to wander the Egyptian Spice Market. Score!! This place was gorgeous, filled with friendly vendors, lots of locals, and an eclectic mix of junk and treasures. We purchased Turkish Delight and happily wandered the not-overcrowded bazaar.  We even discovered a mosque that wasn't closed: The stunning Suleymaniye Mosque.   Not only is this 16th century mosque beautiful inside, it also provides a breathtaking view of Istanbul over the Bosphorus Strait. Granted, the vista was gray and foggy, but it was lovely nonetheless. 

So it looks like the Joneses went 2-6 for Istanbul tourism today, and I'm pretty sure the weather downgrades that stat even further.  I'm not gonna lie- after such fantastic experiences in the past week and a half, it's been discouraging that Istanbul hasn't met our expectations.    But we have another day and a half left to squeeze the fun from this city.