Istanbul, Turkey - Baklava

Certainly one of the highlights of the trip to Turkey was visiting the birthplace of that wonderful buttery honey dessert Baklava.  











I was amazed to see all of the different kinds ranging from towers of beautiful pistachio stuffed log shaped baklava to pistachio green colored baklava to flat bar-shaped baklava.  And I set out to try them all!











 Some come with walnuts, hazelnuts, and even almonds.  You are out of luck when it comes to baklava if you have a nut allergy.  Some come shaped kind of like croissants - these were the messiest to eat. 

Some even come paired with Pomegranate flavored Turkish Delight.

We went to a patisserie that is famous for its baklava.  They have an entire menu full of the different types.

Tony and I tried two types of Baklava that we'd never seen before.  One was the log type filled with pistachio nuts, and the other was a pistachio-filled baklava with ground pistachios used in the filo dough.

 After a busy day of site seeing, the quick sugar-boost provided by the baklava, and the quick caffeine lift from the Turkish Coffee was much needed. 

In the end after much taste testing and deliberation, my ultimate baklava was the pistachio cream baklava.  It had just the right combination of gooeyness and nutiness for me.  Delicious and they go surprisingly well with ice cream.  Who would have thought. 

For the flight home, I smuggled out four baklava.  They helped make the 3 hour flight back to the UK livable.

Thankfully, we don't live too far from an area of London which is unofficially known as little Little Turkey, so finding good baklava will not be a problem. 

Istanbuls Underground Cistern

One of the more unique sites we visited in Istanbul is the recently renovated subterranean cistern.  It is a wonderfully atmospheric place to visit.















It was built and forgotten by the Byzantines.  It's construction made use of repurposed Roman columns from around Istanbul and held upwards of 27,000 gallons of water. 













It is probably most famous cinematically for its appearance in James Bond's, From Russia with Love, but all I could think of was the subterranean temple of Medusa from Clash of the Titans.

 There is even two Medusa heads hidden at the back of the Cistern supporting 2 smaller collumns.  Evidently, they needed to boost up two slightly shorter columns to match the others.

 

Sad to see a statue relegated to being a stepstool.

A Tale of Two Mosques

Probably the two main sites in Istanbul are Haggia Sofia and The Blue Mosque.  They sit opposite each other in the heart of the Old Town.  

No TV program can prepare you for Haggia Sofia, and we'd seen a lot of them in preparation for the trip.  

 You enter a corridor, and then emerge through these large doors into the main chamber.  It is astoundingly beautiful for a building over 1500 years old.

 We were visiting late afternoon, and the light coming through the western windows just made the gold paint glow. 

 It is amazing to think that this building began its life as a Church, but when subsequent civiliztions took over the area, rather than tearing down this church building, they were so taken with its grandeur that they converted it to their purposes, and made it into a mosque. 












Today it is a museum, and many of the original Christian paintings and murals, which were painted over by the Muslims have been uncovered for people to see.  It is amazing to see the blending of the Christian and the Muslim Art Styles, and how the basic vision of the original architect was adapted to serve both while still retaining his original concept.

No visit to Istanbul is complete without seeing this site.

Directly across the street is The Blue Mosque. 

 Though not as old as Haggia Sofia, it is also a magnificent mosque, and it is still in use for worship today. 

You can tour parts of the mosque between services, and services are called by singing voices from the six minarets five times a day.  

Nowadays, the voices are still live, but are projected from speakers in the minarets, but in the past, someone would have had to climb them and sing at the top of their voice.

The courtyard in front of the mosque is amazing and otherworldly.  It certainly felt the most foreign and fanciful of  any place I've visited in my travels.  It almost looks like something out of a Science Fiction film.

Inside, it is remarkably light and airy.  The pastel colors lift the spirit and pull ones eyes upwards to the beautiful dome overhead.

It is a truly remarkable site to see.  

 

 

The contrast of the cool blue light coming from outside and the warm incandescent lights hanging illuminating the interior made everything glow.

Istanbul - The Grand Bazaar

For our last trip of the year, Tony and I traveled to the city that rides the border between Asia and Europe - Istanbul, Turkey.  

For the first time, we added an Asian Visa to our passport stamp collection.  To enter Turkey, you have to purchase a 3 month Visa for 15 Euros.

From the airport, it was a 2 hour drive to the history center of Istanbul.  Everywhere we looked on the drive, one could see minarets pointing up towards the heaven.

The first stop after checking in at our hotel was the Grand Bazaar to do some shopping.















This mammoth shopping area is the precursor to our modern day shopping malls.
















 There is a wonderful exotic quality to it, and though many of the shops carry lots of goods aimed at tourists, it is still a great place to go shopping and hang out.

There are a lot of shops also carrying highend silver and gold products.




 




 The purfumed aroma of spices and exotic scents fill the air.

 


 










And of course there are plenty of places to buy a cup of Turkish Coffee, Baklava and Turkish Delight.

Ultimately, if you want the best deal in your shopping, you will need to walk about 100 yards east of the Grand Bazaar into the labyrinth of back streets and alleys where the locals do their shopping.  You will find the same merchandise for less than half what you would pay in the Grand Bazaar.







 

This is where I ended up buying my Turkish Coffee set.