We were all tired after the boat ride, but wanted to do one last thing before heading out the next day. We took the kids to see the Sultan's palace, called Topkapi. We were not allowed to take photos inside, but we got to see the immense collection of jewels (girls loved) and swords (boy loved). We even got to go inside the bed chamber for the Sultan himself, from the 1800's. No one was in the room except the security guard and our family. After such a long day of boat rides and walking, Big Ben just slipped right under the rope and kicked back on the Sultan's bed. (Horrified is an understatement.) Thankfully, he obeyed quickly when, with bugged-out eyes and mouths on the floor, we said, "COME. NOW." Looking back, it is a little funny. Big comfy king bed. Tired little boy. It makes perfect sense.
I wanted to take a family picture with the sea behind us. For some reason, one of our little Turks decided to pretend she was a hot air balloon when the man clicked it.
This was outside the sultan's bedroom and was taken right before the awful toddler-in-the-sultan's-bed incident. Sigh.
And so our vacation came to an end. It was a whirlwind, and we did and saw a lot in three days. It was not relaxing in the slightest (well, except when we fed the kids grilled cheese sandwiches, put them to bed, left Firstborn in charge, and went out for that nice quiet Indian dinner!) but it was well worth the effort to go. I believe the kids learned much. And I hope things like this make their history books come alive.
I have one more post of our trip tomorrow, but couldn't end this one without showing you the Ottoman style bed the kids slept in. They reminded me of tootsie rolls!
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