Adventures & Misadventures Abroad: 4-19 Istanbul

The 18th of April was a travel day. We drove he 6 + hours from Yerevan to Tbilisi and went directly to the airport. Then the 2 1/2 hour flight to Istanbul. We were supposed to meet up with our daughter Lisa a couple hours later - but she had to reschedule her flight for the next day. There was an emergency in the Ukraine having to do with the elections and the banks. So disappointing as she will miss the food tour tomorrow.

Friday morning (4-19) we met up with our tour guide at the train station for our Back Streets Culinary Food Tour. There were 2 young couples from Great Britain along with Mike and me. Mike is the foodie in our family, not me - but these tours always show us a side of the city we are in that we would never find without them.

Our first stop was for breakfast at the train station where we met up. The round bagel like bread is called Simit. There were a lot of toppings to eat with it - so many choices from all the world influences that are in Istanbul.

In the bazaar and all over Istanbul there are tiny hole in the wall establishments that sell tea and coffee. I have no idea how people order it - but there carriers who deliver it. There is a picture of one later on.

The train station itself is closed - but the area is now used as a market. Below - Olives

Cheese

Sweets

If you ever saw "Murder on the Orient Express" you might recognize the scene below. This station was the start of the famous Orient Express.

Flat bread with spinach and cheese filling - Yum!

A coffee stand.

A honey stand sold these honeycomb.

Can you believe the size of this bread! Must have a lot of large families.

Need any spices?

Borek - with various fillings.

A shoe-shine guy. Notice the customer has on slippers - provided by the ss guy.

The old way of roasting the meat. Now a days it is all upright.

I love the tile on this building.

We spent a lot of time in the fabric district. This is an area where the porters hang out waiting for a job.

Porters waiting with their carts.

I thought this was interesting. The women on the left has on a NYC sporting division coat.

Another statue in the fabric district.

Delicious lentil soup.

In the Bazaar.

The section of the bazaar where they sell conservative women's clothing. Notice the dresses hanging above.

Another food experience - Pide. It is an oval shape. If you make it in a circle - which is more difficult - it has to be called pizza here.

We then climbed up 3+ flights of stairs for this view.

Of course, then we had to climb back down all those stairs. And the down another 2 set of steps to a basement restaurant. I think we had tea and dessert here.

Then back up - and into the silver/gold/copper part of the bazaar.

Men playing backgammon.

And up again a couple of flights of stairs to see a silversmith shop. These guys who train from about the time they are 12-13 years old, do original work as well as repairs. Mostly religious objects from churches, synagogues, or mosques from all over the world.

This guy is working on gold.

An example of copper work.

Silver work.

Tools of the trade.

Last time we were in Istanbul I loved the doner Kabob. This time around we could not find the same thing with pita bread and special sauces. It was still very good - but not the same.