Dolmabahce Palace...

The picture below is not Dolmabahce Palace, but actually the Dolmabahce Mosque, which is just down the street from the Palace. We didn't go in the Mosque, but just took a picture as we went by.

Here is us in front of the Palace gates. Dolmabahce Palace is another palace where Sultans ruled from. This one isn't as old, as it was used mostly between the mid-1850's to the 1920's.

We got lucky and were able to see the changing of the guards as we approached the palace.

That was kind of neat.

Here is one of the guard's posts: standing on this platform, in front of the gate. He was like a Buckingham Palace guard. He didn't move at all.

This is the gate that the Sultan would go out of if he needed to go in towards land from the palace. As you can see, it is a very small gate.

And this is the gate the Sultan would leave out of if he wanted to go out to the water side of the palace. The palace sits right along the Bosphorus Strait, as you can see right behind Huzz.

I thought this was a neat sculpture in the garden: a lion tackling an alligator to the ground.

The palace is so huge, it's impossible to get it all in one picture and show the immensity of it. This is one side of the palace. As you can see, it stretches back really far.

So, we went on an English tour, which was slightly frustrating, as there was a group of ladies who would not keep their yappers shut while our tour guide told us about the various things in the palace. But here is an up close of the banister at the Crystal Staircase. Pretty impressive.

And here is most of the Crystal Staircase, in its entirety, including massive chandelier.

The palace was extremely ornate and expansive. Every room had massive chandeliers and intricate paintings on the celing. Columns everywhere, and arched doorways. This was a dining room, of some sort.

Again, the quality of the pictures isn't great, as there was no flash photography allowed, but here is a fireplace that made me think of my Grandma Evelyn. The colors reminded me of her, I think.

This is in the Sultan's bathroom. It was all carved marble, everywhere.

This is the ceiling in the final great room of the tour. The ceiling was very high and the painting was extremely detailed.

This room was Huzz's favorite part of what we visited in Istanbul. It was a really impressive room, I have to say!

This is the chandelier in the great hall area.

Here we are in front of another gate that leads out to the water when we came out of the tour.

I was shocked by the immensity of everything.

Even though the palace was very beautiful and impressive, it was a little sad to think about what the Sultans' family's lives were like. For one thing, the Sultans had several wives. When we visited the "Harem" (living quarters), there were 8 wives' apartments, where they would live individually with their children. And there was a hierarchy with their status. I can imagine it was a pretty lonely life.

Anyway, that is the Dolmabache Palace!