These are some Turkish sweets I bought, dried fruit stuffed with nuts. I also tried Turkish delight in rose water flavor and baklava which was so good I forgot and ate it before taking a picture. Too bad! It was beautiful!
An Egyptian monolith someone gave a sultan a long time ago. Sorry my memory cells are overloaded so can't remember specifics.
Istanbul is built on seven hills. I believe I climbed about twenty six of them. Seriously, it was a challenge for the ole out of shape bod .
I tried Turkish coffee and tea. Right before I took this photo I tried to add some sugar because it looked so strong. The waiter came over and took the packet out of my hand and said no you don't put sugar in (at least that's what I think he said). He was seriously worried I was going to mess up the coffee. They take it very seriously. I did not dare ask for milk, just drank it black and understood why most of the women seem to drink tea.
The spice market was a madhouse. People elbow to elbow.
Conversely, the grand bazaar, with over 4,000 shops was much calmer.
The spices were so delightful to smell!
My favorite shops were the lamp shops. They weren't even all lit up in this picture.
Here is a map of the area of Istanbul where we were, which is the old city on the European side. The body of water between the two sides is called the "Golden Horn"
The water is a gorgeous shade of blue.
An added bonus was the cultural expo they were having in the square near our hotel. As far as I could tell, most of the performers were from South Korea.
This (above) was a dramatic representation of some kind of folk tale. Just guessing because I did not understand one word.
These girls danced to a song by PSY wearing shorts! I was kinda scandalized, even though I like PSY.
This group really rocked it with electric violin and some great drums. Loved it! Wish I could get the movie to post but alas, no such luck.
These older ladies did an impressive dance with fans. Synchronized!
Here is a delicious lunch I had which consisted of a meat pie with a thin crust, mushrooms, and a tasty spinach concoction.
Above pic is the restaurant. Below pic is the window showing all the dishes you get to choose from. No waiting! You point. They dish it up right there and your waiter carries your plate to a table and eating commences.
Dogs and cats are everywhere. All the dogs are always sacked out sleeping right in the big middle of everything. One time I saw one wake up for about 30 seconds, bark at something while still reclining then go back to sleep.
I wish I had gotten a picture of the millions of kitties that are everywhere on the street. They don't look like they are starving. They walk around under the tables and chairs of the sidewalk cafes eating whatever anybody drops. They seem pretty tame. Cats must be popular because I am on the plane to Bangkok right now and somebody on here has a cat! Rather than a crying baby on take off, we all heard several plaintive meows. Funny! This is my first flight on Turkish air. They have a guy wearing a chef's hat dishing out the food, which was pretty elaborate. He also gave us all a piece of Turkish delight after we took off. The seats are wider, there's more legroom and movies in English. So far, so good. They were 3 hours late taking off though, which is not so great. Bangkok, here we come!
Location:Istanbul
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