Istanbul gittim

We arrived around 4 or 5 am and attended the morning call to prayer at a very old mosque built in honor of Muhammad's friend Abu Ayyab al-Ansari.

                               Afterwards we had a huge breakfast at a nearby restaurant.

This picture is from a huge panoramic painting depicting the conquering of Constantinople by Fatih Sultan Mehmet.

                                                     A portrait of Fatih Sultan Mehmet

                                  Guys making balik ekmek (fish sandwiches) on a boat.

                                                  The finished product was quite tasty.

                                                                   The spice bazaar

The Lonely Planet guide said that Turkey had cherries the size of babies' fists. Up until this point, I hadn't found any particularly large cherries. However, this one comes close to the claim.

Below are pictures of Hagia Sophia (meaning Holy Wisdom), first built as a church in 537 AD during the time of Constantinople and later used as a mosque. It is now a museum. Scenes from the movie "Argo" were filmed here!

Below is the interior and exterior of the Sultan Ahmet Camii (popularly known as the Blue Mosque).

                                             
                                              Below is the exterior of Hagia Sophia. 

 

We ended the day with dinner with the wonderful family that was generous enough to this trip for us.

Trip to the Turkish Public Health Institute

Cappadocia

Last weekend we visited Cappadocia, a historical region of Turkey famous for its "fairy chimneys", wine, and its underground city. It is also home to the absolute best food I have ever eaten. The highlight of the trip for me was eating at a restaurant called Kardeşler (Siblings). We ate there the first night of our trip and I tried a dish called Guveç, which came to the table boiling in what looked like a mini dutch oven. It was almost like a beef stew only way better with eggplant, potatoes, and peppers. We all also shared a huge plate of salad drizzled with fresh lemon. The owners of the restaurant were also extremely friendly and offered us free tea after our meal. Everything was so good I came back for dinner there the next night and ordered a different dish that was miraculously even better than the first dish. It was a dried white bean and beef stew with red pepper and amazing flavor. It sounds like a humble dish but I can't think of anything better that I have ever eaten.

When we first drove into town at dawn there were probably 20 or 30 hot air balloons flying. I really wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride but that wasn't really within range of any our student budgets. That's one thing I will just have to keep on my bucket list for later.

These historical houses carved into the sides of cliffs are all over Cappadocia.

We were walking around town and spotted a restaurant with a plaque outside that had pictures of Nicholas Cage visiting the restaurant.

This is the interior of an ancient church that is currently being restored.

                                                         This is Guveç. So tasty!

At the restaurant we visited, the tables were covered with napkins signed by satisfied customers under glass panes. We decided to add our own greeting from the UAB gang. Go Blazers!

At one of the shops we visited, the owner offered to play music for us and taught us a lot about the history of Turkish instruments.

As we were getting ready to leave Cappadocia another store owner insisted that he dress us and take pictures of us as "Istanbul girls". He didn't ask us to purchase anything. It was just a kind gesture and a lot of fun.

The second tasty dish of the weekend.

These are the remnants of a special dish native to Cappadocia that is cooked in a pottery vase , brought out to the table, and broken with a hammer to be served.