Istanbul, Turkey

April 18, 2011

Hello everyone,

We just arrived back to Lanciano after spending the weekend in Istanbul, Turkey.  We were attending the Heads Conference for European International Schools.  

When we arrived at the airport we took a shuttle to our hotel.  The security was very tight.  All cars have to go through a security check when entering the hotel.  The guard walks around the car with a rod that shows the underneath of each car looking for car bombs. 

Tulip Festival

Tulips

The population in Turkey is 80 million people, Istanbul alone has 18 million, 95% of which are Muslim.   Getting around the city takes a lot of patience.  You do not want to drive there.  The view of Istanbul is beautiful with the array of Mosques surrounding the city.   Inside the mosques many of the walls are covered in ceramic tiles.  On the outside of the Mosques are minarets which stand at the corners of the mosque.  The purpose of these minarets are to announce the call to prayer.  Today a public address system is used and you can hear the call all over the city from all of the mosques five times a day.

A Mosque

Inside a Mosque

Many Mosques

We visited the Grand Bazaar which is one of largest covered markets in the world with 60 streets and over 5,000 shops.  The shops consist of carpets, ceramics, jewellery, clothing, etc.  

Entrance to the Grand Bazaar

Inside the Grand Bazaar

 I took in a spouses tour which consisted of going to the Spice Market, a smaller version of the Grand Bazaar.  I ended up bying some saffron, pomegrant tea and turkish candy.  After the market we went to a culinary school for a cooking class.  We made three dishes, a beef stew with an eggplant puree, a dish called Borek with Grated Zucchini and Lor Cheese which essentially is a mixture of zucchini, dill and parsley and ricotta cheese in a phyllo pastry.  Dessert we made a dish in which we took dried apricots and cooked them in a water and sugar syrup.  After letting them cool we filled each one with whip cream and then rolled in pistachios.  After we had our cooking lesson we were able to enjoy it with a glass of wine.

At the Spice Market

Nougat

Turkish Cooking Class

Dried apricots with whipped cream and pistachio nuts - Yum

Time to enjoy our finished product

We are back in Lanciano.  Next weekend being Easter we will be having a fairly quiet weekend.  It will be unusual this year for George and I as we will not see any of our immediate and extended family.   Thank goodness for Skype, phones and email.

I wish you all a Happy Easter and to my few Jewish friends as they begin Passover.

Debbie