Istanbul Take 2

And here is the rest of the Istanbul trip in condensed, photo format.  This time involving shisha, night walks through the city, street art, Topkapi Palace, and a great vegetarian food find!  Enough said.

Full photography credits for this post go to Chewy.

Istanbul Take 1

I have so many pictures from Istanbul that I have to put them into a couple of posts.  Istanbul is an incredible city, one of my absolute favourites.  And anyone who knows me knows I'm a country gal and hate cities, so that's a big call!  We visited basically every tourist attraction in Istanbul within the week that we spent there, and still easily could have spent more time there.  The following photos were taken at the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, various bazaars, and at Gezi Park.  This is/was the site of the political unrest in Turkey, and we had to visit it to see things for ourselves and experience the atmosphere of thousands upon thousands of people demonstrating for something they believed in.  The atmosphere was very moving, although wholly positive, and not once did I feel in danger or uneasy and I was there the night before it got cleared for the last and final time by the police.  The situation now seems to have quietened down a bit, but I thought I'd still share my pictures with you.  Oh and the last one was the cat that lived in our hostel, such a cuddly little guy!

Vegetarian Goodness in Istanbul

Someone told me that it would be difficult to be vegetarian in Turkey.  They lied.  The vegetarian and vegan fare in Istanbul was stellar, I was constantly spoilt for choice with multitudes of vegetarian choices.  And this applied to Turkey in general.  One of my favourites was Galata Kitchen in the Galata area of Istanbul (surprise surprise), which I loved so much that we went back several times just to try every dish they offered.  I raved about the falafels at Kikero Falafel in a previous post, so I won't repeat myself, but basically every local taverna/restaurant/cafe will provide you with heaps of vegetarian and vegan options (see photos below).  Without further ado, here are some favourites.

Falafels & Street Musicians in Istanbul

I just have to tell you about the most amazing falafels I have ever tasted.  A little, unassuming shop in Istanbul called Kikero Falafel was the place.  It is in the Galata area of Istanbul, which in itself is just a delight to stroll around as it is the more artsy side of town.  We went there for lunch the first time we were in Istanbul, thanks to a lucky find on Happy Cow, my favourite vegetarian/vegan restaurant finder, and loved it so much that the first thing we did after we came back to Istanbul today was go there.

So we sat on the tiny grassed area outside, and our delicious falafel sandwiches were eyed up by one pretty kitty that came and sat next to us. 

After our amazingly delicious lunch we went for a stroll around the area, and came across these marvellous musicians doing their thang on the street for all to hear.  Such a beautiful day!