Asia Through the Back Gate and The House of Waris

With such a limited time in Istanbul we knew 

our days would be busy.  We started the day 

with a beautiful Turkish breakfast.  Mr. Wonderful

and I had stayed at this hotel the first time we were

in Istanbul.  We told Midi about it and he stayed 

here the next time he was in town.  It is a small hotel, 

the rooms are small but nice but the reason we stay

here is for the breakfast, it is fantastic.  It is such a 

spread that our first time we stayed here we had to

make two trips to the buffet just to be able to taste 

everything.

This is the honey dispenser,  I'd love to

have this at home.

But enough with the food, we had sites to see.

The first stop was the Hagia Sophia,  I told my

kids that the first time I entered the vast room

I gasped and I hoped it would have the same 

effect on them.  Sadly, there was construction

scaffolding on one side so that took away from

the soaring impact of the space.

We could still enjoy the beauty of the architecture.

And enjoy the beautiful mosaics.

After leaving the Hagia Sophia we strolled

over to the Spice Market and stocked up on

some of our favorites.

And who could pass up the Turkish Delight?

Afterwards, it was time for lunch and we decided

to go to Asia.  Asia you may ask?  Yes, Istanbul is 

the only city located on two continents and it is 

only a short ferry ride away.  

We arrived in Kadikoy on the Asian side of the

Bosphorus and I was looking for a particular

restaurant.  We hiked up and down winding lanes

trying to find it.  Locals were happy to help us, one

young woman google mapped it and even called 

the restaurant to confirm the directions.  

When we finally arrived I told the man at the

door that I had read that some said it was the

best restaurant in Istanbul ~ he countered with,

oh no, the world.  We weren't disappointed.

There were no tables outside though and since

it was such a nice day we wanted to eat outside, he

said no problem, we have a few restaurants on 

this street and all the food is the same.  He took 

us over to one of the other restaurants and gave

us a description of each of the dishes.  The food

was fabulous.

We walked off lunch with a stroll back through 

the winding streets to the port to catch a ferry

to Karakoy on the other side of the Golden Horn.

From there we took the funicular or mountain

tram as they call it and walked up the hill until we

reached the Pera Palace Hotel.

The Pera Palace is a grand old hotel and it

was especially interesting to us since we are

Agatha Christie fans and this is where she 

wrote Murder on the Orient Express.

The grand tea salon was being used for a private

party so we headed out to the terrace.  Kate and I 

headed inside to find the wash room and came into 

the tea salon as the turbaned and bearded Waris

Ahluwalia of the House of Waris was giving a 

speech about creativity and our need to take time 

for tea.  Waris is a some time actor, designer and

now I suppose tea peddler.  This event was part of

Istancool, an international arts and culture festival.

The crowd had gathered in the middle of the room

and Kate and I were stuck in the crowd so we stayed 

for the speech.

Back on the terrace we enjoyed some lovely

beverages and desserts.  Following this we

headed back to the hotel for a rest.

Later in the evening we went back to 

Sultanahmet for dinner.  On our way 

to find a restaurant we came upon a

Whirling Dervish performance.

Brennan chose the restaurant this evening, he

wanted one of the places where you sit on the

floor on pillows.

Thankfully, the food was good too.

Then we stumbled back to the hotel and

fell into our beds.  A grand day in a grand city.