The question for today is "how can we not order that incredible breakfast we had the other day". "I know it was really too huge, but how can we not order it?"
Olives, honey, pear jam, salad, pepper chutney, grilled haloumi
Turkish cheeses
Menemen - tomato, egg, onion and capsicum
It took FOUR photos to capture the epic "Aegean for 2" breakfast. It was as good as it looks - but we did resist it today...
This dilemma captures the tenor of our week in Istanbul. Not that it's all about food - more that we have only had good choices.
Okay, some of it was about food... Sonia treated us to afternoon tea at the gorgeous Pera Palace Hotel
Do we spend half a day in our apartment on our terrace with one of our visiting cats?? More on this below.
Or wander around the neighbourhood peeking into antique shops, ceramic studios and jewellery stores? Or sit in a cafe for an hour or two drinking the sort of cold drip filter coffee that the Greeks can only dream of making - Nescafe begone!!.
Or walk the streets patting the beautiful cats? Or do some actual sightseeing of the beautiful Bosphorus, mosques and markets?? Only good choices. We've basically spent the week doing all of the above.
I think our experience in Istanbul this week has been massively boosted by our neighbourhood, Cihangir. It's a relatively quiet (for Istanbul - so actually not that quiet) residential area wedged in between Galata and Taksim.
Every other spot we've been to in Istanbul has been veritably thronging with crowds... There are 14 million residents in Istanbul and it seems like almost as many tourists at some of the sightseeing hot spots!! But our (very confusing) local streets were lively without being nuts.
Cat-stanbul
Without doubt, one of my favourite things about Istanbul - and especially Cihangir - is the beautiful cats. There is no way to describe how many cats there are wandering around.
I tried to look up an estimate of the number of cats in Istanbul, and Wikipedia was simply not up to the task. Phil suggested a plethora of cats. But even that's not sufficient. There is a cat every 15 metres or less. Does that give you an idea??
I am in heaven. I have taken a seriously crazy number of cat photos this week. Cats on cars, cats on balconies, cats on shop awnings, cats snoozing on vespas. They are pretty much all clean, friendly and healthy to boot - at least partly because half the city leaves cat food outside their doors!
This morning we arrived at the cafe for breakfast. This one was already seated at our table:
We just manoeuvred around her and she slept there while we ate
Then this other kitty jumped onto my lap and sat there for half an hour soaking up the sun... I tried to feed her some gozleme, but she obviously had better prospects elsewhere.
And as if that's not enough for this cat lover, we have had not one but two cats turn up on our fourth floor balcony and let themselves in (okay, maybe I let them in). They make themselves very much at home:
Phil called this one Patty Hearst... So untrue - she comes and goes as she pleases!!
I got a quick shot in before this one was shooed off the kitchen bench and "re-educated" about indoors behaviour
Things to love about Istanbul - besides cats
We've kept ourselves busy, despite the luxuriously slow pace. We've visit the Galata tower (worth it for the 360 degree views), the Egyptian spice market, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Gulhane Park, Galata bridge and the Istanbul Modern art gallery.
Views from the Galata tower
I just loved the colour and life in the spice market! Heaped piles of orange turmeric, multi-coloured teas, Turkish delight, vine leaves for dolmades, nuts and sultanas.
Nuts as far as the eye can see...
The Blue Mosque was my other top sight. It is the first mosque I've ever been to - it was stunningly beautiful with the softest carpets underfoot.
I loved just wandering around the steep streets and catching glimpses of life:
This is veggie delivery Istanbul-style
The LGBT pride parade went right past our street yesterday
Taksim square shopping at night - absolutely packed!!
This has definitely been a fun and indulgent city visit!!
Of course, nothing lasts forever - even more so when you're travelling... So tomorrow we hop on a Lufthansa flight back to Munich where we started our Euro journey almost 3 months ago.
Our plans are wide open at this stage. I think it's time to finally make good on the rollerblade plans and grab a pair in Munich!! Stay tuned for some no-doubt embarrassing tumbles...
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