Up early the next day to visit the Aya Sofya and Topkapi palace. We bought the museum card which allowed us into a good selection of museums around Istanbul and allowed us to skip the huge queues. The Aya Sofya was interesting, you could really imagine how splendid it would have been back in its day with gold mosaics all around – I look forward to the day when they restore it completely to its former glory. Initially it was built as a church in 537 AD to try to restore the greatness of the Roman Empire. It was changed to a mosque in 1453, then a museum in 1935 until today. It was interesting seeing parts of gold mosaics depicting Jesus, Mary and the disciples, while at the same time hanging large (3-4m diameter) medallions with Arabic writings of Allah around the walls and the set out of a mosque on the ground floor.

Next up Topkapi palace – our only fail was not having lunch before we went in, thank goodness for the Turkish delight we bought the day before! What a place! Such a huge ‘home’ and very interesting to learn what each section was used for. The Sultan’s jewels and gifts were out of this world, how many ruby and diamond-covered water jugs does a sultan need? ( as Scott asked, what’s wrong with the NZ standard cheese board?). We saw the 5th largest diamond in the world (82carats) but I still miss my engagement ring. We saw what apparently is Moses’ rod ( not sure its the real deal) and also Prophet Mohammed’s foot print. The harem courts (where the sultans ladies use to live) were awesome, but we kind of rushed through as our stomachs were having a grumble. Nothing a 5lira kebab can’t fix!
After a much needed break, we had another kebab for dinner (cheap and quick) and crossed the bridge to Beyoglu to eat some Blaklava (a Turkish dessert filled with pistachios) with some Turkish tea – how Turkish of us!