Still Snowing!

S N O W

Our first snow in Istanbul!

Anyone thirsty?

Who wants a drink of our tap water? This marks day 3.

Istanbul 2010 Kick Off

Last night kicked off the opening celebrations for Istanbul as one of three cities chosen to be 2010's European Capital of Culture. The cities chosen are designated by the European Union for a period of one calendar year during which it is given a chance to showcase its cultural life and cultural development. There were seven different venues for opening event concerts last night around the city. BC and I attended part of the event in Taksim Square where there were fireworks, a fire show, and a performance by pop super star, Tarkan (Never heard of him? Neither had we). Istanbul hopes to attract over 10 million visitors to the city throughout 2010.

Turkish Fast Food

Unfortunately Turkey has its share of McDonald's and Burger King, but overall the quickest, cheapest and most popular fast food is a Doner.  The Doner is a sandwich made with either chicken or meat (usually lamb) that is cooked on a giant kebab, pictured below.  When an Doner is ordered, the man will take out a knife and thinly shave the outside of the kebab.  The meat is put in bread, along with pickles, tomatoes and sometimes french fries and lettuce.

In the non-tourist part of town, Doner's will usually cost 2 or 3 lira ($1.50 to $2 US).  It is a quick and cheap meal or snack that you can find no matter what part of town you are in.

Below are some pictures of a Doner, along with a couple of other pictures of what the shops look like that sell them.

Happy New Year!

In Turkey, you'll find decorated trees and store windows, lighted streets and buildings, retail sales, skinny Santas on street corners, and lottery ticket sellers all in the name of celebrating the New Year. A few weeks before Christmas, stores began hauling out decorations for people to ready their homes for the coming of the new year and Noel Baba (Santa) on New Year's Eve. Noel Baba brought gifts into homes last night as well as families prepared elaborate dinners and firework were shot off from all around. We feel like we had two Christmases! Here are a few pictures to share of what it was like.

Symphony playing at an outdoor mall

Suspended lights on a street

Buy a blow up Santa from an enthusiastic Santa?

Special New Year's Eve cakes at a bakery

Quartet of Santas playing in the street

There is also the tradition of buying a lottery ticket for New Year's. The top prize for the new year challenges everyone to get at least one ticket. Many people ask their friends in other cities to buy and send tickets to them. This year's top price was worth 20 million YTL, or about $15 million US dollars.

Bye Bye 2009

Hello and Welcome 2010!