Saturday 
30.8.2025 
16.27km Total: 259.81km 
I have breakfast and take a taxi to Topkapi Palace.
Once inside, as a nice change, there is actually a sign for "tickets" (in English).
I stand in line only to be told after 20 minutes at the window that it was for Turks only, foreigners buy their tickets at a completely different place.
Another line where I only stood for a little over five minutes before a woman shouts out that they only accept cash and no cards.
Since the entrance fee was 2400TRY (~€50), it was definitely more than what I had in my wallet.
Since the local currency is basically worthless, that amount of cash would be a bundle large enough to bludgeon a small seal to death.
I asked a guide if they at least took Euros in cash if it had to be cash payment, but of course they didn't. Turkish lira only.
You'd think that there would be an ATM next to a business that handles such enormous amounts of cash? Then you'd be wrong.
Instead, you need to think that it's a much better arrangement if the nearest ATM is outside the palace walls half a kilometer away.
Back in the queue much later with a ridiculous wad of cash, which had by then doubled in size for another attempt.
When I arrive at the ticket booth after 15-20 minutes, the lady asks if I want to pay in cash or by card and puts her hand on a card reader.
There were six different ticket booths, which in addition to the previous announcement clearly stated cash only.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but after the adventure with the Cyprus ferry and now this, the lesson I take with me that if you ever get straight and clear information in this country, you can safely assume that it is pure disinformation.
Two hours after the taxi dropped me off, I can finally, after further queuing, actually enter the palace.
I'll try not to be unfair about the hassle of entry but this is the most I've ever paid to enter a tourist attraction (in comparison, Turkish citizens pay 400TRY for entry so the "foreigner tax" in this case is roughly 500%).
Was it worth seeing? Absolutely. Did it live up to expectations considering the expensive entry and the farcical cash only debacle? Hell no.
After exploring what the castle had to offer I look for a restaurant because now it's waaaaaaaaaay past the time I should have gotten lunch.
I went to the very first place I could find which was a "fancy" cafe opposite the Hagia Sophia.
They didn't have what I wanted (fish) so I ordered chicken instead and the fact that I negotiated my way out of the hummus (which I can't eat) and replaced it with fries the chef clearly took as a personal insult because it was by far the most tasteless chicken I've ever eaten.
It's an achievement to make grilled chicken taste so little as a piece of cardbord would have been more flavourfull.
It was one of the worst meals of the trip and it cost me around €23.
It's fairly obvious that this won't be a particularly cheap stay.
I probably can't blame the chef for what follows because it doesn't happen that quickly but my stomach is starting to rumble, to say the very least, quite worryingly.
I wouldn't have had time to see anything more that day anyway so I'm playing it safe and heading back to the hotel.
It was lucky because all doubts were dispelled there, I have full-blown food poisoning.
I spend the rest of the evening in a bathrobe under the covers, shaking like a leaf between toilet visits, and they were frequent to say the least.
That this also results in the migraine from hell is as unwelcome as it is expected.
Topkapi palace
The Turks looked at this four hundred year old toilet design and concluded that there was 0 potential for improvement.
(Joking aside, there are of course modern toilets too, but the fact that "hole in the floor" toilets are still prevalent in 2025 is a bit weird.)
Grand Bazaar
