Isanbul

Day two started with a cruise on the Golden Horn and Bosphorus waterways. A great way to see Istanbul from another perspective and to realise how huge this city is. (Population in lonely planet book 2013 was 14 million.  Not sure was it is now)  We stopped off for lunch at the Rumell Fortress which was a few kilometers from the Black sea. This was  near one of the four bridges connecting europe and asia.  After a pleasant 3 hour cruise we joined the queues at the Topkapi Palace. The palace compound consisted of courtyards and pavilions, not like our modern palaces and it offered a glimpse of the lives of the Ottoman sultans. There would have been over 4000 people living here - sultan, his wives, children, concubines,  eunuchs and servants. The sultan and his family rarely left the palace grounds. We viewed the kitchen, the library, treasury with its incredible collection of jewels including a tear drop shaped 86 carat diamond. (The worlds 5th largest diamond) Both Marie and Sandy decided it was just a little bit large for a ring!!!! We were there till closing time and didnt see it all. That night we treated ourselves to room service because we were all exhausted.