Istanbul, Day 4

Our friend Husbandman had to work today, so I ventured down to Topkapi Palace.  I got the audio tour and walked around that place for about 3 hours.  I learned about sultans, and concubines, and eunuchs. You know how Moses parted the Red Sea?  Well, I even saw the staff that he used when he did that. It's skinnier than I imagined it would be.  I also saw a lot of cool thrones used by sultans.  Gold thrones, jeweled thrones. The rose gardens at the palace were lovely, the tiles were stunning and I loved the great views from the four terraces. Fist of 5?  I'm giving the Palace a solid 4.5. Sorry Palace, you would have gotten a 5 if the audio tour had been a little better.  Sometimes I would see a sign that said, "Sultan's Library, #402," then I'd punch in 402 and hear some annoying intro music.  After that the words, "Sultan's Library.  You are now entering the Sultan's library.  This is an important place."  What the heck, audio tour?  Some parts of the audio tour were more informative, but I hate to tell you this Palace, the audio tour needed some work.

When I got off the bus back home in our campus neighborhood, it was already dark.  As I stumbled onto the street, I was shocked to feel a hand familiarly placed on the back of my neck.  Come to find out, Husbandman was waiting for the bus and surprised me thusly, rather than identifying his presence with spoken words.  I was slightly freaked out, but then I felt quite overjoyed that the hand belonged to Husbandman and not some neck fetish person I've never met before.  After our startling reunion, we went out for dinner, which ended with the Turkish tea I've come to know and love. Istanbul is grand.