I’d arrived in Istanbul on the evening of the 22nd. My knee was very painful then and kept me awake for much of that evening. Because I felt somewhat better by the next morning, I paid for a private guide to show me the sights on Monday the 25th. At 150 euros, a private guide cost about as much as two large group tours but it also meant that I had personal attention and that I could manage the pace and duration of the tour at will. I spent the next two days using my leg as little as possible in the hotel. I’d mentioned my knee problems to my sister in a text on Saturday and somehow she contacted the hotel to get some walking assistance for me. By Sunday evening, the hotel had some options: The first offering was more like a wheeled walker; I could not imagine taking that beast on cobbled stone streets! Next up were the crutches – still too much to carry thru the city. Finally, they proposed a hiking pole which was pretty close to the simple cane that I’d asked for and really needed. Monday, I was downstairs, dosed on NSAIDS and ready to go after breakfast. My guide, Mr Orun, arrived promptly at 10 am and off we went. I really had no clear idea of the agenda for the day – I knew that my NSAIDs would give out at some point but exactly when I wasn’t sure. We started the tour with the Gardens by Topkapi Palace. It was a 3 minute walk from my hotel; Railbookers had me in an ideal spot!

From the gardens, we passed the Mint and then went through Security to Topkapi Palace. 

So, yes, the entrance to Disneyland looks a lot like the Topkapi Palace entrance. 

Mr Orun was giving me history lessons as we walked. Most of the lessons did not stick but a couple did: Tulips had already been well loved for centuries throughout the Ottoman Empire where the flowers decorated many gardens and palaces. It was Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent who gave some tulip bulbs to the Habsburg ambassador who then gave the bulbs to a Flemish botanist friend who eventually planted the bulbs in Leiden, Netherlands (https://www.dw.com/en/how-tulips-came-to-the-netherlands-and-even-saved-lives/a-40208176) and so the seed (bulb) of the Dutch Tulip Mania was planted.  The other story concerned the most valuable single item at Topkapi Palace, the Spoon Maker’s Diamond (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-spoonmakers-diamond-istanbul-turkey). One story says that it was first found by a fisherman who just thought that it was a pretty rock. After a few days he showed the rock to a jeweler who said that it was just a pretty piece of glass and bought it from the fisherman for three spoons. How the jewel ended up in the sultan’s collection is something I don’t recall but I can easily imagine a scenario wherein the gem was just given as a gift.