Istanbul Day 2

Today we had a nice leisurely day. The day started with another delicious breakfast after which we wandered around the ship just to try and get our bearings. We then went back into the city of Istanbul to explore. It was amazing the difference from yesterday to today in the city. Yesterday it was packed and you couldn’t walk down the street without colliding with a passerby. However, today it seemed almost like a ghost town (relative to yesterday, but it was still pretty busy). I think it was probably due to the rain, being a Sunday and also the holiday of Ramadan.
The first place we went to visit was the Topkapi Palace. Everything in the palace was breathtaking, we were so happy that we decided to go ashore and explore despite the rain. The palace had exhibits displaying a variety of historical artifacts, from religious relics, treasures received as gifts or as spoils of war, and the sultan’s ceremonial apparel. It was all incredible to see, according to the plaques we read; we saw the prophet David’s sword, the staff of Moses, and various prophet’s beard boxes. The treasury had jewels that you only see in movies, the kind that are the focus of big jewelry heists. It included several plush thrones, jeweled swords and armor, boxes of massive emeralds and rubies, and an 82 carat diamond turban jewel. It was really very incredible, the jewels were extremely beautiful. By the end we were really tired from walking around the palace, it was a huge building, but we were so glad we were able to make to see it.
After the palace we went to visit the blue mosque, which was kind of a surreal experience because like we have been told would happen, you could hear chanting prayers over loud speakers throughout the city. We were actually hoping to be able to enter the mosque itself, but weren’t able to because it was prayer time and today was the holiday of Ramadan, so unfortunately we had to stay out in the courtyard of the mosque. We were still able to observe the people praying, it was incredible to watch as they all removed their shoes, knelt down in rows facing the east, and bowed their heads down to the ground repeatedly in unison. It really was a great cultural experience.