Blogging from Turkey: Food and friends

The food experience in Istanbul so far has been terrific. Part of the reason is that I'm getting good intelligence about where to go and what to eat. But there are some concerns. Look this is what ate for lunch yesterday (Tevuk Sis or Chicken Shish):

This was at Haci Baaba (pronounced Haji Baaba). I would be in serious trouble if I was eating this much at every meal. However, I have been having some great variety of fish as well. I've had it grilled, fried, and in a vegetable curry. In fact, at one of the restaurants, Haci Abdullah, the owner/manager overruled my choice of mixed grills and insisted that I taste the chef's special - fish in vegetable curry. Though I didn't have a choice in this matter, it was still amazing and really full of taste (more similar to fish-curry we have in Pakistan).

Then last night I met philsopher/historian Rainer Bromer and some of his friends (and his nephew) at a fantastic Greek restaurant (Pano Sarapevi) near Taksim. Here is a post-dinner picture (yup - no flash, so the picture is a bit grainy). Rainer is third from the front on the right - or the one with the beard.

And finally, I found a movie theater here that is playing films in english. So everything is all set - and I'm planning on catching Stone some time next week. In addition (or as a bonus) there is an english-speaking psychic/tarot-reader right next to the sinema. Sigh! Some pseudosciences/con-acts have a truly global appeal...

More later...