True Turkish Delight of Turgutreis

We’ve written about most of our spring trip to Turkey but have barely mentioned the fabulous week we spent at the beach on Turkey’s Bodrum Peninsula. Perhaps that part of our brains has still been on vacation, fully relaxed in the heat of the Turkish sun.  Ah, if only….

British, German or Dutch tourists know full well what Americans are ignorant of – Turkey has fabulous beaches!  We didn’t run into a single other American tourist (fine with us!) the whole week we stayed in the town of Turgutreis. Locals were surprised to hear us speak English with American accents, something they don’t hear much of there. In fact, we didn’t run into very many other tourists at all as we were there in early May, a few weeks before European schools got out, meaning just before the high tourist season hit. We often had the beach, restaurants and shops to ourselves. Delightful!

We chose the town of Turgutries for its proximity to the Bodrum airport (about an hour’s drive) but still far enough from the party town of Bodrum to enjoy peace and quiet. Per our usual mode of accomodation, we rented a comfortable three story home, Swan Villa, owned by a lovely British couple. The villa shares a pool with another villa next door, owned by the same British couple and also for rent. No one else was staying in the second home while we were there but it would be a lovely spot for two families or an extended family to rent both homes for a shared vacation.  For our small family of 3, one villa was more than enough space with its 4-bedrooms, large living area, fully stocked kitchen and three lovely balconies.  While not beachside (nothing really is in Turgutreis except a few very small, expensive hotels), we were about a 12 minute walk to the beach and the main shopping/ eating area of town.  One quick plug for our friend Akin who owns the Corner Pub and runs a reliable transportation service, as well as manages the Swan Villa with great attention.

What to do in Turgutreis? Not much really, which was exactly what we were looking for. The beach is a thin strip of gravely sand lined with beach lounge chairs and umbrellas. I imagine it gets very crowded during high season and the chairs are premium real estate, but for us we had our pick of spots to relax. The lounge chairs are owned by the restaurants that line the beach but the beach itself is public. By law  (and the restaurant waiters will confirm) you are free to sit in their chairs with no obligation to buy anything, although we generally at least ordered drinks. Sadly for us it was a bit too chilly to swim in the crystal clear waters. A few weeks later it was probably just perfect. Still it was warm enough to read thick novels while Grace played happily in the sand.

There’s a small shopping area with the typical tourist trinkets. We came home with bars of luxurious handmade olive oil soap and several cotton tablecloths, all reasonably priced.  There are dozens of restaurants, all of which will invite you in anytime you walk by. The restaurants right on the beach are the more expensive but also have the best food. We enjoyed dishes like clay pot kebabs, grilled meats cooked in sauce inside a clay pot. The pot is smashed open at your table and the delectable bits poured out for you. Yum! Locally caught seafood abounds as well as beautiful fresh salads. Be sure to ask about pricing on seafood though, as we found it could range from $10 to well over $75.

The rest of the peninsula is worth exploring too. The dolmus mini-busses leave from the a small parking area a few blocks from the main beach and they go everywhere for just a $1 or 2 per person.  We spent a day in Bodrum town. It’s incredibly touristy and the town itself was not for us, but the Underwater Archeological Museum in the old castle is one of the best museums we’ve ever been to. The medieval castle itself is incredible but the museum it houses showcases the science of underwater archeology and the many ancient shipwrecks off the Turkish coast that have been dug up excavated. Most fascinating to us was the reconstruction of a shipwreck from 1500 BC. Archeologists found claypots, coins, and even parts of the ship still intact 3500 years later!  We also took a day trip from Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos, a short 1 hour hop by ferry to the home of Hippocrates.  Be aware, though, most of the interesting historical sites are closed on Mondays.

Another evening trip we took from Turgutreis was to Gumusluk, a small fishing village a short 20 minute dolmus ride from Turgutreis. There we dined at Yakamoz restaurant on freshly caught monkfish cooked in a lovely sauce of garlic, olive oil, sundried tomatoes and delicious Turkish chilis. We savored every bite of that meal, our last before returning to Istanbul.

If your time in Turkey allows, we do recommend a side trip to Bodrum if you want some time to relax. We had played tourist full force in Istanbul for a week and wanted some time to decompress before returning home. We found the peace and tranquility we were looking for in Turgutreis.

Easy Safety Tip That Could Keep Your Child Safe

I lost Grace once in a Columbia Outlet store. She was lost all of 1 minute at most but still I panicked as I looked for her little legs under the rows and rows of crowded clothing racks.  I found her when she turned off the store’s lights. Some childless genius had installed the store’s lights right at toddler level and Grace had proudly switched them off. Bad for other shoppers, good for frantic mama.

That’s the only time she’s really, truly been lost but it happens to the best of us all the time. I know it will happen to us again, that’s for certain.  I came across a brilliant but easy tip today on the Tea Collection’s travel blog and I plan to start using it immediately. Ready? Here it is:

Take pictures of your kids on your cell phone. Every time you’re in a crowded place, at home or abroad, take pictures. That way if you lose your child you can immediately show people what she looks like that day – hairstyle, clothes, the candy smudges on her cheeks.  I had never thought of this but it’s a great idea that takes just a second and doubles as a fun memory of wherever you go together, even if it’s just Target.

What do you to keep track of your little ones in public places?

Sometimes You Just Gotta Let Loose

Check out this toddler dance party!  Ever full of energy, Grace and her little buddy Kenna got down while four exhausted parents packed up the cars after 5 days of family camp.

Can Kids (and Parents!) Sleep Well While Camping?

Well-rested little camper, Grace

I grew up camping for every family vacation. I’ve talked my husband into venturing out a few times each summer, including last week over the 4th of July. One of the biggest reasons I hear from others with little ones to not camp is the sleep issue. How do you get a baby or toddler (or even older kids for that matter!) to nap and get enough night time sleep with only a thin tent to block out noise and light?

We just returned from a five day campout with our church. Thanks to a few tricks Grace napped longer than at home (2 1/2 hours some days) and slept well at night too.  That made for a more restful trip for me and Steve and Grace had more energy to give to the rest of each day.

Our tricks are really very simple, similar to what we do in hotel rooms.

1. We keep the same bedtimes and naptimes as at home. It’s tempting to let her stay up later to play with all her friends but it comes back to bite us in the long run. She was in the tent headed to bed at 7pm. The downside of this is we had to stick close by once she was in bed. Since we were camping with friends that wasn’t a big deal. We enjoyed games, snacks, campfires and reading by flashlight after she was in bed.
2. We keep the same bedtime and naptime routine as at home. We read a few stories, sang songs, said our prayers and put her to bed. The first day she yelled for a while when we put her down for her nap. We tried to be as consistent as we are at home (hard in a public campsite). We went to her a few times told her gently but firmly to lay down and go to sleep. After about 45 minutes of fussing on and off she did, and every day after that we had no problems.
3. Bring the pack n play. For as long as we possibly can we’ll be using the pack n play for Grace, maybe even after she’s transitioned to a big girl bed.  That way she’s contained and not tempted to play around in the exciting new tent or in the very fun suitcases.  When she does fuss she eventually gets bored with it and falls asleep whereas if she were out of it I could imagine her unzipping her way out of the tent dozens of times.
4. Bring a white noise machine. It may seem silly while camping but IT WORKS. We were camping with lots of other families so besides the usual sounds of campsites (birds, cars, people walking by) we had the sounds of lots of noisy kids having a great time after she was in bed.  We use the Marsona white noise machine which we love because its internationally adaptable plus has an optional (sold separately) battery pack, which was perfect for camping. I loved seeing the looks on people’s faces as they’d walk by our tent while Grace napped. What is that noise? I’m sure they were thinking. Is someone vacuuming in there?
5. Use black sheets strategically. This solved the light issue for us and I wish we’d thought of this sooner in our parenting life.  We used binder clips to clip the sheet to seams in the tent and put them around the pack n play, sort of like a tent within a tent.  We draped a second sheet directly onto the pack n play after she was asleep at night. These two combined helped her sleep until 6:30am or even close to 7 a few days, much later than she would have had the sun blazed in when it rose at 5am.

We use these same tricks when we’re staying other places too, like hotels or with friends or relatives. Our sleep is pretty important to us and these tips keep us all happy travelers.

Do you have a trick you use when camping or traveling to help your child sleep better?  Share it with us. Any ideas how to get your child to sleep in until 8 or 9am, even when she doesn’t do that at home?

Beat the system and save some money

I love to find a good deal when traveling.  There’s something really satisfying about getting to somewhere for less than what the airline would like to charge, or staying at a hotel for a ridiculously low price.  Fortunately, priceline.com makes it possible to stay at a nice hotel for much less than you’d normally pay.  I used to avoid priceline because the whole bidding thing just didn’t make sense.  How are you supposed to know what to bid?  What do you do if they refuse your price?

Fortunately, the world of online travelers has made it much easier to know how much to bid, and what hotel you are probably going to get.  The two sites I’ve found to help make this possible are betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com.  Here you can find instructions on how to bid, lists of hotels in each city that are available on priceline or hotwire, and many posts from travelers who have won bids.  For example, we stayed at a 5 star hotel in Bangkok for $100 after reading the posts from other travelers, and we knew exactly which hotel we were going to get.

Some tips to keep in mind when using this method of booking:

1.  You can’t be guaranteed of a certain type of room.  You might get put in a room with 2 doubles, or an upper floor room with a king bed.

2.  Call ahead to make requests.  You can’t make requests during the booking on priceline, so after the reservation is accepted, call the hotel to ask for a non-smoking room or for a crib.

3.  Join the hotel’s frequent guest program, if available.  Usually these are free to join and they give you perks like free upgrades or room requests.  Recently, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago through priceline for $67, so I joined the Hyatt Gold Passport program which allowed us to check in 2 hours earlier than normal and put us in a high floor room.

On another travel-saving note, rental cars can be a big sink of money or save you a ton.  My favorite combination for saving about 50% on rental costs: join the National Car Emerald Club (sometimes available for free) so you can get any car in the Emerald Aisle no matter what you paid.  Then find a contract ID and coupon ID from fatwallet or flyertalk, book a midsize or lower online and save a bunch when you pick up your full size car.  We’ve even been given an SUV for a compact price a couple of times.  Now if they would only give us a break on the ridiculous charges for a car seat.

Do you have some tips for saving big on hotels or other travel?

Istanbul Apartment Renting: Not Quite the Pits

We always try to find apartments to rent when we travel, for the value, space, and convenience compared to a hotel. Istanbul has a unfortunate dearth of apartments for rent for tourists, so our choices were limited.  We found an agency called Manzara Holiday Aparments, and despite our early legwork we only found one reasonably priced apartment open for the week we were there.

Kitchen sans microwave or toaster

The St George apartment is downhill about 2 blocks from the Galata Tower, and is across the street from a hospital.  The building is very old with a lot of character including well worn and slick marble stairs and a faintly sewerish smell in the stairwell. The apartment is on the second floor (a treacherous proposition with luggage) and is simply furnished in a very small space. There are no bedside tables and only one wardrobe in one of the bedrooms. The curtains do not block out the streetlight just outside the window. There was no toaster or iron but the staff kindly brought these to us. The bathroom is nicely redecorated but the shower leaks and does not drain like anything resembling normal, there is no soap shelf in the shower, no countertop for bathroom items, and no hooks or towel racks.

To top it off, the apartment directly above us was being remodeled. No, that’s too kind. They were using jackhammers to rip out the drywall and concrete to the posts, for 10 hours a day. With a 2 year old child who needed naps, the construction workers were kind enough to stop for a mid day break, but would you rent this apartment at all in these circumstances?

Upstairs apartment gutting

The rental fee was reasonable relative to hotels, but other associated costs were quite high. The transport from the airport was twice the cost of a taxi. The staff kindly had arranged for a meal to be prepared for our arrival, but 3 little eggplants for 50 euros? The staff was generally helpful and attentive, but overall this experience was not ideal or a relaxing place of respite. With some more specific questions upfront, a different apartment and different plans for food and transportation, Manzara might be able to redeem itself in another experience. In retrospect, the advantages of having an apartment while traveling with a toddler far outweighs the risks of getting a dud like this.  There’s probably nothing we could have done to prevent the downsides, but we did our best to make the most of it and would still recommend renting rather than paying more and getting less in a hotel.

Thrive, Don’t Just Survive, Sightseeing With Your Toddler

Whether it’s the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Majal or the Hagia Sophia, these majestic landmarks are to a toddler what acapella hymns are to a rock star – Bo-Ring.  This doesn’t mean you have to put sightseeing on hold though. Sightseeing can be fun for both you and your toddler but you, not the Hagia Sophia, have to create the fun for your child.

Our latest trip to Turkey put our toddler Grace, and our creativity, to the test.  Here we were in a country rich in ancient culture and all she wanted to do, understandably, was play in the park.  While we never found the golden key to hours of leisurely exploration, we did come up with a few tricks that helped Grace enjoy each experience and, in turn, gave us the chance to absorb the wonders of Turkish antiquity.  The specifics here are related to Turkey but the tips apply anywhere we’ve traveled with Grace.

Tip #1: Have a place for your toddler to rest and relax when little legs get weary.

Most of the time in Turkey this “place” was the Ergo Baby Carrier. There were too many steps throughout Istanbul and other parts of Turkey to make the stroller very practical.  The vast (and mostly flat) Topkapi Palace was an exception, though the side rooms and narrow hallways make it a tossup as well.  Many historical sites with crowded spaces have no-stroller signs in any case.

Tip #2: Relax your family rules about candy and other treats.

A big bag of Yummy Earth organic lollipops went with us to Turkey and helped us grab a few extra minutes in the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and many a restaurant meal. They were our trick of last resort and, since Grace rarely gets candy otherwise, they were a huge treat.

Tip #3: Take lots of outside, freedom breaks.

As much as we can we keep stretches of sight-seeing, especially indoors, limited to 1-2 hours at a time. In between sights we intersperse meal and snack breaks as well as lots of time to run and play freely. Contrary to what the Lonely Planet guidebook says, there are playgrounds and parks all over Istanbul. There’s a great one located within Gulhane Park (next to Topkapi Palace).  There are walking trails and playgrounds every quarter mile or so along the Sea of Marmara.  In Beyoglu there are nice playgrounds at the Metro stops at Tophane and Fendikli. The Sultanahmet Park, between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, was also a favorite. Although it doesn’t have a playground, it has a huge playground and lots of grass plus its central location made it a place we stopped several times to let Grace run free.

If the weather is bad or a park isn’t to be found, just about everywhere you go you can find a shopping mall. Shopping malls throughout the world seem to always have a food court, open areas where kids can run or walk (find a quieter corridor), and often times they have kids play areas with kiddie rides, bouncy houses, or even ice-skating rinks. When all else fails, ice cream breaks will always perk everyone up too.

Tip #4: Keep your toddler on her regular nap schedule.

As nice as it would be to stay out and about all day like we did in our childless days, hanging out with a cranky toddler just isn’t worth it. We kept a 2-3 hour window open every afternoon to go back to our apartment, have lunch, read books and play and then let Grace nap. She’d be well-rested enough for us to get out for a few more hours before dinner and even to push her bedtime back an hour or so.

Tip #5: Find something in each site that is special and interesting for your toddler.

In the Hagia Sophia an ancient step became a dancing stage and a long ramped tunnel was incredibly exciting. In the Grand Bazaar free apple tea from a shop owner was a special treat. In the Istanbul Archeological Museum a Trojan Horse kids could climb into was a fun discovery for Grace.  In the Spice Bazaar samples of Turkish Delight, dried figs and apricots made her day. We always have a small bag of special toys on hand as well. It’s stocked with finger puppets, stickers, small books, crayons and paper.

Tip #6: Accept the reality that you may not see everything you want, or for as long as you want, but in exchange you get to experience someplace incredible in the company of your child.

These are some ways we’ve found to keep Grace content so we can all enjoy ourselves, wherever we are. Do you have a tip that’s made sightseeing more toddler-friendly?

Diapers and Laundry and Diapers, Oh My!

Question from my best friend, Lisa: What do you do about laundry and diapers when traveling overseas?

Answer: Always make sure we have easy access to both!

It’s actually somewhat amusing that Lisa asked me this question. Twelve years ago she and I spent a college summer in Germany where, for two months, our clothes did not once see a washing machine. We were too poor and cheap so, for the entire summer, we washed our clothes in the bathroom sink using dishsoap. I think the dishsoap was Lisa’s idea. We smelled lemony fresh and, for the most part, looked pretty clean.

Don’t think Steve and I are laboring over hotel sinks washing out Grace’s grubby t-shirts, at least not most days. Now that we can actually afford to do laundry the modern way, we do. We always first price out the cost of having someone else do our wash for us. In developing countries like Honduras laundry is a non-issue because it is so cheap to have someone local do the wash (a few dollars/ load).  In Buenos Aires this was the case as well, even though our apartment did have a washer. We preferred to spend our time sight-seeing than waiting for a load to finish so frequently utilized the low-cost lavanderia (wash-and-fold) around the corner where the price even included ironing Steve’s shirts!

In more developed countries like Turkey the cost to have someone else do the wash was outrageous. Istanbul surprisingly also didn’t seem to have a single public laundromat. Luckily for us we had rented an apartment from Manzara Apartments and they had a washing machine in their offices they let us use (one of the few good things about this company – more on them in a later post). The washer was tiny though (held about half of what our washer at home holds) and there was no dryer. We just washed the absolute necessities since we then had to trudge a quarter mile home with the wet laundry to line-dry it.

For the most part though, when we travel we are able to do our own laundry because we rent apartments/houses equipped with washers. On our recent escapades in Turkey we rented a house at the coast during our second week. It was equipped with a washing machine and a huge sunny deck for line-drying the clothes. We returned home with suitcases full of clean clothes rather than the usual post-vacation piles of dirty laundry.

One thing we never, ever use are hotel laundry services. Almost always these services are outrageously expensive no matter the country, up to $5/ item. If we’re that desperate we’d rather resort to me and Lisa’s “dishsoap laundry method” than shell out such exorbitant amounts.

As for diapers, we usually try to take enough with us for an entire trip because diapers overseas are almost always imported from the US and therefore very expensive. Diapers aren’t heavy so they don’t add a lot of extra weight to our luggage, and as we use them up they make room for whatever souvenirs we’re collecting along the way.

On our most recent trip to Turkey we found ourselves short on diapers the last day at the WOW Istanbul Airport Hotel. I called down to the front desk to find out where we could buy diapers in the area. I was pleasantly surprised when the kind man on the other end, in very broken English, said they’d send some up.  An hour later no diapers had arrived so I called again. This time no one on their staff knew anything about the phantom concierge’s promise to send up diapers nor did anyone even know what “diapers” were. I tried the British word “nappies.” I tried explaining “you know, the thing babies poop and pee in.” I was transferred to six staff members before the last guy asked me to spell “diapers.” I did and he said he’d call me back. Five minutes later, after what I imagine was a lot of frantic googling and then titters when the staff figured out what I wanted, he called me back triumphant: “We do not have any in the hotel.” OK, that would have been nice to know an hour ago when someone else was promising diaper room service. Sadly we found a local grocery store and bought an entire pack of 36 diapers of which we used one. We left the rest of the package behind in our room so if you happen to go to this hotel and need diapers, just tell them you know some crazy Americans left some behind and they’re probably languishing in the hotel’s lost-and-found.

We have yet to find a country that doesn’t have very easy access to diapers and wipes, despite any language barriers. Though often expensive, every corner pharmacy or drugstore around the world seems to carry Huggies and disposable wipes. Too bad for the landfills but good for traveling parents.

Children Are Everybody’s Business With The Turks

Turkey has the “it takes a village” mentality when it comes to children, even in the metropolis of Istanbul. Turks trust each other with their children and they expect us, as visitors to their country, to trust them with our children as well. Everybody notices children and jumps to help with them, cuddle them or soothe them during a tough moment.

Turks simply love children and have created a culture where it’s fine to express that.  The most common form of attention is the cheek-pinching. I’m surprised Grace doesn’t have bruised cheeks from the number of pinches but she has endured it with surprising, well, grace. A maitre’d standing outside his restaurant as we passed noticed her face was dirty and summoned a waiter to bring him a cloth to scrub it clean. As we boarded a public bus heavy-laden with bags and a stroller a kind young woman scooped up Grace, held her on her lap and sang songs to her as if she were her own. On a scenic boat trip up the Bosphorus where Grace quickly became bored, a young man who spoke no English picked her up and read her one of her picture books. She’s been given many pieces of candy from strangers, led away by a security guard museum to show her off to his friends, had shopkeepers adjust her clothing and received all kinds of free food in restaurants from thoughtful waitstaff.

Such lavish attention from strangers is disarming for us Americans, so accustomed to adults in keeping their distance from children unless they are 1) related to them 2) know them well or 3) have some kind of malintent.   At first we (Grace included) were a bit taken aback by the attention total strangers would shower on our tiny two-year old. Once we realized the approach was universal and well-meaning though, we relaxed and, as long as Grace still felt comfortable, we tried to be as well.   As we head home after two weeks in Turkey we’ll have to readjust to strangers remaining just that, while trying to maintain that caring attitude towards other children ourselves.

Discovering Modern Istanbul Along Istiklal Caddesi

Like many world cities, Istanbul is a complex mix of the new and the old. Everywhere we turn we are reminded by a cobblestone street, a crumbling mosque or an historic tower that we are walking in the steps of ancient history. But this is a vibrant, bustling metropolis, the economic and cultural center of a nation bidding to enter the EU.

The core of modern Istanbul life is Istiklal Caddesi, a pedestrian-only shopping zone full of people no matter the time of day.  Our apartment was located just a 10 minute walk from one end of Istiklal so we spent quite a bit of time on our trip meandering and discovering what it had to offer.

A “nostalgic tramway” reminiscent of San Francisco’s streetcars runs the length of Istiklal. Since the street is built on a slight slope, the most comfortable way to explore it with little ones is to ride the tram from the southern most point to the top end of the street (Taksim Square) and walk back down. That way it’s slightly downhill the whole way plus the tramway is a lot of fun for kids.  You can reach the start of the nostalgic tramway by taking the Tunel funicular from Kadikoy. When you exit Tunel at the top (end of the line – there’s only one stop) you’ll see the streetcar stop right outside. You buy your ticket from the driver for 1 Turkish lira (about 60 cents).

Istiklal Caddesi is jam-packed with fashionable boutiques, kitschy tourist shops, cafes, movie theaters, restaurants, and historical sights.  We most enjoyed just walking along and people-watching, stopping here and there for a bite to eat or for a cup of coffee.  After riding the nostalgic tram to the end, Grace and I started our first day of exploration of Istiklal after we dropped Steve off for his conference at the Hilton near Taksim Square. First we stopped to try a simit from a branch of the chain Simit Sarayi. A simit is a ring of baked dough dipped in sesame seeds, similar to a bagel. You see simit vendors selling their snacks from red carts all over the city. They’re cheap, fresh and very good.

Back out on the street Grace and I followed Rick Steve’s walking tour of Istiklal Caddesi in his Istanbul guidebook (highly recommended), which pointed out some of the historical sites along the way. There are some old movie theaters, churches, mosques, flower and fish markets, that kind of thing. We didn’t feel the need to stop long at any of the sites but following the tour at least I knew what I was seeing along the way.

We made a stop at the Ipek silk shop about halfway along the street, on the left if you’re headed towards Taksim.  It’s a high-end silk shop with very helpful staff and good quality scarves. I found a few nice cotton/wool blend scarves (the shop has more than silk). Grace was the princess of the shop with all five shop attendants doting on her, kissing her, and even tying a jaunty scarf around her neck which they gifted to her (and she proceeded to lose on the street shortly after we left!). We have quickly learned that Turks adore children and have no qualms about showering children they don’t know with affection. Grace slowly warmed up to the idea of such expressive strangers and started to return their love with shy waves and air kisses.

There’s a great English language bookstore, Robinson Crusoe (#389), along Istiklal. They have English speaking staff and a wide-range of books about Turkey and other English-language books. It’s a good stop if your kids need something new to read as well.

A fun culinary treat along Istiklal Caddesi, and throughout Istanbul, is ice cream. Turkish ice cream is thick and stretchy so the servers (found in cafe windows along the street – you’ll spot them by their red and gold hats and vests) do all kinds of tricks with their gooey concoctions. When we stopped for a cone after dinner one night the server shot a long metal rod out the window at Grace. Stuck to the end of it was the scoop of ice cream with a cone. When Grace grabbed the cone, the cone (and scoop) detached perfectly in her hand. But the server wasn’t going to let her get off so easily. He continued to grab the whole thing away from her but reaching out and slapping the end of the metal stick back on the ice cream, to which it stuck and he could pull it away. She was bewildered but amused by the whole endeavor but eventually he let her eat it in peace.

We ate a few meals along Istiklal Caddesi during our time in Istanbul too. Haci Abdullah  (Sakizagaci Cadessi 17, just off Istiklal (past the Aga Mosque) was rated one of the best restaurants in the city by Lonely Planet Turkey, so we had to give it a try.  The food was good and the service was fast, plus it’s a large fairly noisy restaurant, a good thing when dining out with a toddler. Still it was expensive for what we got and we found we enjoyed Hala (about halfway up Istiklal Caddesi, on the right side if you’re headed towards Taksim Square) so much more. Hala serves gozleme, a traditional thin crepe-type dough folded over various ingredients like cheese, spinach, ground meat and other vegetables. The crepes are made in the restaurant window where you can watch women roll out the dough and cook it over a griddle right in front of you, which is very fun for kids.  We also tried their stuffed grape leaves (dolma) and Turkish ravioli (manti), both fresh and tasty.

Overall Istiklal Cadessi is an entertaining place for families, worth at least a short outing during your stay in Istanbul.