Turkey

We are now back from Turkey, although a little later than we anticipated. A technical problem with the aircraft leaving Istanbul caused a two-hour delay, which meant that we missed our connecting flight in Milan. The net result was that we had to spend the night in a hotel in Milan (at the airlines expense) and we ended up enjoying the bountiful complementary table wine with a couple of nice German guys. Rather than go into a detailed account of our trip, I thought I would list my favourite things (in random order):

1 - The Hagia Sophia Mosque (so incredibly old).




2 - Sitting under a full moon on the roof top terrace of our hotel (sadly no picture here because it was too dark). You could see the top of the minarets of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, and the bay in the other direction.

3 - Chicken Kebaps. Simple roasted chicken (with some magical spices) and a few slices of tomato wrapped up in a fresh tortilla like thing. Such a beautiful thing, especially for about $1.50 each. (no picture due to the fact that I devoured it as soon as it arrived)

4 - The Turkish folk singer. This guy was really amazing. He had a great voice, and it was amazing what he could do with his instrument (still trying to find out what his instrument is called). He was like the Eddie Van Halen of Turkish folk music complete with the hammer-on soloing.




5 - Turkish Coffee - tiny cups of thick strong coffee.




6 - The ruins of Troy. Fascinating to see how they kept rebuilding the city on top of the old one. Troy has seen ten different incarnations. (sorry, I forgot my internet friends and did not take any digital pictures here)

7 - Turkish baths. You lie on a giant heated marble slab and roast for a while. Then a big hairy Turkish guy comes in and beats the crap out of you (they call it a massage), including a good soaping and scrubbing. Then you get wrapped up in warm dry towels. (again no pictures of this for obvious reasons)

8 - Fresh roasted tuna. It was very simply prepared with a light breading and delicate spices. The fish was so fresh and cooked to perfection. I had to get over the fact that it was served with its head on and therefore staring at me the whole time I was eating it.

9 - Breakfast at our hotel. Again, the simplicity was the key. Slices of fresh tomato and cucumber, soft salty cheese, fresh bread, olives, hot tea.

10 - Smoking the Nargile (hookah). They had a great place set up in what used to be (hundreds of years ago) a school for religious studies. The class rooms were converted into carpet and trinket shops, and the courtyard in the middle was set up with chairs and couches for lounging and smoking for hours on end. We went twice, and ended up buying a small rug and a hookah from the friendly guys whose shop happened to be near our couch (I'm sure it is no accident that the tourists get put near all of the shops.




You can see some more pictures from our trip here.

JE