In Which We Begin

Walking along the Bosphorus

We have been here four days now, and the jet lag is behind us, thank goodness. Today we had our first real outing, a long walk along the Bosphorus waterfront. It was a lovely summer afternoon, probably in the mid 80's, with a soft breeze to keep one cool. There was a wide concrete pathway along the sea, from which people were fishing, strolling, and jumping in to enjoy the water. Swimmers were bobbing along in the salt water as cruise boats steamed by loaded with sightseers. The fishermen were using oysters as bait, and the fish they were catching were about a finger length in size. It would take quite a few to make a good meal.

The waterfront was loaded with restaurants; the biggest decision was which one to select. We chose one based on two criteria; the name was pronouncable, and it displayed a gold seal with the word "tourism" on it, which I interpreted to mean that it was tourist board certified. I have no idea whether or not that is correct, but the thought gave me comfort.

Eating out can present some challenges when the menu is not in a language one understands. I decided to be adventurous and order the "special Kofti", a dish I didn't recognize, but was pretty sure was ground beef. Devlin and Jim figured they would play it safe and ordered the "special kebab".

I laughed when the orders came. Mine was delightful! A spiced ground beef patty, topped with cooked spinach and cheese, potato wedges and a side salad of chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, corn and herbs. Jim and Devlin on the other hand, were given bowls of plain yougurt topped with beef strips. And neither of them like yougurt. I swear, I offered to trade mine for one of theirs, but thankfully, they declined my offer. I did leave some of my fries for Devlin, but devoured the rest of it, as it was so good. I tried a bite of the "special kabab", and it wasn't bad at all--just different--kind of like making beef stroganoff and forgetting the beef stock.

I think we will go to the mall today and buy a English/Turkish dictionary.