Istanbul, Day 3

Istanbul, Day 3:

   This day started kind of slowly, but quickly led to a defining series of moments for the trip. We did some real walking and got into the real city. No (or atlas few) tourists, better food, and prettier mosques. We were hunting for the aqueduct, but stumbled upon a small mosque, and then the Green Mosque. This was immediately my favorite. There was hardly anyone else there so we could fully appreciate the open spaces and lines. There were just a few people praying, but it was a very solemn place compared to the tourist swamped mosques we had seen the day before.

my favorite mosque

  I managed to make my cultural faux pas of the semester that day. We were perusing some goods out on a carpet on a side street. I had been super conscious of not using my left hand, but I slipped up. I grabbed an old man's box with  my left hand. He promptly snatched it away from me, started shouting in Turkish, and chases us away. I felt horrible for having been so culturally insensitive. It was probably his dead mother's  jewelry box, and I put my dirty ass wiping infidel hand all over it.

   After finally finding the aqueduct, we started moving back towards our hostel. As we walked downy a street lined with neighborhood restaurants, we started getting hungrier and hungrier. Then finally we snapped walked back up the street, down it once more and stopped at the busiest and most appetizing spot.

best kebab joint of my life

   This meal is top 3 of my life - easy. It was incredible. I have an excruciatingly detailed description that you can ask me for if you are interested (be warned it is a page and a half long). I'll just hit the high notes here. The yogurt kebab was perfect, as was the lamb pide, a boat shaped thin bread pizza. Of course, we had tea with that. After the meal, our waiter ordered us a traditional dessert. I am still not sure what it was, but it was the best dessert I have ever eaten. I also got my first taste of ayran, a yogurt drink. It is pretty raw tasting, but I was into it. Totally stuffed, we thanked our waiter and waddled back to the hostel.

   We retreated to the hostel for a nap. Then we took the excellent and cheap public transport to get to the Istanbul Modern. They had a pretty awesome collection of modern art. It was arranged by era and each era was put into the context of Istanbul's social scene with some short plaques. My favorite's were some war of independence illustrations and the entire photography exhibit.

   After the museum, we decided to walk back to the hostel. It was kind of a trek but we crossed a famous bridge on foot and got to see some cool bits of the city.

one stop fisherman shop

a bit overcast and windy