Our first day in Istanbul comes to an end..

after our brief afternoon rest we headed out to dinner...I of course had done my research..my friends in the trip advisor community had shared some advice and as usual their recommendation were right on.

We hopped in a cab for our 7pm reservation at Beyti restaurant in the florya area of Istanbul.  We arrived and were quickly seated in a nice patio area overlooking the main entrance.  The staff were all over us an very accommodating even though there was a slight language barrier we were very well taken care of all evening.

We a started with a selection of appetizers..the artichokes were a big hit for everyone..eggplant, chicken salad, and Michelle's  favorite the cheese pastry...she may be trying to make that some time soon...

We moved on to entrees and it turned out to be more food that we expected. Wayne and Peter both had the mixed grill at the suggestion of the waiter... which just never seemed to stop.. First. Lamb and roasted rice..really tasty..the way the rice was prepared it really picked up the nut flavor...then meatball and a sort of eggplant mashed potato ....another still unidentified meat with mashed potatos and last grilled beef with creamed spinach...

Michelle had the BeytiKebap...really delicious..I think her dish won best entree..  I had another lamb dish.

Michelle and Wayne finished off dinner with their first Turkish coffee of the trip...,I hope they can sleep tonight..

Our taxi ride back to the hotel was quite an adventure.  The  driver must have thought we were in a big hurry.... But we made it safe and sound....a little night cap and off to bed.

Busy day tomorrow.  We fly to Athens where Manos will pick us up for a tour for a few hour and drop us off in Piraeus where we will spend the night before boarding our ship on Saturday!