Kitty Kebabs

Swiss (the airline), have gone drastically downhill. A flight to Istanbul connecting in Zurich means a lot of time in the air and one knd of expects to be fed at some point. And they did, kind of. Among the multitude of chocolate to the accompaniment of the "just for laughs" prank show, on silent, and a curtain seperating cattle class from business (where they not only get fed proper food, but fed with china and real cutlery), we were handed a calzone (italian origin folded over pizza stodge) in a paper bag, filled with tasteless mozarella and some vague tomato paste. Not even any herbs. But the mountain views over Switzerland were stunning, bringing back many memories and a promise that I will certainly be boarding this winter.


After a paper bag of blandness, the real kebap and stunningly thick turkish coffee we had by the grand bazaar was heaven!


Finding out luxurious hotel (with it's own Turkish bath that we didn't actually manage to experience, stunning chandelier and, disturbingly, fish tank in a picture frame), we were amazed at the views over the nearby mosques from the rooftop restaurant which we then enjoyed with a cheese, olive and helva based breakfast the next 2 days.























We walked around the underground cisterns which once held water for the city and now brought bus load of teenage tourists (groan) as we were leaving, saw the incredible-scaffolding-containing aya sofya mosque and the stunning grounds of the blue mosque, the palace and its harem, and the twon fantastic markets, buying stunning ceramic bowls, masses of apple tea and coffe (and coffee equipment), and various flavoured lokum - turkish delight.



We also ate a mass of kebaps and stunningly tasty baklava-style sweets, but the most bizarre had to be boza, a thick, yellow paste made from fermented grain, water and sugar, and sprinkled with cinnammon. It has a gritty, sweet taste that gets stronger as more is drunk, in an oddly repulsive way. Especially if you think about it too much.



We also tried raki, a heavily alcoholic aniseed liquour which took an age to finish and had to be rounded off with several pints of efes, the local larger.



Istanbul is awash with friendly stray kittens and a smattering of cats. The bar had adopted one particularly cute, scrawny ginger tabby that purred in my lap happily for several hours after watching turkey beat norway, much to the jubilation of all.

All in all I'd say Istanbul was amazing! Very highly recommended but perhaps for longer than a weekend...