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Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
 
A few flurries of snow when we first woke up, but by the time we had had breakfast, it had stopped, so we decided that the best way to see things was on foot. I think also Joan wanted to test out the new walking boots she had bought yesterday.From the Taxim area it is all down hill to the Golden Horn. This took a little while because we had to walk through a complete shopping street to get down to the river, guess who found that. As you cross the bridge you get a superb view of the Hagia Sophia Mosque. This is no longer a working mosque but is being restored as a museum, which is a little unfortunate, because they still charge the full price for entry and most of what you
see is workmen and scaffolding. The domes inside are very much in need of this restoration and we imagine that it will be a superb visit when completed. The central dome spans 30 meters and rises 55 meters from the ground, considering it was built in the 6th century, that's quite an impressive feat.Not far from the mosque is the Topkapi Palace and this is really worth the effort. The palace spreads over acres of land and is numerous buildings mostly very well maintained. This palace was the focal point of the Ottoman Empire between the 15th and 19th centuries and the various exhibitions include the famous jewels of the treasury, a priceless collection of miniatures and of course, the Harem. The treasury jewels need to be seen to be believed, the size and quantity of the emeralds alone is quite staggering, also, in what used to be the palace kitchens, is a display of Chinese Ming pottery and crystal, I wouldn't like to hazard a guess as to its value. The palace was built on a finger of land looking out over the Bosphorous and luckily the weather was now clearing enough to make the views impressive.On our way back to the hotel we investigated the ferry services which start from Eminonou on the Golden Horn and offer a very frequent and cheap means of transport all over the waterways of Istanbul.
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