the parent trap

Maybe you can guess by the title of this post, but if not then I'll just tell you: my parents (better known as Tim Tom and Jood) came to Spain for 10 days in the middle of the month. We had a really lovely visit starting in Madrid before heading south to visit Toledo, Granada and Malaga. They also went to Cordoba but I had to work, so I wasn't able to see the famous mezquita with them. It's okay though, I saw it a few years ago.

I hadn't been to Madrid since 2007 but was very pleasantly surprised to find that I liked the city just as much this time as I did a few years ago. It was nice to get out of Malaga for a few days and experience a more cultural side of Spain. Madrid is the capital of Spain as well as home to the Prado Museum, the Reina Sophia Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Retiro Park and countless delicious restaurants including Sobrino de Botín, the oldest restaurant in the world. We spent a nice weekend taking in some culture, exploring the city, and having some really nice meals before driving (yes, driving, in Spain, sans GPS) down to Malaga.

Jood and a Picasso

Tim Tom and Jood at the Reina Sophia

Moo

Calder mobile at the Reina Sophia

Good thing we don't look alike

Thompsons on the move

Retiro

Parque Retiro

Lake (Pond?) in Retiro

Parents in Retiro

Me and momma at the park

Statue in Retiro

Parque Retiro

Tim Tom and a statue

Statue in Retiro

Hotel

Sobrino de Botín, or Restaurante Botín, is the oldest restaurant in the world. Founded in 1725 the restaurant is famous for its cochinillo (suckling pig) as well as extensive wine cellar. We sat downstairs in the old wine cellar that was built in the 1500s. Botín has been visited by many famous actors, politicians, writers, etc. and is mentioned in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. It lives up to the hype, the food was delicious and I feel very cool after having dinner at the oldest restaurant in the world (according to the Guinness Book of World Records, as the menu will tell you).

TT at Botin

Me and Jood at Botin

istanbul: part 3

More often than not, my favorite part of any trip is the food. I love to try new foods, I eat a lot (maybe I ate 11.5 tacos for dinner as a 10 year old...) and I'll eat anything in the world except scallops. I don't like them, I've tried, sorry. Since food is so unique to each culture I like to taste the traditional foods and understand what they mean to each community.

I didn't know what to expect before we went to Turkey. Since it's a middle-eastern country Islamic country I grouped it with other Mediterranean cuisines and guessed there would be lots of hummus, olives, grape leaves and pita. On the one hand I was right, but Turkey is also known for kebabs, köfte (grilled meatballs), and baklava, which quickly became one of my favorite desserts. The diet is a lot simpler than in Spain, consisting mainly of bread, meat and potatoes with many Greek influences. Or maybe the Turkish influenced the Greeks, I'm not sure, but their food is similar. Turkey is also known for its tea and coffee, which are served strong in short glasses. The tea was lovely, but the coffee has a grainy texture that takes a bit of getting used to. However, Istanbul (unlike Malaga) has Starbucks, so we made a few stops there for a taste of home.

I give you a week of eating in Istanbul...

Turkish desserts

Kadaif: phyllo pastry nests filled with nuts

Baklava, I love you.

Turkish coffee

A cloud of bread

Spicy red pepper dip

Red lentil soup

Turkish pizza, winner.

Street corn

Cappuccino

Lunch in Asia

Meatballs

Irmek, a Turkish dessert and our new friend!

Apple tea

Street cart pretzels

Hummus

istanbul: part 2

Aside from the cultural attractions, Istanbul is known for its two large bazaars – the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar. The Grand Bazaar is a large covered market that spans 58 streets and houses thousands of shops. Wikipedia says over 4,000 but a man who worked there told us 3,500…either way it’s pretty intense. We visited the Grand Bazaar a few times, mainly because the first time we went was so overwhelming we couldn’t buy anything, just wander around hoping not to get lost. The best part of the Grand Bazaar was the things that shopkeepers would say to try to make sales. Some favorites: “It’s my turn now” (more creepy than anything), “I know what you want” (how presumptuous), “I am here!”, in response to our saying we were just looking “I’m just selling”, “I will sell you something you don’t need”, and finally “We have everything except customers!”. The Grand Bazaar has stores with scarves, clothes, carpets, leather, food, fake handbags, jewelry, antiques and more tchotchke than I’ve ever seen. I loved all the stores with worthless junk and restricted myself to one elephant souvenir. I’m maturing. Haggling is also one of the most entertaining parts of the bazaar. Here’s an example of haggling:

Shopkeeper: That scarf is 35 lira.

Us: Oh, no thanks, that's too much. [Start to walk away...]

Shopkeeper: Okay, 20 lira!

Us: No it's okay, we're just looking.

Shopkeeper: Fine, 15!

Us: [Still walking away]

Shopkeeper: Name your price!

Not very successful. We did discover that the best way to get a deal is to show them the money. We think that once they saw the money the thought of you putting it away was worse than making a smaller profit.

Outside the Grand Bazaar

Grand Bazaar

I know what you want!

Scarves

Grand Bazaar

Halloween 2K11

Behind the Blue Mosque, we discovered another bazaar, this time smaller and mainly uncovered. A local man directed us there because it was quieter and had some nicer goods. He was right - we could have done damage there but restrained ourselves and only bought a couple of goodies.

Small bazaar

Oh look, something shiny!

Small bazaar

Down by the Bosphorus River is the famous Spice Bazaar. Also a large covered market, the Spice Bazaar is dedicated to spices, teas, coffees, candy (Turkish Delight!), nuts and other foods, as well as the occasional scarf and leather shop. The spices smell so good and are so cheap it’s insane. I got myself some rose flavored Turkish Delight and loose-leaf apple tea, which I need to find a way to get some shipped to me once I finish this bag because it is so. damn. good.

Spice Bazaar

So much Turkish Delight, yum yum yum

Spice bazaar

Spices!

Tea

More spices and tea

Turkish Delight, I love you

When we went to Asia for lunch (I love saying that) on Friday we stumbled upon an outdoor market. The Asian side is much less touristy, when we were over there it felt like we were in a completely different city. There are no real tourist attractions and more people seem to live there as opposed to the European side, which seems more commercial. It was nice to get to explore a different side of Istanbul and get a feel for daily life as opposed to the touristic center.

Fruit & veg

Market in Asia!

Asian food

Asian olives

Asian fish