Whew! Big break in updates. Sorry! Combination of being super sick, super lazy, and a little bit of being overwhelmed by the this post. On Day 6 we visited the Topkapi Palace. This was the primary residence for the Ottoman sultans for around 400 years and is a massive place (hence being a bit overwhelming). It's funny to start out being completely awed by a place and end up being exhausted of yet more examples of the most beautiful tiles you've ever seen. I'll just jump right into pictures, leaving most of my commentary to their captions.

The main gates. Or maybe actually secondary gates, but the main ones for tourists, anyway.

A cool door handle.

The tallest fire extinguisher I've ever seen.

Beautiful tiles! I really like the trees.

There were lots of little windows or nooks with shutters like these.

The repeated geometry is a bit mesmerizing.

Another door handle. Sorry.

The ceiling in (I think) the fanciest reception room, used almost exclusively by the sultan and his closest family members (or most favored consorts, which are pretty much the same thing, right?).

A ceiling. Do your ceilings not look like this?

Uhhh... cool dangly thing is all I've got. There's probably a real name and function but I don't know either.

Stained glass window.

More ceiling!

Eaves.

A view across the Golden Horn to the Galata tower (and neighborhood).

Another cool dangly thing!

And another ceiling!

Selfie time! Grace didn't get the memo, maybe, and blinked. Enjoy this picture while you can, because it might not last Grace's inspection of this post.

Looking across the Bosphorus.

Exiting the palace grounds and heading towards the Blue Mosque.

We weren't allowed photographs in some parts of the Topkapi museum. Particularly in the areas with holy relics. I won't go into too much detail on those, but I will share at least some snark: it was certainly impressive that they were able to assemble so many swords of the prophet's companions and other artifacts you would imagine to have been lost to time. Fortuitous.

After the Topkapi Palace I'm not entirely sure what we did. I think had lunch? Or maybe we went directly to the Blue Mosque. Either way, we eventually ended up at the aforementioned, though were initially turned away as it was prayer time (the Blue Mosque is still active). We wandered around outside for a bit to kill time before being let in, taking a few more pictures.

The Blue Mosque!

Next door to the Hagia Sophia. Just in case either alone was not sufficiently impressive.

A door in the courtyard.

Grace! :)

Another view of the Blue Mosque.

A doorway in the courtyard.

The ceiling inside the Blue Mosque. All the wires are for lighting. So many wires.

The Obelisk of Theodosius at the site of the Hippodrome of Constantinople.

I thought it was a replica, but apparently it's the original. From before 1400 BC. Looking pretty good for its age. I guess that's what using granite instead of marble does for you.

The base is marble, though, and shows more age despite being relatively young (dating to only around 400 AD).

One more shot of the Hagia Sofia.

Finally, we headed to Altan Sekerleme (a fairly famous, family-owned candy store that is apparently something of an Istanbul institution). We tried some of the Turkish delight (delightful!), but I think I may have been most impressed with the Jordan almonds, which actually had a substantial (and delicious) chocolate component. They also had some delicious gummy candy which Grace and I shared while waiting on the metro (and taking embarrassing pictures of each other).

I think I was actually going for a suggestive look here. I'm not sure what I ended up with, but it's definitely not that.

I may be getting into all sorts of trouble with these pictures.

Grace gets two pictures because she's not the one with the blog password.