Continued from Istanbul Day 7 Part 1.
Back to reality. We came back to Taksim Square because we both wanted to do some souvenir shopping here at Istiklal street. This is what seems to me to be a stray dog with a tag in his ear. Or, maybe he’s just edgy so he’s got an earring.
Is it me, or is the sky just not quite as beautiful over here?
Good symbol of Istanbul, cats EVERYWHERE.
Oh look, Earthling peasants. I am back to my normal world. Bebek was so out of this world.
Hungry, must feed my human body some earthling food.
Cafeteria serving Turkish food.
One of the biggest kebab meat that I’ve seen here.
Ah, eating like a peasant at a cafeteria. This food was actually just ok.
Time to walk down Istiklal and do some light shopping. There’s a particular store with funny Engrish T-shirts that RF told me about.
Every time I see a kebab restaurant, I have a need to take a photo of it.
Found the store that RF told me about.
Hah, they sold One Star here.
I ended up buying a tshirt here. It’s in English, but makes no sense. Perfect!
I found another place that has a bunch of random tshirt shops. I found a shirt that’s a fake Zara shirt with a photo of Steve McQueen printed on it. Yes, I must buy it. My friends RF and SH joke that I have a tape worm because I tend to eat a lot when I travel. Well, I’ve been only eating regular amounts of food on this trip, but other times, I’ve eaten a lot, usually enough for two. Anyhow, I had named my tape worm Steve McQueen. Steve McQueen was the first name that came to my mind when the joke about the tape worm came up. Don’t ask me why that is…
I mostly liked the brick ceiling here.
Nice old building. It looks like it was a painting.
I wanted this! The guy quoted me $1600 though. Fuck that! I would have maybe paid $400, and I still think that would have been high. It was beautiful though….sigh…
Nice parking job.
Tpad, anyone?
Cell phone charging station. None for the iPhone.
Back to the fish market by Galata Bridge that we had visited a few days ago. SO really wanted to eat the little fried fish again. She was obsessed.
Seagulls had walked all over the wet concrete when it was poured.
The weather was nice, so we sat outside right by Golden Horn overlooking Galata Bridge. This setting would have been fucking awesome by any standard, except that we sat at the Starbucks in Bebek earlier today, therefore, sitting here by the beautiful shore and Istanbul in the background was just “not bad”.
Tons of seagulls in this area.
Small fried mackerels that can be eaten whole. Yum! Perfect snack.
Then, it was a fun time with seagull photography. Our uneaten mackerels made for good bait for photos.
I think everything looks nicer with a blue sky.
Lots of people fish on Galata Bridge. This guy just got something on the hook.
What he caught. I think some of these people who fish just sell the fish as they catch them.
Istanbul is amazing.
There were three boats here with Moorish decoration domes on top. They were swaying back and forth like CRAZY, while all the other boats seem to be calm in the sea. Not sure if it’s because of their design or because of where they were anchored, but they were swaying so much that it was comical. It’s like watching a carnival ride.
Upon closer inspection, they are kitchen boats!
Here are the cooks, standing in a wildly swaying boat, cooking all perfectly composed. They were making fish sandwiches, and they would hand the finished sandwiches to the server standing at the shore to deliver to customers. Not sure if all the cooking is done on the boat as a loophole to bypass kitchen regulations. It was a very cool and unique sight.
In this area, the touts for the fish sandwiches were also the most aggressive out of anywhere we’ve been in Istanbul. SO said that she felt unsafe and uncomfortable in this area. I just laughed. This would have been a joke in India!!
Kebabs!
We’ve had a long day, time to head back to hotel.
Chaotic toys spinning and moving in all directions. Slowed the shutter speed down to show that all blurry objects were moving.
Oh wait, it’s not time to head back to hotel yet. SO wanted to buy some spices as souvenirs.
Rick Steves had recommended this restaurant inside Spice Market.
Too bad, they were only open for lunch. Thanks Rick Steves for not letting me know their hours.
I know these photos are redundant, but I just loved the spices here.
Rose tea.
I still can’t believe this is what jasmine looks like!
Ohhh, saffron.
Last day here, so I had to make a quick stop at McDonald’s to see what their region specific item is over here in Istanbul.
Ah, yes. The McTurco!
The patty tasted like a mix of lamb and beef. It was just OK. The best region specific McDonald’s item still goes to the shrimp that I had in Prague.
Inside McDonald’s, there’s a cell phone charging station that have lockable compartments. Do Turks always run out of cell phone battery randomly or something? What’s the deal with these cell phone charging stations all over town?
Love kebabs.
Hey hot stuff.
Don’t matte wrap your car if you suck at driving.
Kept on forgetting to take this photo. Anyhow, this is what $111 a night gets you in Istanbul.
Went to eat at Doy Doy’s for our dinner in Istanbul. It was a long day, and we were just too tired to go somewhere far to eat.
Hey babe! Taken from the roof top of Doy Doy. I am really going to miss seeing the Blue Mosque everyday. Til next time. I may need to put a photo of the Blue Mosque next to my bed and kiss it every morning.
Lentil soup.
Of course, mixed grill for me.
Rice pudding. Seems to be a popular dessert here, so had to give it a try.
Work Warning!!!
While I was blogging away, SO was watching some sort of German entertainment channel on the satellite TV in the room. All of a sudden, I looked up and I saw breasts all over the screen. What’s happening? It was just some regular TV programming a while ago. SO just laughed at me and said that this is typical of Germany to have raunchy adults only shows after midnight. Shit, if I was a kid growing up in Germany, I would never go to bed before midnight!
To be continued at Berlin Day 1.