The over 400 year old Grand Bazaar is worth a stop in Istanbul; this ancient mall seem to capture all the colours and spirit of the city,
Colours are so mesmerising; colorful lamps, jewellery, cups and bowls, leather, you name it,it is there. You would get tourist prices I am afraid, but it is a joy just to witness all the hub there – and in the meantime, master the bargaining!
My favorite part is shops selling olive oil soaps and lovely Turkish towels. The olive oil soap is wonderful to the skin, highly recommended!
And how can you not get mesmerised at the ancient Spice Market? Wonderful spices – Turkish red pepper flakes, cumin, sumac, black pepper, nuts, Turkish delight, all kinds of tea and many more.
Make sure the soak up the atmosphere at the Spice Market and stock up all the wonderful spices!
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Find out moreBaklava Uncovered, Gulluoglu – Istanbul
This whole post deserves to be dedicated to our Baklava Masterclass with the baklava experts at Gulluoglu. We have been looking forward to our baklava class for months to reveal how the genuine article is made – and here it is!
Gulluoglu Baklava is a family owned store and they have been making “hand made” baklava for 6 generations – the daily production ranges from 2-5 tons, all hand made!
They use organic butter, pure cane sugar – no honey!-, and it is a result of their mastership for 150 years, very impressive.
Here is the baklava making master class 🙂
The dough is being pushed thru a special machine (similar for making pasta) to stretch. This is the only step that involves machinery.
Once the pastry is paper thin (2mm width), we start layering on a buttered tray.
The hand rolled pastry is so thin that you can see through my logo, 
as well as the flags behind it!
Our baklava master layered 20 sheets of pastry ( and sprinkled melted butter on every 4 sheets) than generously spread finely crushed pistachios (or at some cases walnuts)on the 20th layer.
He cut the sheets first horizontally and poured melted butter over them – cutting helps the butter to penetrate every level. Then he cut vertically and splashed another dose of butter all around. The baklava is now ready to be baked in the oven at 165 C.
In the meantime, the syrup is prepared, consisting of pure cane sugar, lemon juice and water – no honey in it!
Once cooked, hot syrup is poured over the hot baklava, and then let it rested at the cool area.
And here is the real thing; wonderful, melt in the mouth delicious baklava. It is so light that you feel like eating the whole tray! I hope you get a chance to try the real baklava in Turkey:)
Exploring Istanbul – Hagia Sophia, the Cistern, Rugs, Grand Bazaar
Hellos from Istanbul again; indeed the city of the world’s desire. We visited Hagia Sophia today – I must have been there over 20 times by now and everytime I go back I learn something new and Hagia Sophia keeps on fascinating us. Completed in 537 and reigned as the greatest church in Christendom until the conquest by the Ottomans in 1453, Hagia Sophia remains as the most famous monument of Istanbul. 
It is a joy to see that the interior renovation inside Hagia Sophia is now complete and you can appreciate this magnificent museum with no distractions.I keep on admiring the wonderful giant round plagues of Islam (with the name of God, “Allah” and Prophet Mohammed) right next to the mosaics of Virgin Mary and Christ, delightful at the dome.
And this is Hagia Sophia’s friendly cat that we all admired!
Next stop is the tranquil Basilica Cistern, where the Byzantians used to store water for the great palace – and a wonderful stop to cool down in the summer time!
And this is Argos column in the Cistern; this is considered to be one of the roots of the “evil eye”, as the thousands eyes on the column meant to protect from the evil eye.
Anyone for rugs? Turkish rugs are of high quality as they are made with double knots. We had the pleasure of waching how the rugs were woven at Nakkas Rug store, where they have a wonderful collection of tribal, wool, silk rugs and many more. 
Top quality rugs explained by experts and a fine example of Turkish hospitality, highly recommended. And the Ottoman prints and Turkish Iznik tiles are irresistable too!
How about food? Nothing symbolises Turkish street food more than “Simit” – susame covered round pastries, available in every coner on street stalls.
And simit is best enjoyed over a glass of cay, our national drink, served on tulip shaped glasses. Cay is enjoyed here all through the day, a drink of friendsip and hospitality, offered to everyone whereever you go. I drink to that:)
Until next time, happy travels!