Smoke em if You Got em

One of the best parts of visiting Istanbul was the food.  As mentioned in an earlier post, pretty much everything that Anne and Mark had to eat in Istanbul was Istan-licious.  In addition to the restaurant recommended by Rick Steves previously discussed, Anne and Mark also sought out a couple of other places that were authentic to the city.  Maybe... too authentic?

On Sunday at lunch time, Anne and Mark wandered into a restaurant and ordered food.  The waiter realized that the customers were from out of town and suggested something not on the menu.  Anne and Mark threw caution to the wind and told the fine man to bring whatever he was recommending.  This was one of the better decisions they have made while traveling.  This new friend brought out a massive feast, fit for a sultan (plus at least half of the harem).

Good

Better

I can't believe I ate the whole thing.

After taking down this feast, Anne and Mark hung around the restaurant for a short while to soak up the atmosphere.  It did not take them long to realize that most of the patrons of this restaurant did not eat there.  In addition, this place did not serve alcohol.  So what was keeping this place in business?  Hookah - that's what.

A hookah, also known as a waterpipe, is an instrument used for smoking in which the smoke is filtered through a water reservoir.  We know what you may be thinking - this looks like a bong.  That is exactly what Anne and Mark thought at first too.  Additionally, Anne and Mark are not big smokers, so neither had too much experience with a hookah (Mark may have tried a hookah in his younger days, but this report can neither be confirmed nor denied).

But drugs are illegal in Turkey, so this bar only served tobacco in the pipes.  So, it's legal and the locals are doing it, why not give it a go?  They had an entire menu of different flavors of hookah, but again, Anne and Mark depended on the kindness of their waiter.  This time he did not even 'suggest,' he simply 'decided' what Anne and Mark would be smoking.  He brought out what he claimed was the house specialty, "Turkish Delight."  Anne and Mark are happy to report that the taste of it was very pleasant, not at all harsh in the way that cigarette smoke can be, but otherwise the taste was difficult to describe.  The best Anne and Mark could come up with was that it taste like smoking bubblegum without any taste of smoke (wrap your brain around that).

So, Anne and Mark were in Istanbul, everyone else was doing it, and the guy already brought them some Turkish Delight.  Might as well give it a shot, right?  So they did.  Then Anne and Mark spent the better part of the next 30 minutes trying to do tricks with the smoke they exhaled.

Anne was able to master several tricks, including the "Dragon Lady" (shown in photo above).  Mark was able to adequately achieve "Smoldering Idiot" (shown) as well as "Slightly Burned the Table Cloth" (a difficult trick to pull off) and "I Don't Think I Am Doing This Correctly."