Turkish Delights

Istanbul… amazing Istanbul, erstwhile Constantinople. The colours, the sights and the people! Indeed a cauldron of cultural confluence. Crossroads of religions, continents and races. Capital of the Byzantine, then the Romans and then The Ottoman Turks. A confident civilization, teeming with national pride. Stylish beautiful people. Asian flavours in an European atmosphere.

The ‘Cay’ (Chai or Tea), Turkish Coffee, Kebabs, ‘Raki’ (local alcoholic beverage), ‘Mezze’ (Turkish appetizers). Turkish carpets (remember flying carpets?) and silk from Bursa. Beautiful, mesmerizing, graceful Turkish Belly Dancers. The legacy of the legendary ‘Rumi’ and the whirling Dervishes…and the list goes on.

The whitish beverage in the picture is ‘Raki’, the customary local alcoholic beverage, an anise-flavoured apéritif. (anise: Indian-‘saunf’). You can also see people holding little glasses of 'Cay' in the background.
This guy, a waiter in this hip ‘Turquoise’ restaurant, in serving a kebab dish prepared sealed in an earthen pot which is broken open in front of the diners and served. Mmmm...Delicious and spectacular!

Go Shwarma!

'Shwarma' or 'Shawarma', a very common snack seen and eaten around all over the middle east. The tower of chicken meat rotating against a heater is a common sight in the road-side eateries and restaurants. The chicken is shredded and wrapped in flat wheat bread(like 'rotis', also called 'Khabutz' around these places) with vegetables, potato fingers etc. Quite cheap and delicious!