Turkey, day seven

Topkapı Palace, y'all. (Dotless "i"s are so confusing.)

Or rather, a very small part of it.

So back when this was a functioning palace, thousands of people lived here. The grounds are vast, as they needed to be--mind-blowing-ly, more people lived at Topkapı than attend my college. But unlike Dolmabahçe, Topkapı is not strikingly luxurious. Perhaps this is partially because it has been restructured into a museum, but I think it's also partially due to the era in which it was built. The Ottomans were on top of the world in the 1450s, and they didn't need to prove anything with their architecture or decoration. This is not to say there is nothing opulent about it. There are many, many fantastically tiled rooms, and some cool stuff like this:

Turns out it's really hard to photograph stained glass on a cell phone.

The museum artifacts are also quite spectacular, particularly the wide variety of massive emeralds and some pretty tricked-out swords. The harem, though, was probably the most interesting to visit. Apart from one real creepy diorama featuring humanoid mannequins, most of the harem is preserved in a relatively unadorned manner. Like other architecture of the palace, the harem is surprisingly simple at times, but I suppose in some ways it was just a sort of dormitory for the many eunuchs and concubines (the quarters of the mother of the sultan and the crown prince are appropriately bedazzled.) It's just so stunning to think that people lived there in the past; that the labyrinth of halls could be called home. Also, the social structures of Topkapı were really fascinating, if completely racist and sexist.

Also yesterday, we were treated to a nice dinner by a family friend. I am a college student, so while claims were made that this was "not a fancy restaurant" it was actually incredibly elaborate by my standards. Look at what they made me at this fish restaurant because I don't eat fish: 

This presentation only came after approximately 500 appetizers, called mezze and highly traditional. My grandmother was quite excited for me to experience mezze, and now I understand why. Everything imaginable was served up in small quantities, and we had to try not to stuff ourselves before the real food came (which for everyone else means a fish of some variety). And after this real food, of course, was dessert, which was thoroughly over-the-top.

Not pictured: even more dessert.

Yesterday also was very exciting because we booked tickets to go down to Ephesus on Monday! Awwwwww yeeeeeaaaah ancient ruins. 
 
How is it that I leave Turkey in less than a week??