Istanbul: Day Two
We started day two with a trip to the Spice Bazaar delightful place, delectable smells.. and even a few free samples nom nom.
and then made our way over the Galata Bridge.. not much to see there.. a lot of fishy smells and a pass if you don't want to catch fish or eat fish.
We grabbed a taxi to Taksim Square which was a let down. The whole place was under construction.. so D grabbed a quick snack and we had some cafe lattes to refuel..
We grabbed another taxi to Dombalache Palace.. nice grounds but not much too ooh and aah over after you've seen the garden's and grounds of Versailles (there is that whole we've become jaded story.. it's unfortunate but true) and we ended up not going inside the Palace as they was an almost two hour wait for a 45 minutes mandatory guided tour.. bummer.
this is what D did through most of our trip. Meaning everything took double the time.. he even insisted on carrying it up the stairs himself!
Another taxi ride to Ortakoy.. where we indulged in super super mutant sized kumpir.. in other words a super stuffed baked potato. Cheese, rice, pasta salad.. it had just about everything in it..
A few minutes away awaited our boat.. Bogaz Turlari which took us on a short tour along the Bosphorus. There was not much to see, nor was their a tour guide to inform us of what it was we were seeing but it was enjoyable nonetheless. The weather was perfect and the trip was refreshing..
Once off the boat we returned to the area we bought our kumpir's for dessert. Delectably warm and chocolaty waffles, stuffed with strawberries, banana's, sprinkles, nuts and more.. much much more.
Next stop.. Eyup. A long wait and then a quick cable car up to the Pierre Loti cafe and a view of the Golden Horn..
D gets a taste of his first cotton candy.. initially unimpressed.
Surprisingly enough, he didn't gobble it all up. He was over it after the first few sticky fist fulls.
After a long taxi ride back to the hotel, a bathroom break and a short walk back to the Sultanahmet Square
we found a place to eat.. I have forgotten the name of the place.. the meal was good but the service.. or at least the service given to us in particular left a lot to be desired. It almost felt discriminatory.. as we watched our server chit chat and joke with all the tables around us and didn't even bother asking us about dessert, something to drink, if everything was good.. etc. WHATEVER!
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Wonderful photos! It looks like such an interesting place to visit...a convergence between tradition and modern.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I've been meaning to do a Turkey sojourn for a while now. Perhaps seeing your post will nudge me in the right direction. The food looks lovely but what shocked me was the discriminatory server. That was unexpected! Wow!
ReplyDeletelooks like a lovely time. the food pictures are wow! and sorry about your encounter with the rude waiter. ugh. but it looks like you didn't let it get to you to ruin the evening! i sometimes have a hard time doing that with rude people!
ReplyDeleteThe cotton candy looks so good! Seems like all of you had a fun time together. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'd love to visit one day. Can't believe there was a 2 hour wait for a guide - mandatory too. How annoying and as for the waiter, what a jerk. Hopefully you'll encounter more friendlier faces.
ReplyDeleteSDMxx
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ReplyDeleteso jealous of your trip! the pics are beautiful and that food...Yum!
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Wonderful shots.. so colourful and full of holiday fun.
ReplyDeleteWhat an adventure! I've always wanted to go.
ReplyDeleteamazing photos! LOVE! xO!
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The spice bazaar was one of our favorite places, definitely! We skipped Dolmabahce too--I hate guided tours! I mostly just want to be able to wander on my own. Taksim, yes, a total letdown. But Istiklal Caddesi and the area around Tunel were nice:) And your food looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteYour trip looked like fun and the food looked amazing.
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