A Night of Istanbul Sights

While we were doing our training in Istanbul we were disappointed by the fact that we were so busy and far away from places like Sultanahmet and Taksim square that it was challenging to make it to see some of the beautiful places in this great city. I had no clue how large the city of Istanbul was, it has Nearly 13 million residents, that's 5 million more that New York City! It also covers a relatively large area. The area we were staying in was a 1 hour express bus ride away from Taksim Square, 1 and a half hours on a regular bus. Due to this time constraint and our busy schedule there were only two opportunities for us to see the sights. The first was a day off on Sunday. As luck would have it, I was not feeling well that day so Erin and Nanette, another American teacher heading to Alanya, trekked to Sultanahamet, home of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and many other museums. Since I didn't go, there are no pictures, but I hear they were beautiful.

Our second opportunity came when a classmate who is working and living in Istanbul offered to take us to Taksim and Beşiktaş and to spend some time by the Bosphorus. It was a lovely evening of walking around the city with our new friends. This was also an opportunity to try some of the famous Turkish foods we had yet to try such as Kumpir. This dish is basically a baked potato, but the Turks don't stop at butter, sour cream and chives. When you order kumpir you get to go up to a counter that looks like an ice cream counter. Instead the bins of ice cream were filled with cheese, corn, mushrooms, relish, sausage and many different forms of olive from chopped to an olive paste. You choose your toppings and go back to your seat and enjoy.

We were also lucky enough to get to try a special kind of Ice Cream made in Turkey that is made with a Pine Resin. Although the taste was similar to the ice cream I know and love from around the world, the texture was very different. It was stringy and chewy, but still melted somehow in your mouth. Nearly as interesting at the ice cream was the man who served it to me. Although his skills were impressive, his talent was lost on me since he wouldn't give me my ice cream. I found a video online of a man who's routine was much more elaborate than the man who served me, but you get the point. You can see that video here.

You can see many of the pictures in the album on the left. I am running out of battery life and time at the mall, so I have to cut it short for tonight.