Turkish Tea for Two

And Dinner Too A taste of the Old City made us hungry for lunch.  We decided to check out tea at our hotel, the Çiragan Palace.  One of my favorite indulgences anywhere in the world is afternoon tea, and this one I highly recommend. Turkish tea is a must-try at least once.  It’s always served [...]

Istanbul: Day 2

The Old City in Half a Day We started our day of touring nice and early. First stop, the Süleymaniye Mosque. It was built in the 1550s by Sinan, who was apparently Frank Lloyd Wright’s favorite architect. The mosque looks so big and majestic that when you step inside, it’s almost surprising how intimate it [...]

Istanbul: Day 1

The Sights, Sounds and Tastes Along the Bosphorus We arrived in Istanbul 5 hours later than scheduled after an unplanned stop in Paris so we hit the ground running. Our first stop was the Egyptian Spice Bazaar. It’s a long hallway of bright colors and even brighter personalities peddling their hundreds of varieties of Turkish [...]