I've just returned from a month-long jaunt across Europe—Basel, Berlin, Munich (for one night), Slovenia, and, ultimately, Istanbul. In Basel, where I did a few blogs from Art Basel for JANERA.com, I frequented smoky cafes and ultimately succumbed to the nastiest head cold I think I've ever had. Despite Basel's fame as a pharmaceutical town, I couldn't find anything to top Sudafed's nighttime formula; the strongest sinus meds at the Coop pharmacy was an aspirin + pseudoephedrine powder that I mixed into water a few times a day. To cheer myself up, I spent a morning at the Basel Zoo, which, it turns out, is Switzerland's second largest attraction after the Rheinfall.
Berlin was better—we went to artist Richard Long's opening at Haunch of Venison and stayed at the Q Hotel, where I nursed myself back to health at the awesome basement sauna. (Note to hotel staff: you should try changing the bland hip/lifestyle CD every so often, just for variety's sake.)
But our vacation didn't really start until Slovenia, where we spent three nights at a beautiful tourist farm in the Karst region (the country's Slow Food region, which is a 20 minute drive from Italy) and ate incredible meals with excellent local wines. Then it was on to Lake Bled, about which I will say very little except for that it's paradise on earth. This was our third trip to Slovenia and each time we go, we uncover new (to us) fabulous restaurants, more pristine hiking trails, and (for me) new story ideas.
My impressions of Istanbul, an overwhelming city of at least 12 million people (we kept hearing higher figures from our taksim drivers--one, when I said I'd heard there were 15 million Istanbullus, insisted that there were, in fact, 18 million), are still forming but it's a nuanced and complicated city that certainly requires more than five days to figure out. We stayed two nights on the Bosphorus and three in Sultanahmet, the old city, where we were awakened every morning by the 4:30 call to prayer from dozens of nearby mosques (including Hagia Sophia, which though it's a museum and not a functioning mosque still has a muezzin belting out prayers from one of its minarets five times a day). The JANERA.com dinner salon was a success—check back here for my blog in a few days—and Michael and I had lunch with an art collector who is a member of one of Turkey's best known (and needless to say, wealthiest) dynasties. (It was quite an adventure to speed over the Bosphorus in his private boat to his fabulous house on the Asian side.)
The food was glorious in Istanbul--we ate lots of addictive meze, spicy meatballs (köfte), and, of course, all manner of kebab. We dined with friends at an outpost of Kosebasi at Reina (this crazy nightclub overlooking the Bosphorus that has 6 high-end restaurants inside in addition to bars, dancing, etc.), had dinner on the rooftop of the Four Seasons Sultanahmet (global nomad salon), and, though we didn't get to Sofyali in Beyoglu (it was closed on Sunday), ate at a fantastic meyhane nearby called Gedikli. (The garlic yogurt dip, rich dolmathes, and marinated artichoke hearts were my favorite dishes.)
Here, a photo of the scrumptious beef köfte at Tarihi Sultanahmet Koftecisi. And yes, that's Fanta I'm drinking.
As for coffee (I knew you'd ask): I was disappointed by both of our hotels' lame attempts at cappuccino (too large and milky) and drip coffee (weak and just plain old bad). Turkish coffee was inevitably silty and not all that tasty. I resisted the many Starbucks outlets and stumbled upon my best cup of coffee at the unlikeliest of places: a Turkish jewelry chain. Storks has a cafe right near the Grand Bazaar; and there, in addition to cappuccino, you can order single origin coffees from Kenya, Sumatra, etc.—in a french press! O.K., so my coffee cost 7 Turkish Lira (about $5.50) but it was worth it. I'm only sorry that the Frugal Traveler (AKA Matt Gross) couldn't join me. (He was touching down in Istanbul between Northern Cyprus and Bucharest to file a story but went to the wrong Storks—and our plans to meet for coffee and run through the Grand Bazaar one last time were dashed)
At any rate, after so many adventures, it's nice to be back in Brooklyn. Happy 4th of July!
you should have tried the teas for medicine in Basel! the famous swiss homeopathy treatments i'm sure would have had something to cure that smoke-induced head cold. seems like they make meds but don't use them themselves...hmmmmmm
saw you at the flea today - you should have stopped by our booth!
Posted by: taylor | 27 July 2008 at 07:37 PM