Mari in Istanbul (not Constantinople)

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Korin_Mari

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At long last, I have a moment to post pictures from my wonderful trip to Turkey. I am so behind on pictures I have been wanting to share, but I figure I'd just start if one of the more recent ones.

Little things I learned about Istanbul:
1. There are stray cats EVERYWHERE.
2. People in Istanbul like strays. There was pet food and water everywhere.
3. I love Turkish food.
4. Istanbul is a transcontinental Eurasian country. The Asia side is mostly residential and the European side is very touristy.

So naturally, this song was stuck in my head and I hope it gets stuck in your head until you close this post :
"Istanbul was Constantinople,
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night..."
- They Might Be Giants


Mado (Turkish Ice Cream Chain) where I stuffed my face with various Turkish desserts.


At Mado, the tour guide insisted that I get "real ice cream." I had to eat it with a fork and knife. After eating it I become a little obsessed with the marmalade that came with the ice cream and bought several jars at a local supermarket.

What is real ice cream?
"The adventure of “real ice cream” is 300- year adventure of ice cream starting with Karsambac made of molasses, honey and fruit extracts added to snow. The name of ice cream combines with a city in this adventure. Kahramanmaras did not only give its name to the ice cream... With its consistency and special aroma, it gives the secret of taste in K. Maras ice -cream. The milk of goats feeding with wild orchid flowers, thymus and keven greening in plateaus close to clouds in Ahir Mountain and sahlep collecting from bulbs of these orchids gently." - Described by Mado


I also had a dessert made out of chicken breast called Tavuk göğsü. It was kind of like eating very sticky and wet mochi.

"Tavuk göğsü (Turkish: tavuk göğsü, [taˈvuk ɟøːˈsy], "chicken breast") is a Turkish dessert pudding made with chicken and milk. It became one of the most famous delicacies served to the sultans in the Ottoman Topkapı Palace. It is today considered a 'signature' dish of Turkey.
The traditional version uses white chicken breast meat, preferably freshly slaughtered capon. The meat is softened by boiling and separated into very fine fibers or rillettes. Modern recipes often pound the meat into a fine powder instead. The meat is mixed with milk, sugar, cracked rice and/or other thickeners, and often some sort of flavoring such as cinnamon. The result is a thick pudding often shaped for presentation.
The dish is more or less identical to the medieval "white dish", blanc manger that was common in the upper-class cuisine of Europe. Some have suggested that blanc manger and tavuk göğsü are, in fact, variants of the same dish." - Wiki


Our jam/perserve horde.


A nice park on the Asia side of Instanbul.


There were tons of super friendly stray cats, which meant I was photo shooting with them and rolling on ground.


The streets of the Asia side. It was very residential and I was told that most people live on the Asia side then work on the Europe side.




Turkish coffee stand


I regret not picking one up for my house...


Market area










Beef pastrami




Dried produce to stuff


A little bit of just about everything.
































My amazing clementine lemonade




Falafel




Men and women had to wash their legs and arms before entering the mosque.


Sorry didn't realize it was so dark...



Turkish rug making


Inside the Grand Bazaar




Cats on mosques


There is so much traffic that people (most likely gypsies) were selling snacks and drinks in the middle of the road.




Spinning Turkish ice cream








Ephesus
"In the year of 10 BC, Androclos, the son of King of Athens-Kodros, was searching a location for establishing a site. Androclos belonged to Akhas, was running from the Dor invasion in Greece. He was leading one of the migration convoys. It was predicted by an Apollon oracle that a fish and a boar would show the location of the new settlement. Days later, parallel to the oracle’s prediction, while frying, a fish fell down from the pan, irritating a hiding boar behind the bushes. The feared boar escaped immediately. Androclos followed the boar and established the city of Ephesus, where he had killed the boar. When Androclos died in the wars with Carians, a mausoleum was built to the memory of the first king of Ephesus. The mausoleum is considered to be placed around "The Gate of Magnesia".

Ephesus was ruled by the Lydian king, Kreisos, in the mid 6BC. The city reached the "Golden Age" and became a good model to the Antic World in culture and art, as well. As the detailed excavations have not completed yet, apart from the Artemis, the remains of that age haven’t been revealed.

Later, Ephesus was dominated by Persians. As Ephesians did not join the "Ionian Rebellion" against Persians, the city was saved from destruction. The rebellion resulted in the loss of Persian. Alexander the Great won Persians and the Ionian cities got their independence in the year of 334. Ephesus was in great prosperity during the times of Alexander the Great Until the arrival of Alexander the Great, Ephesus was consisted of two governing systems, democratic and oligarchic. But the oligarchic system was violated with the coming of a new ruler, and a rebellion existed in Ephesus." - http://www.ephesus.us/ephesus/ephesus_history.htm


Like a boss.


If it fits.







WHEW. lol

Thanks for reading! :D
 
I love Turkey! Great shots, too. If you really want a coffee pot, I have a small and a slightly larger one I will be glad to send you. Pm me an address. Kathleen
 
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam!
Why they changed it I can't say.....
....people just like it better that way!
 
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam!
Why they changed it I can't say.....
....people just like it better that way!

-lol you beat me too it!

Great photo's Mari, thanks for the share! I felt like I really got a sense of place. What was the weather / temp like? looked really beautiful most of the time.
 
Great photos Mari! I love all the cat photos.
 
Looks like a great trip. The cat photos were a nice addition.
 
Mari, thanks for sharing the photos!! did you try sticky Turkish Ice-cream(Dondurma) yet??
 
Awesome photos. Thanks for posting.

I LOVE Turkey. I traveled around the country after the army, but since then I have been back to Istanbul a half-dozen times. I've walked crazy amounts of that city and consider it one of my favorite places. I can't wait to go back -- especially after seeing your photos.

k.

Edit: If you go to the Princess Islands by ferry, it has no cars and cats galore. It's pretty amazing -- sort of a cat paradise. Also, in the Muslim world cats are preferred (over dogs) from my understanding. Syria and Yemen were the same way. I think there is some Koranic verse where a dog sat on something of the Prophet Mohammed and he burned it, so they tend to think of dogs as dirty. I could be wrong, but that was what I was told.
 
Very nice photo essay! Do you keep a blog of your travels, Mari?
 
Great pics Mari, just a little disappointed we didn't get to see you in any of them!
 
Nice pics.

I lived in Istanbul (Asian side) for a year, and that brought back some nice memories.

Turkey is a great country for travel--tons of history, great food, good prices, many beautiful natural areas.

I remember some of the ice cream vendors using the long metal "spoon" to get the ice cream in the cone. Since the ice cream is a bit sticky than what we're used to, they like to stick the cone on, and then extend that long spoon to the customer. When you reached for it, they would twirl it around and out of reach. It was fun watching them do this to my visitors!
 
I love Turkey! Great shots, too. If you really want a coffee pot, I have a small and a slightly larger one I will be glad to send you. Pm me an address. Kathleen
Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for the offer, but I am okay. :)

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam!
Why they changed it I can't say.....
....people just like it better that way!
I can always count of you. :)

Great mari. Phenomenal shots. You must have some formal training. The shots of the food make me feel like I can almost taste it.
Thank you! No no, it’s all of the cameras doing. I'm still trying to figure out how to use my camera. :)

Mari, thanks for sharing the photos!! did you try sticky Turkish Ice-cream(Dondurma) yet??
No, but I was looking for it! I had dondurma in Japan at this food theme park, but I wanted the real thing. I had ice cream that I didn’t take a picture of at Mado and I thought it would be dondurma, but it wasn’t. I was a little sad, but the tour guide insisted Mado was more authentic.
 
If you have a date in Constantinople, she'll be waiting in Istanbul!
 
Great pictures Mari, I have wanted to go for a few years now, this just makes it harder to resist. I love the cat pictures, and of course the food pictures, as somebody said, you got a great feel for the place with your photos, thanks!
 
Thanks for the great post Mari , I just realised it has been a while since I have been to Istanbul. Last year we were thinking about opening a restaurant there but changed our minds at the last second . I do miss good Turkish food , since most dishes are labour intensive I am too lazy to cook it at home . Every week on my off days I prepare myself Turkish breakfast with my bread , tea, olives , tomatoes and cheese that is one thing I can not give up.
Here is a picture of my last Turkish meal ,
lahmacun.jpg
Lahmacun (altough pure origins of this dish goes back to Middle East) it is a good one , I don't know if you had it during your stay there. I remember going to ice cream shop as a little kid with my parents , this thread just brought back memories
If anybody is interested in Turkish cuisine I would be more than happy to help
 
Great photos Mari.My wife and i spent some time travelling around Turkey many years ago.We ended up staying in Cappadoccia for a month or two .If you get the chance go and see this area -it is pretty amazing.
 
Awesome photos. Thanks for posting.

I LOVE Turkey. I traveled around the country after the army, but since then I have been back to Istanbul a half-dozen times. I've walked crazy amounts of that city and consider it one of my favorite places. I can't wait to go back -- especially after seeing your photos.

k.

Edit: If you go to the Princess Islands by ferry, it has no cars and cats galore. It's pretty amazing -- sort of a cat paradise. Also, in the Muslim world cats are preferred (over dogs) from my understanding. Syria and Yemen were the same way. I think there is some Koranic verse where a dog sat on something of the Prophet Mohammed and he burned it, so they tend to think of dogs as dirty. I could be wrong, but that was what I was told.
Yes! I was dying to go to the Princess Islands, but we only had 2 days in Istanbul so we wanted to explore. Oh thats fascinating, I didn't realize but makes so much sense. There were a lot of dogs in Istanbul too, but definitely more cats. You can tell which ones were already neutered because they had tags or clipped ears. They were just living free, rolling around in the sun and having a good stray life. I really think how people act towards strays speaks miles about the people there. I felt the same way in Thailand.

Very nice photo essay! Do you keep a blog of your travels, Mari?
No, I don’t but I probably should start something since I’ve been traveling so much. :) Thanks for the idea.

Cool Pics! Thanks, Mari. Malta was the same way...cats everywhere. And their national dish is usagi, so...? :( I'm gonna have to consider Turkey for my next vacation.
You definitely should! It was gorgeous and was one of my favorite places.
Oh really? I stopped by Malta on the way back from Turkey. Oh my goodness, it was so hot I thought I was going to pass out. I wish I toughed it out a little more than I did, I couldn't handle the heat for too long.

Great pics Mari, just a little disappointed we didn't get to see you in any of them!
Thanks! Next time I’ll actually have someone take a picture of me somewhere. LOL I got so wrapped up taking pictures of cats I didn’t even think about taking touristy pictures with me in it.

Nice pics.

I lived in Istanbul (Asian side) for a year, and that brought back some nice memories.

Turkey is a great country for travel--tons of history, great food, good prices, many beautiful natural areas.

I remember some of the ice cream vendors using the long metal "spoon" to get the ice cream in the cone. Since the ice cream is a bit sticky than what we're used to, they like to stick the cone on, and then extend that long spoon to the customer. When you reached for it, they would twirl it around and out of reach. It was fun watching them do this to my visitors!
Yes I agree 100%. Such beautiful weather too! Not too deathly hot even in the middle of summer.
Ooohh… That sounds like fun. Man, I apparently missed out on some fun ice cream adventures… More reason to go back!

Great pictures Mari, I have wanted to go for a few years now, this just makes it harder to resist. I love the cat pictures, and of course the food pictures, as somebody said, you got a great feel for the place with your photos, thanks!

Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate your comment. :)
 
Thanks for the great post Mari , I just realised it has been a while since I have been to Istanbul. Last year we were thinking about opening a restaurant there but changed our minds at the last second . I do miss good Turkish food , since most dishes are labour intensive I am too lazy to cook it at home . Every week on my off days I prepare myself Turkish breakfast with my bread , tea, olives , tomatoes and cheese that is one thing I can not give up.
Here is a picture of my last Turkish meal ,
View attachment 18635
Lahmacun (altough pure origins of this dish goes back to Middle East) it is a good one , I don't know if you had it during your stay there. I remember going to ice cream shop as a little kid with my parents , this thread just brought back memories
If anybody is interested in Turkish cuisine I would be more than happy to help

That looks SO good. I miss it all so much. Yes! Please share a recipe or two. I would love to try to make Turkish food at home.
Thank you for sharing your picture and memories with me. :)
 
How the hell did I miss this post last year?! Fantastic photos Mari! Also, loved all the TMBG references...I totally would have joined in, but all the ones I can think of were already taken....nice work guys.
 

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