Turkish Delight–Part 1

Turkey wasn’t on our original Top Destination list for while we lived here, but after so many people (including Paul’s parents) told us how much they loved it and how they’ve been multiple times, we figured we should take advantage of close proximity and check it out for ourselves.

This trip we opted to try out Airbnb.com based on a friend’s recommendation.  Basically it’s a website for non-traditional housing for trips.  There’s mainly people that have bought apartments that they are renting or even some people that will either rent out a room in their place or their whole place while they’re out of town.  Overall I think we had a pretty good experience and would definitely use it again.

When we arrived, we opted to take a bus to Taksim Square in the Beyoglu district.  From there we were supposed to meet our apartment owner at the end of Istiklal street.  We wandered around looking for our agreed landmark.  Paul got hungry and decided to try the local grub.  Finally we figured out that we were supposed to be at the other “end” of Istiklal.  Good thing it was nice weather :)

Once we got settled in, we decided to go for a wander.  Our place was only a 2 minute walk from Galata Tower so we started off in that direction.  Then we checked out the Istiklal St. night life grabbing a drink at an outdoor bar/café and dinner at a local restaurant.

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The next morning we headed downstairs to a little corner grocery store beneath our building for some sustenance.  We opted to try a fresh squeezed orange juice and pomegranate juice.  Soooo delicious.  We got them everyday.  And I even asked them where I could buy a press as all of the shops seemed to have them (unfortunately I never found one and came home empty handed)

From there “we'” decided to head to the grand bazaar.  We didn’t even make it inside the main gate before we spotted a sports store that Paul wanted to check out :)   He didn’t end up finding anything for himself, but we did find a pretty sweet Barcelona soccer jersey and matching shorts for our cutest nephew.

Happy to be out of the cold drizzle, we wandered for a bit before finding a local looking place to snag a more substantive breakfast (lentil soup, grilled cheese, & veggies).

How Bazaar, How Bizarre

From there we went to go check out Hagia Sophia.  The line looked super long, so we decided to skip it and come back another day (unfortunately the day we came back they were closed, so we never made it inside).

We thought we’d check out the Blue Mosque.  Unfortunately it was prayer time, so the line outside was quite long.  We opted to come back another day (which we did).

So after deciding the lines were too long for the 2 major attractions & the Basilica Cistern, we defaulted to our “go-to” travelling activity—Find Some Food!  We grabbed a snack on the street then started walking towards a place that one of Paul’s coworker’s had recommended—Khorasani.  Khorasani was great.  It’s really close to Hagia Sophia/Blue Mosque, so if you ever go you should definite grab a meal there.  We opted to sit outside since they had nice outdoor heaters and blankets :)   This was our first taste of “apple tea” which we had many more times during our trip—we even bought some to bring back home with us!  It was also our introduction to the deliciousness that is the tradition of having fresh bread with every meal—so good!

After our bellies were full with more soup (lentil & seafood), we asked for a recommendation for a good café with a view.  We were directed to Pierre Lotti and were not disappointed.  Here we both made some progress on our Game of Thrones books and soaked in the view.

We headed back to Istiklal for some window shopping and dinner.

These apples ended up being quite the source of contention.  Wanting to get some fruit to snack on the next day, Paul started looking through the apples to find a few good ones.  The shop owner came up behind him and slapped him on the hand.  No joke.  He started mumbling/yelling and rearranging the apples.  Apparently in Turkey you don’t get to pick your own produce, you just have to hope that the owner doesn’t give you badly bruised apples.  A bit put off, we wandered off to another stand where Paul pointed to the type of apples and ended up with a successful purchase :)

Each night that we were on Istiklal, we saw protesters walking down the street.  Most of the posters were in Turkish, but eventually I spotted one in English.  Basically, I think they were protesting that their government wasn’t doing enough to help their “brothers” in Syria.  Still not sure if they were for the opposition or for Assad.

After spending most of the day eating, we opted for something a bit smaller and stopped into a Turkish fast-food place.  We got what I would call the equivalent of a Turkish shawarma.  I wasn’t thrilled with mine since it was made with lamb, but Paul like his.

That woman’s eyes are hilarious!