Mon Oct 14, 2024
Hi Gang! We’re still in Istanbul! It’s a little warmer today but not by much. Fall has settled in to the Mediterranean! But it’s soooo much better than the heat we had around here this summer.
This morning we did a tour that was called “Old Neighborhoods of Istanbul”. For this tour we were on the Asian side of Istanbul. As you may remember, Istanbul straddles two continents, Asia and Europe. Where we went today was like the opposite of where we’ve been. It was so peaceful and quiet. It felt like their was no one living there vs the 18 million that live in the city of Istanbul!
We first went to a neighborhood called the Kuzguncuk district. It’s where a church, synagogue and mosque stand side by side. In the 17th century it was mostly inhabited by Jewish people who were cast out from Spain.
The next neighborhood was called the Cengelkoy district. It too was very peaceful and quiet and we stopped at a traditional Turkish Tea House and had tea and a couple of their traditional snacks. One was a round sesame bread thing (kind of like a bagel but bigger and less doughy) and the other had phyllo dough wrapped around meat in one and cheese in the other. All were very good!
Our last stop was to the neighborhood called Kanlica, which is an old fisherman’s village. It’s where the first Greek yogurt came from (yes, from Turkey!) and the brand of yogurt most Turkish people eat. The interesting thing about their yogurt is that it’s a thinner consistency than ours and they put powdered sugar on it! Hey, don’t knock it until you try it. Very tasty!
After that we got back on the ship to get ready for our big night out. We’re doing a tour this evening called “Istanbul by Night” where we’ll see all the mosques and the city lit up and then go to a traditional Turkish restaurant for dinner. Should be fun! We’ll most likely be out late so I’ll post pics from our evening soirée tomorrow. Hope everyone’s having a great Monday!
The Wandering Italian 