This dinner’s on fire

ByAlex:

Today was very interesting. One thing we did was going on a Bosphorus Ferry Tour.  First, the ship left port in the Golden Horn (the area which we were staying in). Then, we sailed into the Bosphorus. We went north, past both bridges, the Bosphorus bridge and the Ataturk bridge. After that, we turned around. The original Bosphorus bridge was used to conquer the Asian side of the Bosphorus many years ago.  This Bosphorus Bridge was opened to the public in 1982, after government use and repairing. I think that sailing down the border of Europe and Asia was really fun. The tour was two hours, and nobody vomited.

Alex (in hat) with our ferry in the back

Bosphorus bridge

During the Ottoman Empire era (the Ottoman Empire included Turkey, before it was officially Turkey), royal people would have secondary houses on the Bosphorus to relax. Every member of the family, or important servant (ex. Doctor) had their own seaside residence. Some are now high schools (mainly military), while others are museums or corporate owned.

A seaside residence that now is used as a hotel

We also had a great dinner. Anna and I ordered Fettuccine con Pollo (we didn’t like it), while Mom and Dad had the Turkish Clay Pot (it was great, even Mom and Dad agree). There was a clay pot, with uncooked food inside it, wrapped in tin foil, and put in “portable flames” (a.k.a. flames on tin foil). When the food was being cooked in the pot, they were doing it at your table!  It was really cool to see them cooking at your table. Once the food was finished cooking, the “chef” would take a stick and bang it along the side of the clay pot. This is because the pot had a top and bottom half, allowing it to be reused. The pot cost 70TL (TÜRK Lirasi) equivalent to $36.30 or €27.88.

Turkish Clay Pot being cooked.

Overall, today was a very interesting, and fun day.

Unblogged experiences:

• “Sorry, we are not closed sign” (bad English translation) (the underlined was to express the detail)
• Underground trash bins
• People don’t care which side of the road they are on
• People park their cars in the middle of the street and just leave it there for minuets hours (some were kissing)
• Pushey McTurkey- Turks get pushy easily
• Muslims don’t pray during prayer time
• Save 50% by debating!!!!!
• Don’t drink the water
• $20 visas required, valid for 90 days, only for some countries
• MORE MAY BE COMING IN THE FUTURE!!!!!

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O, the bear, says hi