This fall I traveled to Rome with Jim. On the way there we had a 10 hour lay over in Istanbul. We arrived at 5 a.m. Istanbul time, which was 11 a.m. Seoul time. Wide awake and ready for lunch we wandered the predawn streets of Istanbul. When the city finally woke up, we toured the Topkapi Palace where the Kasikci Diamond is on dispay. This diamond is 86 karats and has a fascinating history. In the year 1669, a very deprived man found a beautiful stone in the waste pile of Egrikapi in Istanbul. He bargained it to a spoonmaker for 3 wooden spoons. The spoonmaker sold the diamond to a jeweller for 10 silver coins. The diamond came to be known as the spoonmaker's diamond. This palace also houses the the enormous solid gold and diamond candlesticks, each weighing 48kg.I knew very little of the Ottoman empire before my trip (I still know very little) but we enjoyed wandering through this palace of delicate opulance.
My Istanbul favorites: the fresh juice, the beautiful Strait of Bosphorus, the Turkish carpets, the honest and friendly people, and being with Jim all day.
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