Istanbul Part 2

This is the part 2 of my Istanbul trip. We had visited most of the sites around Sultanahment and were headed over to the Beyoglu district. Before we headed over there, we stopped at the Pudding Shop to eat.

Like many of the places in the area you picked out your food from the trays in the window.





We were getting a quick bite, so Kristi got the Spinach with Egg which was actually pretty good.





We made it over to the Beyoglu district via in a Taxi. We decided to find the Sed Hotel which had a great view of the Bosphorous.




We dropped off our stuff and headed to Taksim Square. On the way we ran into this collection of animals. Turkey has tons of wild dogs and cats because euthanasia for animals is illegal, so the animal control basically does catch (vaccinate) and release.




China Town in Turkey?


Small China Town in Istanbul


There is this large monument with the founding fathers of Turkey in Taksim Square.




The street was packed and it was during the down season.




One of Kristi's favorite store is the United Colors of Benetton. Personally I just like the coordinated outfit of the the old guy at the checkout.






I tried my hand at the old man's style


Kristi showing off her first jean jacket!

We were walking down one of the back alleys and found this...

Turkish Graffiti


We found the Church of St Anthony, a Catholic Church. This area had many of the other religions and nationalities




In the Taksim area is the Galatasary Fish Mkt, which turned out to be one of our favorite places in Istanbul.


Galatasary Fish Mkt

One of the butchers had a case full of cooked lamb heads. I was asking him questions about them when said, "why don't you try one it is only 6 YTL and it is very delicious." He said you eat the tongue, cheek, and brain. I was going to try brain in Abu Dhabi and panzied out, so I figured I better redeem myself.













The tongue was good, the cheek was ok. The brain had an aftertaste kind of like liver and was mushy as you would expect. I would go for tongue again, but that's it. The coolest part was watching how adept he was at chopping it up.


After the lamb head appetizer I was ready for the main course so we found a fish restaurant to eat at.


What a selection!

We got two types of fish and an octopus. My favorite fish was the Sea Bass (Levrek). The Octopus was great too!




Our second greeter turned buddy. Vesta was a really fun place.




I took these pictures of the Turkish Delight to see if I could talk my sister Amity into coming out.


Turkish Delight


More Turkish Delight


The next morning we got up and walked around Taksim a little more before heading to the Spice Bazaar. The Spice Bazaar was another one of my favorite places. I'm more interesting in the people and culture than the monuments...or maybe it's just the food.


Spice Bazaar


Spice Bazaar


Spice Bazaar


After the Spice Bazaar we head back to Sultanahmet. This column is one of the few things remaining from the Hippodrome, which was huge stadium built by the Byzantines in the 3rd Century.




We got another Hotel which had this few of the Sea of Marmara.




On the way to dinner I found a place to pick your snack right off the tree!


Forbidden Garden

This restaurant served Gozleme which was like a flour tortilla. The lady in the front was in the process of making them.




The waiter brought us these ridiculous hats after I went to the front to take the picture. To prove a point, I had him take the picture and then we wore them the rest of dinner.




I had to poke fun at Kristi because the Raki we drank with the fish had given her a slight hangover that morning.




I told her the answer was a Turkish Bath, but she was a no go.




After taking our pictures in the Hamam, we headed down to the Metro and headed home for the night.