Istanbul Day One

 I slept like a dead rock and didn’t wake up until noon. Jake and I chatted for a bit and then Kivilcim and Rashad came home. Rashad made us brunch (wow that guy can cook) and introduced me to olives from his orchard. He has a few hundred trees on a plot close to Syria. The olives and oil were delicious. After tea, it was time to get ready for dinner.

For Rashad’s birthday, we were off to a restaurant build in to a disused hammam in central Istanbul. The drive over was a long one. The house is in Sariyer, a district north of the city. Specifically, we’re closer to the Black Sea than much of the city. The traffic to get there was immense which was just as well, the road down the Bosporus to the city is beautiful with a lot to see on the way. We passed embassies, the president’s summer residence, and the only Morgan dealership I’ve seen in my life.

Roll out

Dinner was not just dinner, but a show too. Dancers and musicians came out to tell a story evocative of a traditional hammam while course after course made its way to the table. The food was amazing and the show was exciting. After the performance wound down, people wound up on the stage dancing with the musicians.

A night well nighted