Day 99 ~ Day One--Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul

 April 18, 2022 

46 degrees, light showers, windy...generally kind of miserable, but what an amazing city!

If Earth were a single state, Istanbul would be its capitol. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

One name for the city left off the list is Miklagard--an old Viking name for the "Great City in the South." When I was researching for my viking novels, I discovered the Norsemen admired the city and along with wanting to trade with the inhabitants, they tried to storm its impressive walls. They failed to sack the city, but it was a near enough thing that the emperor decided to take the northern barbarians into his pay and made them into the Varangian Guard, the emperor's personal armed forces.

The Sultan's finery

Today we visited Topkapi Palace, a huge complex of intertwined courts and buildings which housed the sultans and his family for some 400 years. In accordance with Islamic law, a sultan might have as many as four legitimate wives, but there seemed no limit to the number of concubines he might collect. I was reminded of King Solomon who had 300 wives and 700 concubines. How ever did the man find time to write any of the wisdom literature that's attributed to him?

If someone wanted an audience with the sultan, he might have to wait months, possibly years, for five minutes time with the potentate. In the chamber, there was a fountain in the corner whose babbling waters would drown out any conversation and the guards stationed at the doors were deaf. 

The Sultan wore this 68 karat diamond in his turban when he spoke to petitioners. No one was supposed to look directly into his face. I would suspect this glittering bauble made sure all eyes were focused on his turban instead of trying to read his expressions.

Our next stop was the Blue Mosque, so called for obvious reasons. It's under heavy renovation, but is still used as a place of worship. We removed our shoes and ventured in. I really appreciate it when a mosque is open to those of other faiths and particularly women. 

I understand now why men and women are segregated when they come to pray. When you kneel with your nose to the carpet, it makes sense that the person behind you should share your gender.  

In Islamic art, no people or animals, nothing with conscious life, can be depicted. That's why lotus and rose blossoms and intricate geometric patterns along with Arabic script make up the embellishments in a mosque. 

Our next stop was another rug shop. And yes, this time I did buy a genuine, hand-tied Turkish carpet. Granted, it's made of cotton and wool instead of silk, but with our two little dogs, I think something sturdier makes more sense. According to the merchants, these things wear like a champ and clean up like it never happened. We can hope! 

I've bought a number of art pieces on cruise ships in the past. I love bringing a splash of color to my otherwise very neutral walls. This is the first piece of art I've collected that we'll be walking on. (I cringe as I type that!) I know it will be a treasured keepsake of this journey. 

In the evening, Viking arranged another off-the-ship experience for us. We attended a concert by the Antioch Choir in a palace belonging to one of the daughters of the sultan. This group has won numerous awards for its musical efforts in promoting peace between the three great monotheistic religions. There are Jewish, Christian and Muslim members of the choir and instrumental ensemble, and they perform music that celebrates all three faiths. The flautist was particularly talented, as well as the two violinists. The choir sang in unison the entire time, which makes sense since unity is what they are philosophically all about.

It was a very late night, made more difficult by the involved process of reaching the venue. Just the hike from our stateroom through the terminal where we met our guide was over a mile. Then we walked through the shopping area to a ferry that took us to a waiting bus on the Asian side of Istanbul (it is the only city that straddles two continents!) Rain and darkness and slick granite underfoot made for treacherous going once we reached the palace, but there were no accidents!   

But my step counter pegged out at over 13,000 steps today! I feel every one of them...