We started our tour of the footsteps of Paul and John where neither Paul nor John ever set foot. :O) In Istanbul! We all flew into there as that is where the major airport is and it would be a shame for us not to see a little of Istanbul (used to be Constantinople) before leaving. It was very interesting.
This is a Byzantine church that is in the garden of the Topkapi Palace. It has some of the best acoustics and therefore is used for concerts now. Good luck getting tickets though... it only holde 300 and is used for special sold-out events of dignitaries and royalty. Unfortunately, they do not recognize the royal family of the Mitchells. :O)
The gardens are beautiful...
This is the entrance into the 2nd courtyard of the Topkapi Palace...
This tower was built for some of the Ottoman Sultans to look out on their kingdom... as it was the only way some of the Sultans ever saw the outside world. That's right... some Sultans never left the palace grounds!
This is the kitchen... there were 40 ovens that went to the 20 chimneys to cook for the 2000 royal family members, concubines, and palace guards who lived there!
We got to see the collection of jewelry that the Ottoman Dynasty collected... the Topkapi dagger was in a movie and the "Spoonmaker's Diamond" which a spoonmaker found and, not knowing it's value traded it for 3 spoons! It is the fourth largest diamond of it's kind in the world and is 86 carats!!!!
Here we are in front of the "council room."
This is a Byzantine church that is in the garden of the Topkapi Palace. It has some of the best acoustics and therefore is used for concerts now. Good luck getting tickets though... it only holde 300 and is used for special sold-out events of dignitaries and royalty. Unfortunately, they do not recognize the royal family of the Mitchells. :O)
The gardens are beautiful...
This is the entrance into the 2nd courtyard of the Topkapi Palace...
This tower was built for some of the Ottoman Sultans to look out on their kingdom... as it was the only way some of the Sultans ever saw the outside world. That's right... some Sultans never left the palace grounds!
This is the kitchen... there were 40 ovens that went to the 20 chimneys to cook for the 2000 royal family members, concubines, and palace guards who lived there!
We got to see the collection of jewelry that the Ottoman Dynasty collected... the Topkapi dagger was in a movie and the "Spoonmaker's Diamond" which a spoonmaker found and, not knowing it's value traded it for 3 spoons! It is the fourth largest diamond of it's kind in the world and is 86 carats!!!!
Here we are in front of the "council room."
Sorry to bust your bubble, but the true story of the spponmaker is quite different...It was once owned by my cousin Sir George Piggot, Baronet, and was bequeathed to England as part of the Crown Jewel Collection..Sold by Sotheby's in 1803 to Ali Pasha and has remained there to this day.
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