istanbul - day three

on our third day in the city spanning two continents, we visited both. starting in the morning, we made our way to the topkapi palace, home of the ottoman sultans (and their concubines - of which each sultan had up to 300). like every other attraction in istanbul, it is full of tour groups, stray cats, and the most beautifully-patterned tile you'll ever see, ever, in your life. and i've seen a lot of tile in my day. additionally, it boasts st. john the baptist's arm and hairs from the beard of the Prophet Mohammed.
later, we ended up in the spice bazaar, where they sell everything from henna, saffron, and paprika to locum (turkish delight), narli (made from pistachios and pomegranate), and helva (which is made from sesame and tastes like the insides of butterfinger bars), to turkish viagra (made from nuts and figs and apricots, one shop had a sign claiming "5 times in one night!") and love tea. i doubt there's a spice you can't get here. they certainly had every spice and dried herb in my slightly useless large knowledge of spices and dried herbs, and then some.
after dark, we climbed into a cab (whose driver spoke no english) and sped away into the night across the golden horn to the beyoglu quarter of town. dinner in asia wasn't as good as lunch in europe, but still excellent.
then we had to get up at four in the morning the next day to fly to cappadoccia.