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Fascinating Istanbul

Hellos from Istanbul! – Istanbul'dan Merhaba!







A magical trip to the city of Istanbul; even though I lived there for over 30 years, Istanbul still makes my heart beat fast, everytime I go. The colours, smells of spices, hospitality of its people, this city of many civilizations is a place not to be missed.

We were there at the Republic Day, and it was lovely to see the city covered with Turkish flags. A must stop is Hamdi Restaurant over looking the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus and Old Istanbul, a feast to all your senses. Conveniently located by the Spice Market, it is a great spot to taste wonderful kebaps and mezes and enjoy the views.

While you are there, make sure to visit Spice Market; the colours, the smells will mesmerise you! Great place to stock up wonderful spices, dried peppers and eggplants, Turkish Delight and many more.

More Istanbul photos and recipes will follow soon – Turkish style pumpkin desert is cmoing up next, Happy past Halloween!

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Fascinating Istanbul & Surroundings

Merhaba!

After a couple of weeks in Turkey, we are back! Apologies as I couldn’t write earlier, there was limited time and access to the internet, I suppose not a bad thing. It was a wonderful trip, packed with lots of special memories, I will share the photos from now on, as well as some recipes (like stuffed vine leaves coming up) we did with my mother, a very special experience.

I lived in Istanbul for over 15 years and the city still surprises me with its magic, and many faces. With all the joy, drama, happiness, chaos, excitement and sort of sadness (“huzun”, as the Turkish author Orhan Pamuk describes in his book, Memoirs of Istanbul), warmness and unconditional hospitality it provides, Istanbul is the city where east meets west, by all means. Little oriental, little western, a city hosted many civilizations – from the Eastern Romans to Ottomans and now the Turkish Republic. Istanbul is the city that I love, that calls me all the time and the place where my heart beats – Fast. I hope you have a chance to make it there one day and experience this magical city; just have a little stroll in Old Istanbul or by the Bosphorus water way, you will feel alive, feel like you are a part of the many civilizations that the City hosted for thousands of years.

Now a couple of photos; here we have the quaint Ortakoy Mosque by the Bosphorus (you may remember from the Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies); little Turkish pizzas with ground lamb and veg topping (I have this recipe under Savory Pastries in the blog,a real treat); the Bosphorus Bridge and boats passing by – the life vein of the city; the wooden boat/house construction at the edge of Blacksea, which transported us to our resort on the other side of the river- a primitive but fun way of transportation, the children loved it so did we!

There are so many to share from home; colorful markets, delicious recipes we tried and enjoyed, the wonderful southcoast of Turkey, Kalkan, where we were mesmerised by the turquise sea; all to come soon!

Wishing you all happy travels and feasts shared with friends and family 🙂

Ozlem





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