Back from Turkey

We just returned from a week long trip to Istanbul and though exhausted, had a brillant time. Only that we came home to realise that the internet in our flat was shut down and we had to jump through a few hoops to get it up again.

Luckily, the line was up again this evening and I only had to spend 24 hours without a connection. Even so, it felt like forever and without the internet, life seems so empty. I am sad to admit that my dependence on technology is so total.

Anyway, back to the trip, it was brillant and 6 days in Istanbul allowed us time to see a lot of the sights. Though, my favourite moments were spent ambling in the back streets getting lost.

We were given a first hand tour of the backstreets by Ansel Mullins, one of the two guys behind Istanbul Eats. A half day walking tour with Ansel saw us eating and walking around the charming neighbourhood of Cihangir. As a keen foodie and speaking turkish like a local (A is American), we trampled up and down residential areas to visit shops run by third generation families as well as young adventurous Turks. 

This is a third gen. pickle shop where they just about pickle anything. Apples, carrots, corn, there is even a jar of pickles dated 1966. Don't think you would want any of that though.

We tried the pickle juice drink, not of the faint hearted, but rather refreshing. The glass had beetroot, carrot and cabbage pickles in it too.

A few days later, we backtracked the route that A showed us and stopped at cafes and sneaked peaks in antique shops. More of that later.