Saturday, January 25, 2020 - final update

To the mall! 

The choices are yoga or breakfast.  I guess I’ll have to ‘fess up, I skipped yoga!!  We ate downstairs this morning, since it wasn’t as crowded as it has been.  The offerings are about the same as across the street;  but the feel is less cozy.  On the plus side, I got to see my new BFF, Dorina!  Hugs, smiles, and lots of giggles!

This is the warning label on Marlboro Reds.  It would work for me!

We got back upstairs for just a bit and decide to cruise the neighborhood to see if there are any kids’ shops that we might have missed.  We make a complete circuit and come up empty so we go back to research malls on the internet.  Along the way we pass the same restauranteur who always thinks we either look hungry or tired!  It’s become kind of a game between him and Ammar!

There are lots of big malls in Istanbul!  The closest is the Hirstoria Mall.  It’s four stories tall and just a short walk off the tram line.  We’re becoming pros at using the transportation system.  A new tram comes every two minutes and they are very clean, with excellent digital signage.

There it is, at the end of this crowded street.

We find our stop and only have to ask once to find the mall.  It’s everything you’d expect, with lots of high prices shops;  but not a single toy store!  We’re looking for clothes for Ammar’s friend;’s three children and a toy gun for Raaed’s five-year old son.  We both hate to shop;   but a promise is a promise.  By the end of the expedition we have clothes for two of Wali’s sons and unmentionables for Ammar’s daughters;  but we still need Wali’s daughter and Raaed’s son.  We take a break at Starbucks (Imagine me in a Starbucks!). I only asked for a hot chocolate;  but Ammar returns with pastries as well, since he was hungry, so I must be also!)  He polishes off his but I can’t do the same, even after sharing some with him.

We’ve exhausted all that the mall has to offer and head back to the tram.  It’s about rush hour and there is standing-room only;  but it’s only six quick stops back to Sultanahmet, our stomping grounds.  We head home and Ammar stops at a little street vendor for real Turkish coffee, with no sugar (shudder) and we pass our new friend for a giggle, before turning into the hotel.

You add the powdered coffee to the water in the cup and heat it by surrounding the cup with the hot sand until it begins to steam!  Quite the operation!

We’re going to take a little time to refresh before heading out for the evening.  I want to sample some raki;  but Ammar suggests that it would be cheaper to buy a bottle at the market to sample, rather than pay restaurant prices.  Makes sense to me!

We’ve thwarted housekeeping’s attempts to straighten our room, so I liberate a couple of bottles of water from the cabinet out in the hall.  I figure that if they didn’t want me to know where it is, they shouldn’t fetch water from it while I’m watching!

….

Apparently they are installing a new roof.

We’re going back out into the real world to get dinner and continue shopping.  Ammar says we need to take the tram to the fourth stop and who am I to argue!  When he was here twenty-five years ago he shopped in an underground mall and darned if he doesn’t find it!  It’s a whole underground shopping area and we find some more kids’ clothes.  Then it’s time for dinner.

Videos of the chef run nonstop and i never saw the same one twice!

Money exchanges are everywhere.

He knows where an world-famous restaurant is, and walks straight to it.  Apparently everyone who is anyone is the world has eaten here!  And their pictures are on the wall to prove it!  His name is Puarak, for you foodies out there.  I’m overwhelmed by the menu and just pass off the responsibility for ordering to Ammar.  The first thing that happens is the presentation of the appetizer tray!  He chooses two of them, hummus (which is nothing like what we think of) and baba ganoush ,also remarkable.  And of course there is the endless basket of pouffy bread!  Then comes the lamb chops and the mixed grill with chicken and beef and lamb kabobs.  The plates also have red-onion salad, grilled tomatoes, a starch which resembles orzo but probably isn’t, and a green I don’t know.  Oh, and there is a grilled chili.  It’s not possible to eat all this food!  Ammar drinks yogurt with his, while I opt for water because I’ve been pretty remiss about that.  And the after-dinner drink is the ever-popular Turkish tea in those glorious tulip glasses.

After dinner we do a bit more shopping in some surface stores and Ammar finds a suitcase that is big enough for all his shopping finds, and has wheels!!  That’s a big improvement over the bag he came here with.  At that same shop I find a little purse that will be perfect for travel.

Walking to the tram stop we encounter an ambulance and policemen.  It appears that the sbus which is stopped at the scene, must have hit someone!

I’m totally fascinated by the way that Ammar can tell what country people come from after hearing only a few words spoken!  And there are lots Arabic speakers here.  There are even store signs in Arabic!

It’s late.  We’re tired.  And it’s really good to be home!