I’ve enjoyed our stay in Istanbul. There was a lot of busy touring with the group and the bus (though most things were in walking distance) which was most interesting. It was also nice to have some moments of free time where we could explore on our own. Yesterday was such a day. After having some quiet time in the morning a small group of us went out exploring, found a lovely restaurant patio for lunch. I had a very delicious chicken salad with mushrooms and saffron cream sauce. We then walked through the streets to the spice bazaar. The smells and the sounds and the many, many different people were wonderful. The streets around the bazaar were crammed with people. It was crazy! It was neat to see the Istanbulites, ? Istanbullians?? Istanbulls, Istanbullies, (what are they called?) in their own environment. The night before we had free time and a nice group of us went out in search for somewhere to eat dinner. We saw a number of other choir members in a nearby restaurant but we decided not to join them because we didn’t want to just go to the first restaurant closest to the hotel. We walked for a while and stumbled upon a perfect place. We sat on their rooftop patio, and us women were given pashmina shawls to keep the chill away off the night air. The view again was spectacular, the company was wonderful (Rina, Larry, Brigitte, Joyce, Peter and I) and the food was outstanding. They specialized in dishes from the Ottoman period, some of the Sultan’s apparent favourites were included. I had the best dish ever; lamb stuffed with pistachio and mushrooms with a creamy-like sauce. It was so good.
We ended off our choir tour with a dinner boat cruise along the Bosphorous, between Europe and Asia. It was very lovely. Everyone else left this morning at 4!! I’m glad we could sleep in. Our choir tour guide (who goes the extra mile) has set us up a great itinerary based on the things we’re interested in seeing and so Larry and I are starting our next adventure today. It’s nice that I don’t have to do this leg of my journey on my own.
2 comments:
Hi Karin, we finally had a moment to peruse your blog and are very impressed at the sites and your amazing stories. Keep it up. We have Mark and Sue Penwardin in London today. It looks like you are having an incredible adventure. All is well on our end.
Will you get to Pamukkale?
Take care! We will think of you with envy :-)
Becky and Joel
What's in Pamukkale? There's something familiar sounding about that. Maybe it's on our route. We're making our way down to Ephesus. I'm excited about that.
K
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