So today is my last day in Istanbul, and I'll be off to Florence ( Italy) tomorrow. I've been eating a lot of kebabs nowadays and I really don't wanna see or eat them in the coming years. Not exaggerating but how could people just eat grilled lamb with a lump of yogurt everyday? Meh.
Went to the topkapi palace yesterday, where the royal family lived during the Ottomon Empire. It was grand and I love the decor- the wall is composed of busy floral patterns, yet they create an inadvertent harmony. Okay this last sentence is a bit phony I admit. But whatever.
The most fascinating part of the palace was its collection of ancient weapons. I can sense that the Turks are really violent and brutal- they have all sorts of curved daggers, blades, long swords and pistols. I wonder if the design of curved blades are to lift the opponents' bodies up when they're killed?( Kinda like 串燒? Alright I know I'm abit 變態)
Another interesting thing is that every morning and evening, there would be Muslims performing the prayer ritual. It's amazing how long he could hold his breath and how far his voice could reach. It's embarrassing sometimes because my dad would get excited when he hears it and sings along on the street(!) he also said I can record him and not disclose his identity D:
We went to a nice fine dining restaurant today which specializes in Ottomon cuisine. They used a lot of spices and herbs to prepare each dish and I especially like Baked Melon. Their melon is super sweet and the chef carved it and stuffed some couscous inside. The couscous is mixed with raisins, dried apricots, cubed chicken and garnished with a little cinnamon. I'm definitely going to try making this on my own in the states!
Today, we wanted to do a hop on and off bus tour but it wasn't with it (20 euro per person). So we walked to the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market in hope of buying some souvenirs... But argh they are so 行。Every store sells the same stuff! But I have to say that Turkish are very good sales.. Once you eye on their products for more than 30 secs, they would start to say 'My friend!' then pull you over and ho chi ho close gum D: My dad wanted to buy some saffron, and I called 'mami' since my mom was far away.. Then the staff also yelled 'mami!!!! Come come!' (汗)
Saffron is actually a really expensive type of herbs! Three grams cost 50 lira (~HKD$215). Heard that they are real good with paella. Gonna bring some back to the states.
And Turkey is full of cats! There are all kinds of short haired cat breeds and like Turkish people, they are super friendly and approachable. They can somehow sense that I love cats too! There were three surrounding our table today and one even crawled up meowing for food! I was so busy getting bread pieces and fish tails for them without my dad noticing...
That's all for now;)