Turkish Delight
🎶 Istanbul was Constantinople. Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople. Why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks. 🎶
I’m in Istanbul (not Constantinople)!! And Laura and Jan came over from Houston😍❤️🙋🏼 FRIENDS! MY PEOPLE!!!! YAYYYY.
bosphorous strait
I was soooo excited to get to Turkey. The food was part of my excitement, but it has honestly been so much better than I even expected it to be.
I. Want. To. Eat. Everything.
edmund and his turkish delight
I first heard of Turkish Delight when I read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe… “Turkish Delight please, your Majesty.”… the book totally made it out like it was laced with crack. Well, it’s not. But, another Turkish treat – BAKLAVA – IS. I’m obsessed.
(pistachio) baklava love
There are two main kinds – pistachio and walnut. I guess pistachio is more traditional, but I prefer the walnut a bit more (although they are both amazing crack-filled pieces of heaven). The pastry shops here bring me almost as much excitement as Christmas morning (major child-like excitement; I really just can’t help it).
Baklava is: phyllo dough, chopped nuts, butter, (maybe) cinnamon, (maybe) cloves, and a syrup made of sugar, water, and honey.
baklava love
koska baklava love
rolling phyllo dough
I like the way Turkish Delight looks more than the way it tastes. It is: sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, rosewater, and some other combination of ingredients, depending on the type you want.
turkish delight
turkish delight
turkish delight
I bought some Turkish Delight from a booth in the Egyptian Bazaar called Ganik. The owner was Mikhail, and he was a hoot; some of his quotes:
“Where are you from? Oh, America!?? I love America! Look at these pictures of me with customers from Philadelphia… they come here every single year and buy my Turkish Delight. I’m famous in America!”
“I love the American accent, it’s my favorite. It sounds slow and casual.” (absolutely implying that we sound like bumpkins)😄
(when he’s cutting huge sample pieces for us to try): “You don’t want to try the whole thing? Oh, you’re worried about the kilos, aren’t you?” (then cuts another huge piece and gives it to me to eat)😂
Mikhail was one of those fun, loads and loads of energy type people you just want to be around. I couldn’t not buy Turkish Delight from the guy. They vacuumed sealed the box for me, so hopefully shipping it home won’t be an issue!
Mikhail @ Ganik @ Egyptian Bazaar
Mikhail, Laura, my TD flavors… pomegranate+pistachio, saffron+pistachio, nutella+pistachio, and nutella+hazelnut
Another rockin’ dessert we tried was Katmer. It is: phyllo dough, clotted cream (or kaymak), butter, sugar, pistachios. Unlike anything I’ve tasted before. Delicious.
Katmer
I have more desserts to try, and much more baklava to eat before I leave Turkey! Here are some other deliciousnesses we’ve partaken in…
meze – bread, yogurt, hummus, salad
iskender kebap
cheese plate, bread, olives, dolmas
baba ghanoush, hummus, pickles (Syrian restaurant)
bread, yogurt, lentils, butter, cashews, fruit & veggies, dried fruit, jar of honey, cream cheese, chocolates, eggs and toothpaste = $16 from local market store
Next up: Whirling Dervishes
Stone Town > Abu Dhabi
I had one day in Stone Town, Zanzibar, before I flew to Abu Dhabi for a 13 hour layover on the way to Istanbul.
Stone Town is… old! Because it was formed through such unique blendings of cultures, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Namely, it “has brought together and homogenized disparate elements of the cultures of Africa, the Arab region, India, and Europe over more than a millennium”. This means I got to see three UNESCO sites in Tanzania (Stone Town + Serengeti + Ngorongoro).
Stone Town was a very active area for the Arab slave trade that went on in Africa during the 1700’s and 1800’s. After spices and ivory, slave trade was the biggest industry of the time.
As far as the streets in Stone Town – they are too small for cars, so there is a lot of foot traffic and some bikes + motorbikes. I was only there for about 15 hours, so I couldn’t see much, but I did get to observe some of the architecture…
stone town building
street
stone town street
stone town hotel
famous ornate wooden doors
view
over the city
view
pano
sunset
sunset stone town
rooftop restaurant
<<<Continent swap>>>
The next morning, I went from the Zanzibar airport, to Dar es Salaam, and then flew to Abu Dhabi. The Zanzibar flight was cancelled, but they didn’t inform me of this, so when I got to the airport, I had to figure that out and ended up on a flight that was two hours later than the one I booked. Luckily, I was still able to make my next flight on Etihad Airways to Abu Dhabi!
This was in the Dar es Salaam Tanzanite Lounge…
someone has the right idea…
While hanging in the lounge, I almost missed my flight because I was relying on the guy working in the lounge to tell me when the plane was boarding. It was no issue (I was just the last person on the plane), but it made me realize that after so much time in airports, one can get a little complacent about the whole process. Must remind myself to stay vigilant!😂
I arrived in Abu Dhabi around 8:30pm. I stayed at Le Royal Meridien, a Starwoods hotel, and they gave me a “triple room upgrade”, as the lady at the Reception desk described. I stayed in the Royal Suite, complete with kitchenette (which I actually used!).
The hotel is in a cool location, within walking distance of Corniche Beach, several shops and restaurants/bars, and a mall. I found a grocery store, which was what felt like a “real grocery”, so I went kind of crazy buying junk food😳
abu dhabi
abu dhabi
shit. i found a real grocery store in abu dhabi. problems.
Abu Dhabi is really super nice, and I wish I could’ve stayed longer to see more of it, see the tourist sights, and also to go to Dubai, as I had wanted. Alas, didn’t happen on this trip. But I enjoyed how very clean it is, the unique and modern architecture, and also just the high level of service that the service industry people show. I had flights on Etihad (based on Abu Dhabi) – the flight attendants were lovely, and the all of the planes that I used were top-notch (including cameras on the bottom of the plane, so you can watch take-off and landing, and windows in the restrooms!).
Maybe I’ll visit UAE again and get to see Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I most wanted to watch a horse race at one of the big tracks they have, so maybe I’ll schedule something in the future to include that😊
Next up: Turkish Delight please, your Majesty.
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