Day 209, Istanbul, Turkey
Brisk day, but we can’t wait around for it to get warmer. We walked down the hill and ate breakfast in a restaurant that had the omelet come complete with a napping lap cat. Cali was pleased that it climbed on her lap when we walked in the door and stayed there napping until we had to leave.
We walked across the bridge to see many men fishing.
After crossing the river, we decided to walk through the spice market.
The archaeological museum had many extremely old artifacts, which they didn’t have to go far to find. Istanbul was in a strategic location, cross-roads of the East and West, of Europe and Asia, a city that’s more than 3000 years old. So yeah, there is old stuff to be found. The most fascinating part were the elaborate sarcophagi and tombstones. This is the stuff that fascinates the Madi, and so she was engrossed.
I was at the Blue Mosque fifteen years ago, but it was as spectacular as I remember it. For tourists who are visiting, we had to go through a cue where they gave skirts to women who needed to cover up more and head coverings if you didn’t have one, hoods were not acceptable. Luckily we were all modestly dressed with scarves because we were freezing. The mosque was stunning inside. We couldn’t stay long because they were about to start the evening prayers. We took the trolley back to within a block from our house, which was great, because by this time we all were rather frozen, except the man-Canuck.
We walked up close to the Galata Tower and found an authentic Turkish restaurant on the square, which fortunately had a familiar pasta for Madi. I ordered something by picture, which was delicious, but I had no clue what it was. The base looked like mashed potatoes but tasted more like some type of squash. I asked the waiter after I’d practically licked the plate clean, and he said it was eggplant. Never have I had such yummy eggplant. We also tried a brownie which was not as sweet as what we are used to, but every bit at satisfying. We ended with the traditional Turkish tea, which I could really get hooked on.
