Asian Asymptoticry

Now that the conference is over, I had one more day in Istanbul before the night bus to Goreme. So, I decided that I needed to see the Asian side. I also wanted to go through the Dolambace Palace which was built in the 1800s with a decidely European style.

First stop was the Asian side. It's a quick ferry ride over there, but once there, there's not much to do. There's a ton of mosques because it's the part of Istanbul closest to Mecca & Medina, but because of Ramadan, there were prayers going on the whole time I was over there. So, I couldn't go in to see them. The only other place of interest is a small island just off the coast. Apparently, at one point, there was a giant chain strung from that island across the Bosporos to Istanbul. This would prevent ships from sailing behind the city, thus making it easier to defend. Famously though, one invading fleet (I forget which one) got around this by going at night, then unloading everybody on the shore. Next, they picked up the boats and took them overland around the chain and put them back in the water. This let them attack the city from behind at dawn.

My only other stop on the Asian side was for lunch where I went to a cafeteria like place that was recommended by Lonely Planet. You could order almost any traditional Turkish food including Pig Trotters. I had an eggplant and ground beef dish and a warm yogurt & mint soup. For desert, I had a semolina pudding like desert soaked in honey and topped with almond. It was delicious as the semolina give it a little bit of texture. It would be a great base to experiment with some simple deserts. Add a little bit of liquor or candied fruit or fresh berries and you're rocking.

Back on the European side, I visited Dolhambace palace, which was the last Ottoman palace. At some point, the Sulatans were starting to westernize and decided that the Tokapi palace was too Eastern, so they built this gigantic medieval style palace. Of course, it's filled with rugs, but it's also painted in the Renaissance style and has gilt everywhere. Plus, the chandeliers. Tons of them including one that's 4.5 tons in the main reception hall. Basically the whole thing is very European monarch: ostentatious as hell.

Finally, after visiting the palace, I went back to the hostel and chilled until it was time to head to the bus station.