Honeymoon - Ending in Istanbul Soon
We are staying in a flat in Cihangar. The place is sort of dumpy put the views are excellent (I'm writing this on a couch that overlooks the water) and the neighborhood is supposed to be super trendy and cool. We have been too geriatric to see anything past 11 :) but we will try tonight (our last night in Turkey).
We have been here for 2 nights already. First day back to IST, we arrived around 1PM, moved into the flat and went to spice bazaar and Sulayiman Mosque. It's ramazan here now; we were able to sit in a giant square right beside the Mosque for the breaking of the fast / iftar. We had dinner at sort of communal tables with hundreds of people. The table was set and the servers frantically ran around laying out more food. But no one was eating anything. Then, a beautiful song was sung from the minarets and people started devouring the food on the tables - veggies, delicious lentil soup, bread, rice and beans. So good. We walked around and then went back to the flat.
Yesterday, we had the famed kahvalti from a Cihangir place called Van Kahvalti Evi. We did the Grand Bazaar (meh), and had the wonderful experience of the Cemberlitas Hamami. We both got the hamam bath (marble sauna, scrub down, rinse, shampoo), the oil massage (very firm with good stretching), and I got a face mask. We had reservations for the widely recommended Hamdi Restaurant for iftar at 8:45, so I skipped the face mask and we took the metro to Hamdi (5 minutes). Thank goodness for the reservation. The terrace floor was PACKED with communal tables inside (still an awesome view of the water and the city from in there), and we were only 1 of 3 two-tops on the coveted outdoor terrace. Score! The iftar the day before was only 3 courses. This was much more food: kahvalti spread, then the soup, then a rice and sausage dumpling, then a stuffed pepper or eggplant, then rice, then three kinds kebap (my fave has the pistachios in it). I was eating only 1 of everything but Alex's plate was starting to pile up. The table next to us had ordered eggplants in addition, and had cleaned EVERY course (but they probably fasted all day). Then, there was dessert - lots of fruit and their specialty - baklava. Each table had a plate with at least 3 kinds of baklava. We brought the fruit and baklava home to eat for breakfast... which I'm eating now, with an ayran I got from the quik-e-mart across the street.
We have been here for 2 nights already. First day back to IST, we arrived around 1PM, moved into the flat and went to spice bazaar and Sulayiman Mosque. It's ramazan here now; we were able to sit in a giant square right beside the Mosque for the breaking of the fast / iftar. We had dinner at sort of communal tables with hundreds of people. The table was set and the servers frantically ran around laying out more food. But no one was eating anything. Then, a beautiful song was sung from the minarets and people started devouring the food on the tables - veggies, delicious lentil soup, bread, rice and beans. So good. We walked around and then went back to the flat.
Yesterday, we had the famed kahvalti from a Cihangir place called Van Kahvalti Evi. We did the Grand Bazaar (meh), and had the wonderful experience of the Cemberlitas Hamami. We both got the hamam bath (marble sauna, scrub down, rinse, shampoo), the oil massage (very firm with good stretching), and I got a face mask. We had reservations for the widely recommended Hamdi Restaurant for iftar at 8:45, so I skipped the face mask and we took the metro to Hamdi (5 minutes). Thank goodness for the reservation. The terrace floor was PACKED with communal tables inside (still an awesome view of the water and the city from in there), and we were only 1 of 3 two-tops on the coveted outdoor terrace. Score! The iftar the day before was only 3 courses. This was much more food: kahvalti spread, then the soup, then a rice and sausage dumpling, then a stuffed pepper or eggplant, then rice, then three kinds kebap (my fave has the pistachios in it). I was eating only 1 of everything but Alex's plate was starting to pile up. The table next to us had ordered eggplants in addition, and had cleaned EVERY course (but they probably fasted all day). Then, there was dessert - lots of fruit and their specialty - baklava. Each table had a plate with at least 3 kinds of baklava. We brought the fruit and baklava home to eat for breakfast... which I'm eating now, with an ayran I got from the quik-e-mart across the street.
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