If you happen to be a vegetarian or fishertarian as we are, then dining in Turkey is not a problem.  Many of the Turkish dishes are based on aubergine, zucchini, tomatoes or peppers, usually stuffed with rice and pine nuts or cheese.  Some of the vegetables are stuffed with meat, but even if you avoid these, there’s still plenty to choose from.  There is also a wide variety of dishes based on pulses, cooked with chopped vegetables.  The dishes are attractively displayed with a blend of different colored vegetables.

Traditional Turkish meals often start with a meze plate.  This starter dish usually comes with a combination of iman bayuldi, cucumber and yoghurt, stuffed vine leaves, borek (tiny fine pastry filled with cheese), etc.  Iman bayuldi or the iman fainted, is one of the popular appetisers.  The dish was so named because it has a lot of garlic in it, which as the story goes, caused the iman to faint.  The trick is to pace yourself and not eat yourself to a standstill, because there is the main dish to come and then followed by deserts. 

The mains are usually quite simple in style, e.g. grilled fish with rice and salad.  I often feel that this is quite a let down after the exotic looking starters.  To accompany your rich meal, you can have raki, the Turkish national drink which is an aniseed flavoured spirit – Be warned that this is quite an acquired taste.  The Turkish may claim that their wine is surprisingly good, however given their hot summer climate and lack of proper storage, I wouldn’t get too excited about the wine.  A non-alcoholic option is ayran, a yoghurt drink which is served chilled.

We had a very pleasant lunch at the Lale Pudding Shop near the Sultan Ahmet Mosque.  From Tony’s smile, you can assume that he was quite happy with his meal.  Bon appetit!

Helen 

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If ever you need convincing that the Turkish like their sweets, a visit to the Egyptian Spice Market will do the job.  Here you’ll find all types of dried fruits and sweets, the king of them being lokoum, or Turkish Delight.  These heavenly sweets found their way into the Western world in the 19th century.  It is believed that a British traveller to Turkey became very fond of the sweet and shipped cases home, calling his cargo Turkish Delight.

I was curious to find out the origin of the Turkish Delight and a google search threw up a story dating back to Ottoman times.   It was believed that the sultan so wanted to please his many wives and therefore ordered his confectioner to create a unique sweet.  Under pressure to create something that would please his Sultan, the confectioner blended a concoction of sugar syrup, various flavourings, nuts and dried fruits, then bound them together with an Arabic gum.  After several attempts, this most delectable sweet emerged from the royal kitchens.  The Sultan was very pleased with these delicious and mouth-watering little treats that he proclaimed the sweetmaker the court’s chief confectioner!  And hence this is the story of how turkish delight came to be created.  From there on, a plate of Turkish Delight was served at daily feasts in the Ottoman court. I think this is a great story and I’m happy to believe it.

There are so many varieties of Turkish Delight, including pistachio, hazelnut, almond, mint, etc.  The lastest addition to this list of varieties includes one called Viagra.   It is believed that Picasso enjoyed Turkish Delight daily to improve his concentration and Napoleon and Winston Churchill relished pistachio filled Turkish Delights.

Turkish Delights come in nice boxes and are a great gift for friends or family back home.  However, beware that they can add a bit of weight to your luggage.

Helen

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A visit to a Turkish carpet centre is unavoidable on any organized tour to Turkey.  We’ve been to a few carpet centres in the past, but nevertheless, we still find the experience interesting.

On arrival you are shown into a large showroom filled with rolls of carpet on the floor as well as carpets hanging on the walls around the room.  Once everyone’s seated on the benches along the walls, raki or apple tea is offered.  Be careful with the raki, or you might find yourself owning a carpet that you had no intention to buy.

Your host, the showroom manager does his introductory bit and proceeds to provide some explanation of the various types of carpet and the regions they come from.  His floor assistants then unfurls various carpets and this is the fun bit to watch.  The rate at which the carpets are rolled out or spun in the air before opening out on the floor is an entertaining performance.  They do it so effortlessly, as if the carpets were weightless, but as anyone who has experience with carpets know, they are really quite heavy, especially the larger ones.  You’ve got to give credit to these guys for putting on such a show with each group of visitors, especially when they know that only a few visitors will end up buying anything, if at all.

Carpet shops  abound all over Istanbul and the variety and range of quality is so huge that it’s important to do some research prior to leaving home.  Just because there is an abundance of carpets, does not necessarily mean that you’ll get it cheaper in Turkey.  You might just get it cheaper back home, when the shops are having their eternal ‘closing down’ sales.  However, if you’re serious or toying with the idea of getting a carpet, then make sure you know the dimensions of the room it’s intended for and the color scheme.  One lady in our group was keen to buy one, but had no idea of the size of her room and couldn’t quite describe the color she wanted to match with, so she left empty-handed.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

Just opposite from the Blue Mosque is the famous Pudding Shop, also known as the Lale Restaurant.  Two brothers, Idris and Namik Colpan, opened the Lale Pastahanesi in 1957.  The Pudding Shop was made famous in the 1970′s by young travellers who were looking for adventure in the East.  As explained by Idris Colpan, ‘pilgrims’ travelling East, often driving old cars or Volkswagen vans, would stop at his restaurant to meet new acquaintances and find other travellers with whom to share expenses and experiences.  There was a bulletin board where messages could be left by people offering or requiring rides to the Far East or back to Europe.  The Pudding Shop was the start of the “hippie trail” that led many young American and Europeans on their eastern adventure. 

Today, the Pudding Shop, still run by the Colpan family, more resembles an upmarket fast-food outlet rather than a gateway to nirvana.  There is a smart service area where traditional Turkish cuisine are displayed.  Around the walls of the restaurant are pictures young hippies looking dazed and living their Bohemian lifestyles.  The Pudding Shop brought back lots of memories for Tony, as he too had drifted through here in the 1980s, and he reminisced of his experience with Adem Colpan who now manages the restaurant.

The Pudding Shop lost its prominence as travellers abandoned the traditional route to the east.  Also, the rapid changes and development across the city has changed everything for the Pudding Shop.  These days, their clean set-up and range of food attract tourists of a different kind.  We’ve stopped here twice in two days to get our coffee fix and also to enjoy some traditional Turkish food.  Today we met Namik himself and he showed us the picture of himself and the president of Turkey.  He also showed us a brochure of the Blue House, a nice hotel that they own at the back of the restaurant.  It certainly is very convenient to the main tourist attractions and worth trying next time we’re here on our own.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

The Egyptian Spice market is the oldest bazaar in Istanbul.  After the Grand Bazaar, the Egyptian Spice Market is the second largest covered market.  It was named Mısır Çarşısı or Egyptian Bazaar because the spices used to be imported from Egypt.

To explore this bustling market, head for Eminou, near the mouth of the Golden Horn.   In the bazaar you’ll find heaps of spices,  stacks of dates, all kinds of tantalising Turkish sweets, including Turkish delight with various nuts in them, dried foods and much more.  For centuries, the Turkish people have been coming to the Spice Market to buy herbal remedies  to help alleviate symptoms of diseases and remedies for infertility and weight loss, etc.  I was more interested in tasting the Turkish delight and other sweets that were being offered.  They were very tempting and it took a lot of restrain to stop myself from buying some. 

If you feel peckish after all your walking, there is also cooked food that you can buy.  At this kebab sandwich stall, the owner was offering tastings of his kebabs, however we had to decline as we don’t eat meat.  He then offered to pose in our photo.

Outside the Spice Market there were all sorts of other goods being sold as well.  It was a very colorful experience and one not to be missed.

Helen

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DAY 3 – Our morning visit was to the Hagia Sophia, noted to be the most magnificent of the Byzantine churches.  Had a great time here checking out the mosaics depicting various religious scenes.  The original mosaics had been destroyed during the Iconclastic period, however fortunately new mosaics had been installed in the 9th century.

After Hagia Sophia, we were deposited near the Pudding Shop and many chose to have an early lunch before their Bosphorus cruise.  We did a very nice sunset cruise last year and so we opted to do our own thing this time.  Nevertheless, we joined our fellow travellers for a nice lunch at the Pudding Shop before setting off on our adventure.  Not knowing how big or small each serving was, I got a bit carried away and ordered too much food.

One of the best ways to see a place is on foot, as you can see, smell and touch things as you’re exploring.  Our first stop was the Basilica Cistern, the huge underground reservoir that once provided Constantinople’s water supply.  Having missed seeing this place during our past visits, we were really pleased to have made it this time.  It’s an amazing place to visit – will do a more detailed blog when Tony uploads the photographs. 

From the Cistern exit, it’s an easy stroll through a smart pedestrian precinct to the Grand Bazaar.  Having a bit more time today, we covered more of the side lanes to discover many funky new cafes.  I promised Tony’s mum that I would get her a kaftan, so we had to look for that.  I found her a nice blue one which she was thrilled to receive.  The main thoroughfare had all the gold and jewelry shops, but this time around, I resisted the temptation.  With the astronomical gold price, it wouldn’t be hard to cause serious damage to my bank account. 

A stroll downhill from the Grand Bazaar through the chaotic old town and we were at the Egyptian Spice Market on the waterfront.  I love markets of all kinds, as they’re always so colorful and there’s so much to feast your eyes on.  Certainly in the Spice Market, there were loads of foodstuff, including dates, Turkish delights, caviar, etc. 

Next, we were at the two level Galata Bridge.  On the lower level, there were newly done up bars and restaurants offering fresh seafood.   On the upper level the favorite activity was fishing and we saw heaps of fishing lines cast to water.  Be careful when leaning out to photograph the anglers from below as flying hooks and weights can get a little close at times.   Occasionally, a bucket comes hurling down as someone’s trying to get fresh supply of water to store their catch in.

By the end of the afternoon, we were quite exhausted and at one stage Tony and I looked at each other and simultaneously quipped ”I can’t feel my legs“.  That was a signal for us to hop on the light rail and head back to the hotel.  With a little direction from the guard at rail stop, who didn’t speak English, we sort of learnt that we would be able to get back to Taksim Square by rail.  When we got off to look for our next connection, we discovered a spanking new Swiss underground funicular that ferries passengers from Taksim Square down to the waterfront, and vice versa. 

It was a successful day’s outing but we were absolutely exhausted when we got back to our room.  It is said that if you wish to feel that you’ve done more than merely scratched the surface of Istanbul, you’ll need a full fortnight, however few have the luxury of such a lengthy visit.  We did the best we could today…

Helen  

Travel Signposts Blog

DAY 2 – Istanbul is a fascinating city that owns the distinction of being the only city in the world that spans two continents, Europe and Asia. It’s distinguished history as capital to three empires, the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman shows the importance and dominance of Istanbul in the past. This leaves Istanbul today with a legacy of ancient cultures that were very rich and diverse.

Our city sightseeing started off at 8:30 a.m. with a local guide. There is a lot to see in this city and our guided tour covered the usual suspects like the Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar and Topkapi Palace. Hagia Sophia was closed today so we didn’t visit this cathedral. This is as much as we could cover in our short stay and still we had to move at quite a pace.

Mid-morning break we ambled across the road from the Mosque and Tony was most excited to discover that the Lale Pudding Shop is still going strong. The Lale Pudding Shop had the reputation of being the place where young European and American travellers on the “hippie trail” east to Afghanistan or Nepal would meet to gather information, negotiate a ride or meet up with others on a similar journey. More about the Lale Pudding Shop’s history in a later blog, however today it is a restaurant serving traditional Turkish cuisine.

From our short morning outing, we observed that Istanbul had improved no end and the city appears to be enjoying a certain level of prosperity. As we were enjoying our Turkish coffee at the Pudding Shop, their very modern light rail system looked impressive as it ferried passengers back and forth. We also found out that for tourists like us staying in the Taksim Square area, there is a spanking new Swiss underground furnicular that transports you to the waterfront, where it’s easy to connect to the light rail/tram system. Now, why didn’t our tour director bother giving us this essential bit of information!

If you’re travelling on your own, there is a city sightseeing tour in an open-top red bus where you can hop on-hop off. The tour starts from Sultan Ahmet Centre, just across from St. Sophia. For one and a half hours, you’ll get to see the highlights of Istanbul. These city sightseeing tours are usually very good to do on your first day in town as it gives you a very good overall view of the city and the things that you could do or visit.

More about Istantbul sightseeing tomorrow.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

DAY 1 – Our journey this morning began at 4 a.m. when we had to make our way to Leeds-Bradford airport and then to London, Frankfurt and finally arriving in Istanbul at 5.30 p.m.  Arrival procedures included having to buy a USD20 visa stamp before going through immigration.  There were huge rows of people queueing for visas stamps and initially caused a little panic in us, after such a long day on the road.  Fortunately, the queues progressed quite rapidly and it wasn’t as horrific as we’d thought.  There were different fees for different countries, majority of which falling into the USD20 category.  Interestingly, the fee for Canadians was USD60.  Some of the Canadians joked that probably their government had upset the Turkish government in their dealings and hence the penalty rates.  I suspect that it’s more to do with trade relationships, and nationals from countries that had high trade dealings are exempt from fees.

Anyway, once we got our stamps and passed through immigration, our pickup and delivery to our hotel was very smooth.  Our hotel for tonight was the Point Hotel, in Taksim Square.  We were a bit disappointed about this as during our previous visits, we had always stayed at the 5-star Conrad Hotel which was closer to the waterfront and many of the places of interest.  The Point Hotel is a modern hotel, uphill from the waterfront and just off Taksim Square.  Its redeeming factor is that the hotel is all hooked up to WI-FI and internet services in the rooms are free of charge.

After our 4:00 a.m. start, we weren’t too keen to venture out for dinner and instead had room service and then caught up on some work on the net.

Helen   

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