After drinks last night we had dinner in the main restaurant in the hotel and surprisingly loved it; traditional Turkish cooking (Kayseri Manti, lamb chops, baklava, rice pudding), live music (two string instruments and a lovely vocalist singing plaintively either about the pains of childbirth or love).
There’s a conference for aesthetic dermatology (plastic surgery) happening in the hotel and it was a little disturbing to see some of the bandaged “exhibits” eating breakfast. The breakfast spread was astonishing – only ever seen better on a cruise ship; topped off the meal with an assortment of Turkish delights 🙂
The Turks could learn a thing or twenty from the Japanese (and a good few others) about Metro systems. The system itself is clumsy but relatively easy to use once one has worked out how to buy a ticket – notwithstanding English directions.
We started out at the Grand Bazaar (what a uniquely extraordinary massive collection of shops !!) – a true shopper could spend days in there. After bombing our sugar levels with a coffee/nougat/almond/Turkish delight roulade, we walked over to the Egyptian Spice Market before boarding a Bosphorus cruise chugging through the strait towards the Black Sea passing castles, palaces, mosques and some beautiful homes. Istanbul is an enormous city.
Metro back to the heart of the city for a lunch snack and chai (miniature meat balls and tea).The Taksim Square area was throbbing with activity (and a man walking half a dozen dogs) by which time rain was threatening and we returned to the hotel stopping off to look inside a quaint courtyard within a derelict building opposite our hotel in which we discovered a great looking restaurant where we plan to have supper (after drinks in the executive lounge 🙂
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