The arm of Prophet John... and its case.

Visited the Topkapi Palace this morning. Turned out to be a whole lot more interesting than our first impressions suggested - an enormous royal residence with plenty of opulence and more than its share of the bizarre. I think the two note-worthy things were an 86-carat diamond that eventually found its way to the sultans, being found in a rubbish tip and being sold to a street vendor for three spoons before anyone realised what it was and, secondly, that suggested in the title. Yes, the mummified arm of the Prophet John, encased in a beautifully decorated gold mould with a small piece out of the back to show that the arm really is in there!!!

After a last apple tea, and a quick stop to buy some turkish delight as gifts, we sent J on his way home. Long trip for him, with a long stop-over in Dubai. He arrives home Saturday morning Australian time...

B and I ventured out again in the afternoon to the Istanbul Modern gallery, which is free on a Thursday. It is small and contains its share of rubbish (including the video piece of a woman leaving lipstick kisses all over the wall and then all over herself, which prompted B to suggest the woman needed a good slapping. I tend to agree), but also has some gems of both Turkish and international art.

After the gallery, we took the roundabout way (ie we got lost) to get to a bar/restaurant an Istanbullu couple J and I met on our kayaking trip had suggested we visit. Stunning panoramic views over Istanbul, but the place was so flash and the drinks so expensive that we settled for just a drink at the bar.

Getting lost turned out to be quite interesting though - we found ourselves walking through a number of interesting laneways, past some cool bars and some interesting graffiti. Tried to get a bit of all of it in today's photo.

Eventually back to the hotel after dinner and ice creams. We had grand plans of getting to the soccer tonight - Galatasaray (the team Harry Kewell plays for) is playing an Austrian team but it looked like we were going to have to get there hours early in order to get a seat. It's on the TV behind me as I type this. Volume right up, so almost like being there...

Tomorrow afternoon we head to Kenya.