Entering the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul
Like a lot of places here in Istanbul, Dolmabahce Palace requires an entrance ticket. This is no problem since is a ticket kiosk nearby. There are multiple queues at the ticket kiosk and everyone seemed to be wondering if they were on the right one. I wasn’t really sure myself but eventually found myself almost in front of the counter. The family in front of me apparently had an issue with their ticket. I think they were given three adult tickets and one child when they actually needed two of each. Unfortunately, they were told that they couldn’t get a refund on it, even though it was not their fault. This was all done in English and I thought that I volunteer for the ticket they can’t use to they can get their one child ticket. They thanked me profusely while at the same time expressed annoyance at the inability of the ticket counter to correct their own mistake.
Entrance Gate of the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul
What I realized was that it wasn’t the end of our meeting. I was still outside taking photos of a beautiful gate when I saw the father calling out to me. Apparently, even if you already got in the palace grounds, you still have to enter together for some reason because you have to show the ticket. Basically, this means we will have to travel together. I don’t really mind it since we will probably be going to see the same places anyway. The father was apologizing again because of the perceived inconvenience it caused me. Ultimately, we had to visit the palace together since we will be asked for the ticket multiple times even if were already inside the palace grounds. It was really bizarre why they keep asking for it, but those are their rules.
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