After the beautiful, yet highly stressful train into Turkey, we arrived in Istanbul. We did the usual find the hostel song and dance then headed straight to find something to eat. I’ve been ridiculously excited to eat a real Turkish Kebab for weeks. Our hostel happened to be right in the heart of the backpackers area (Sultanahmet). Perfect if you’re lazy and want to overspend. However, we had enough energy to get just far enough to have a cheap and seriously tasty lunch. Our meal started off with a giant warm fresh piece of bread topped with sesame seeds. YUM! (The bread in Romania was never very good) This was a nice change. We decided to share a chicken kebab plate. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Fresh veggies, creamy Tahini dipping sauce and spit roasted chicken. I must have been starving because I didn’t stop to take a picture, but I remember it vividly. The friendly waitress at the restaurant informed us that we arrived right in the middle of Ramadan. Because it’s a month focused so heavily on fasting, we were worried that it would mean that most restaurants were going to be closed, but fortunately it turned out to be quite the opposite. We had the best table where ever we went and people were more than happy that we were eating at their restaurants. It was fantastic!
After filling our bellies, we walked to see some of Istanbul’s major landmarks.
The Hippodrome of Constantinople; including, the Column of Constantine Porphyrogenitus
With such a busy first day we hit the sack early excited for a whole day at the Grand Bazaar.
As always check out our flickr for tons of photos.
~Josie