Bistro Bis and Continuation of the Marathon Training

On Sunday, I went with a friend to Bistro Bis. It's owned by the same people that did Vadalia, which my friend and I went to together before and had a great experience. Bistro Bis was having restaurant week, which I hate (will explain later), so their menu was shortened.

I chose a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape (CdP), Domaine Berthet-Rayne 2009, which was really good. It's a little lighter bodied than I'm used to for Chateauneuf-du-Pape's go. DISCLAIMER: I know next to nothing about wines, but I know what I like and why I like it. But to continue, I thought it was a little drier that I would have liked it at first, still very full bodied, not as earthy as a Syrah, but still exceptional. The price was not cheap either, which I didn't imagine it to be, since CdP is not a blend that everyone knows, personally it is my favorite, but a good Bordeaux or St. Emilion are close seconds.

We started off with two appetizers, since it's restaurant week and we had no other choice, one steak tartare (AMAZING!) and a pate of pork and pistachios. The love me some steak tartare and they served it with a truffle oil, thin cut potato chip, and a relish of unknown, but good, substance. The pate, I didn't like. I forgot that a pate is French is not a patty in English. The texture was like fois grois, but made of pork (bad), and the consistency was just not right. For the main course though, for me at least, was great. Bistro Bis is as French as you can get, like traditional high end French dining. With that in mind, I got the duck confit, and she got the coq au vin (like I said, both VERY FRENCH). The duck confit is great, it's REALLY hard to screw up considering it's marinated duck leg, fried in rendered duck fat. The coq au vin was ok... it wasn't spectacular, but it passes. You couldn't really taste the wine sauce, which was a problem, but it came with thick sliced pork pieces.

Dessert was kind of a disappointment, we're not gonna go there. The chocolate orange thing she got was dense and a little too rich, while the three little fruit thingies I got were good, but I felt that I could have bought those in a good bakery store.

The bill was not cheap, and this is why I hate restaurant week. Everything you want comes with a surcharge, because it is impossible to make a profit on restaurant week for a nice restaurant unless it puts a surcharge on the good stuff. Wine is still pricey and even though I could have gone with a much cheaper bottle, I loved the company I was with, and CdP is my favorite, hands down. Most of the time, I don't need two appetizers, that's overkill. So with all this, restaurant week doesn't actually save you any money. The place is super busy and the kitchen isn't at 100% because it's overwhelmed. So restaurant week.. I tend to avoid.

Overall all, Bistro Bis isn't the BEST place in DC, but it's good, very good. Go during regular times, and don't get dessert, there are much better places for that.

Marathon training has been better second time around. The first run, with Kevin, was awful...the stats are on Facebook... 11:31 min/mile at just under 5 miles. Yeah I suck... the second run however was markedly improved 9:32 min/mil at 5 miles. This morning I have rocks for calves and walking is painful, but I guess it was worth it.... It does prove to me that this 9:00 min/mile marathon is possible. I have a proof of concept. Now, it's time to go do it.

The Whirling Dervish

I'm pretty sure when people think of the country Turkey, whirling dervishes aren't far from the imagination, unless, of course, you are Rick Perry, who thinks Turkey is a country of terrorists. For those who don't know, the whirling dervishes are a branch of Sufi Islam, the mystic branch of Islam. The group we saw, the Mevlevi Order, are followers of Rumi. I'm a huge fan of Rumi the poet, but he was also a theologian, which I didn't know about. For some random perspective here's my favorite Rumi poem:

When I am with you, we stay up all night,

When you’re not here, I can’t get to sleep.

Praise God for these two insomnia!

And the difference between them.

Any who... the whirling dervishes are a religious activity that Wiki could explain better than I can, it roughly looks something like this:

Everything about what they are doing, from clothes to posture is symbolic of the ideals of Sufi Islam.
Read about it on Wiki, it explains it much better than I can

Cais got the tickets to go, after being implored by his dad. We went to a culture center, as opposed to the other places that offered it, like bars, and restaurants. The show, which included live music, was really good. It starts with an orchestra of 7 people, 3 singing, 1 drummer, 1 on the lute, 1 on this stringed instrument like a small cello. There were 5 dervishes, performing for 1.5 hours.

Sufi music is really calming and the trance like effect could be felt by everyone. For the capoeira people out there, it's really like capoeira angola music, it's simple, but something about it makes you go into this trance. The feeling is really hard to explain, but everyone should experience it. Chalk it up to cultural understanding and exchange.

We went to see it at a cultural center. It was a Turkish bath from the 1500's converted into a culture performing arts center. It has belly dancing, cultural dance, and dervish shows going on all during the nights. The whole performance was about 1.5 hours long, which, from just a time perspective, is impressive to be rotating, always counterclockwise, for that long. It was also very calming, even though I couldn't understand the lyrics being sung.

What struck me was that even in this cultural center, there were 2 shows a night, seating about 70 people per show. Considering that this is a deeply religious event, can a group do 2 shows a night? Is there still religious significance or are they just commercializing off of this? It can be argued that it is less religious in this sense, and more of a "cultural show", that show cases the "cultural" aspects of it. We started walking back to the hostel and realized that a lot of restaurants also had these shows, granted with only 2 people as opposed to 5. On one poster, we realized that the person on it, was the same guy from the Mevlevi Order we just saw. I don't have a problem with this idea of showing off the culture, but I do have some qualms about having religious rituals repeated over and over again for commercial gain or pure entertainment. I feel it disrespects the religious tradition and cheapens the process for everyone.

I guess it's slightly hypocritical of me to say that I disagree with the commercialization and then go see it, but I felt that at least it was at a cultural center that not only put on a show, but also educated the audience as to what was going on. I believe that there should be a movement to not only preserve these arts, but also to spread throughout the world. More cultural understanding prevents idiots like Rick Perry. I just wish that people don't try to commercialize it at the expense losing the meaning and beauty of the art and turning it into a caricature. 

Amazing Experiences in Turkey

I realized that if I wrote a meticulous account of Turkey, it would get really long and most people wouldn't care. So I decided to cut all the stuff down into one post of just important things. If you want to see pictures, go here.

Izmir, Pamukkale, and Selcuk


I like Izmir, a lot. It's really a summer place to go, it's by the Izmir Bay and it would have been much nicer in the summer. But the funny thing about this place, more so than Istanbul, is that the city never sleeps. Cais and I were out until well after 1AM, and I, suffering from jet lag, got up at 630AM to wander around the city. The city was awake and moving about at 630AM. Restaurants were just opening, people were moving around, it really was like a city that doesn't sleep.

Pamukkale, I broke my camera and got stuck in 38 degree weather, fairly wet. The sunset made it worth it, though I have no pictures. Look on Facebook for the pictures I took, that's all I'm going to say.

Selcuk, the city, was ok. We got there while it was dark, and kind of wished I got some more time there. Efes, on the other hand, was pretty amazing. It was known as Ephesus to the Greeks  Romans. It was the capital of Asia Minor in the Roman Empire, so it is filled with amazing Roman ruins. The place holds great significance to Catholics as well, because the House of the Virgin Mary is there and is the spot where Virgin Mary died. I didn't think the site was that great, but I'm guessing, if I was Christian, the site would mean much more to me.

Istanbul


Istanbul is a great town with a lot of things to do. The generic things you can do are better read in a tour guide or book than here. There were experiences, though, that I believe everybody should have. I was lucky enough to witness Saturday morning prayers at the largest mosque in Istanbul, Suleymaniye camii. It is an amazingly peaceful time. Hundreds of people get together, and for those 15 minutes, nothing else matters. There is only you, your fellow man, and Allah. It makes you feel much more apart of a community. The world slows down, and I feel that there's a crystallizing moment where everything makes sense and you can ground yourself for a day. I think in this country we demonize Islam way too much to appreciate and understand it. From listening to the Adan 5 times a day and being woken up by it daily, I have to say the words "Allahu Akbar" holds greater meaning for me.

I'm not deeply religious, even in Buddhism. But I can absolutely understand the draw to religion and how it is the one thing that brings us all closer together. We rarely here about that. Instead we are constantly bombarded with sounds clips of religions hating on one another.

I think of all the things I did in Istanbul, those 15 minutes were the best.

Istanbul is one of those cities where anything you touch is old. The city is old and filled with history. It's simply amazing, for me, to walk the streets and think that thousands of years ago, some Byzantine schmuck was also on there streets, probably thinking the two things I was thinking:

1. Wow, this city is amazing!
2. Where can I get some cheap to eat?

Maybe this sounds hippie, but I truly believe that we have a metaphysical connection to our past, and the understanding of our past helps explain and clarify the present. It allows us to understand the meaning of life, through so many lives, and understand what it is to be human. Our history hasn't always been bright, but as long as we learn from the mistakes before, we can always make it better.

Edirne

I felt Edirne, an old capital of the Ottoman Empire, was my favorite city. It was touristy, but not catered to Westerners. It's on the border of Bulgaria and Greece, which is a funny mix of things, since all three languages were represented in many cases. The mosques there were amazing. The main mosque, Selimiye Camii, has the tallest minarets of the Muslim world, and is known as the masterpiece of Sinan, the chief architect during the golden age of architecture in the Ottoman Empire. Google Sinan, his life story is an inspiration.

The old mosque took my breath away. It was decorated with giant calligraphy on the walls and had a very cozy feel to it, as opposed to all the rest which were huge (think fitting 500+ people huge). Check out the picture here, I don't want to drag this post out with pictures.

I only had a day trip to Edirne, not knowing what to expect, but I wish I had stayed a couple of days to explore everything and go into Bulgaria and Greece.

Overall, I liked Turkey, a lot. If I ever got the chance to go back, I probably will. There's still so much to do and so many things left unexplored. But now I'm already thinking about my next destination....

Travelers never know where they're going, and tourist never know where they've been

Turkish Food for the More Adventurous

The next two things are not for everyone. Good food is not always safe, and you have to make the judgment of whether it is worth spending half a day on or over a toilet versus instant gratification of great food. I have a pretty powerful stomach, but there things I can't handle (blood, not blood pudding, but pure blood is one of them and under cooked bone marrow). If you are adventurous and willing to roll the dice, try these:

1. Kokoreç: It looks innocent enough. This is the quintessential street food of Turkey. It's a long log of god knows what, on a horizontal spit, roasted over coals. When you order it, the dude cuts a piece off the spit, chops it up and cooks it some more, throw it on some toasted bread, crushed chili peppers and done. Istanbul places will try to cook it with tomatoes, onions, and a sauce, don't get that, it makes it taste like shit. So why is this so dangerous? Kokoreç, as I found out later, is sheep intestines, wrapped up REALLY tight and sometimes stuffed with organ meats. The danger of it is that if you don't clean intestines REALLY REALLY well, you'll be eating sheep shit, which will in turn put you over or on a toilet for a long time, if not worse. But this, as Cais will attest, is my favorite food and I will not pass it by without buying it. 

2. Mussels: These aren't just ordinary mussels, these are mussels stuff with spices and rice, served with a healthy squeeze of lemon! They are so very tasty and only 0.95TL a piece. I would sit there all day and eat this stuff. But be careful! Mussels anywhere are not 100% safe. They have crappily evolved so that their ass is above their mouth. So, they produce a lot of shit water, and that water needs to be changed many times a day to keep them fresh. Lukewarm, shit eating shellfish sitting outside for hours? Always a gamble, and it's not just me Anthony Bourdain also gave the same warning during his trip to Turkey. Also to consider, mussels, like all mollusks, filter water and clean it. The places I had it, Izmir and Istanbul, were both industrial seaport. Ask yourself this question: Do I really want to risk eating a filter of crappy water in an industrial zone? The answer to me was, and always will be, yes, but sparingly. 

I ate all this stuff with no stomach issues, so I fully encourage people to try this stuff, but it's at your own risk.  Cais didn't have any issues either, and he refuses to drink tap water anywhere. 

The last are things I wasn't a fan of, which isn't much:

1. Simit and anything sold on a simit cart: Simit is the Turkish equivalent of a bagel, but taste a lot more like a bagel crossed with a pretzel. Jews and Germans don't get too excited, it's not as good as either. They also sell a variety of stuff on the cart, which I tried. All of it sucked. It was all dry and kind of tasteless. Worth a try at 1TL or less, it is the breakfast of choice for Turks.

2. Fish: This may have been my fault, but I wanted to order a fish that I never heard of. Cais wanted the salmon. The fish sucked, it was tasteless and not seasoned, not even with salt. Per chance we didn't order the right thing...who knows? Had it once, wasn't good, won't do it again.  

Taste of Turkey Everyone Should Try

It's 4:40 AM EST, and in my head it's 11:40 AM, needless to say jet lag is kicking my ass. Normally, even if I do wake up at about 5AM, I could take a walk to the local börekici and grab some börek (stuff puff pastry), a cup of tea, and bread for 5 TL (~$3USD), but, sadly, I am not there. So, to further frustrate myself, I'll write about all the different foods I ate in Turkey.

I woke up thinking I was going to get some cucumbers, soft white cheese, white bread, tomatoes, maybe some olives, and a strong glass of çay (pronounced chai), but I'm in Queens, which means cold cereal and whatever junk food I may be able to scrounge up. It's been 2 days, and I already miss the food.... it was dirt cheap and really good. So here's what people should try, all of it can be found in Turkey and I think most of it can be found in a Turkish restaurant, maybe. I say maybe only because some things may not be hot sellers in the US and most of it is street food. 

For all to try:

1. Döner: If you haven't already had it in Europe or the US, do so. Comes in et (meat) or tavuk (chicken). It is prepared by stacking layers upon layers of meat onto a vertical spit and roasting it for the whole day. Never get before noon. The juices just haven't sinked in and the taste is just not there. Served as a platter w/ rice, ekmek (bread), or dürüm (wrap). They will run you anywhere between 6TL to 1.5TL depending on where you are.

2. Kebap or Kebab: Self-explanatory, seasoned meet on a stick, grilled, served with whatever the fuck the restaurant wants to serve it with. Specifically worth trying in Turkey: Adana kebap, spicy ground beef and lamb. I avoided anything that said "steak" or "beefsteak", since I'm picky with my steaks. Also, lamb chops were great, but don't expect what you find in the US. Their lamb chop is about 1/2 the size of ours (go figure), and is fattier (read: better).

3. Balik ve Ekmek: As literal and simple as it translates: fish and bread. It's simple grilled fish (whatever they can catch) and bread. It's not that great, nothing too special, but these restaurants float up to the shore of the Golden Horn and sell this stuff only Friday-Sunday. They set up shop, have simple seating, cook on super rocky boats, and you get a full fish meal for 5.50TL. The kitchen looks like this: 

Floating kitchen

4. Lokum: This stuff ROCKS. For 2TL, you get 5 pieces. You should not try to finish 5 pieces. It's sweet fried dough sprinkled with pistachio. They're crispy on the outside, covered with this sweet syrup, but soft on the inside, and melts in your mouth. It's fresh and sells FAST and it is a fight to get to them. Only found them on weekends though.

Dude prepping Lokum

5. Pide: Roughly, it Turkish pizza. Long flat bread with meat, cheese, eggs, all sorts of stuff on top. Generally not bad, but is better served like street food. I was in a part of Istanbul where no non-Russian and Greek (I will explain in a later post) go, Fener. I was starving and found a pide place. They did it right, they cut it in half, rolled it up, and you eat on the walk, it's great.

6. Roasted Corn: If that's your thing, which it is my mom's so maybe for more people it is, you'll love it. For me, not so much, especially at 2TL a pop, should have gotten lokum.

7. Köfte: Grilled meatballs. Much more tender than US meatballs and has never failed me. Best place: Cafe Osman in Edirne. 

8. Börek: Puff pastry stuffed with either meat, cheese, spinach, potatoes, or what one guy called "spice". These things are huge, 1.5'x1.5', and you buy by the kilo. 1 kilo will feed a small village. Most places I had this in Istanbul was not fresh, like pipping hot fresh. It's mainly a breakfast food, but good throughout the day, especially when it comes straight out of the oven. 1 kilo, in Izmir, ran about 5TL. I love this stuff and will forever miss it. Best place: this small shack in Edirne where there was a line of about 20 people every time the oven opened up.

9. çop şiş: Small beef kebaps, grilled, and made into a sandwich with grilled onions and hot peppers, seasoned only with chili and oregano. They do it right in Selçuk and no where else, Cais and I went to this stand almost religiously. They are great at cooking this stuff. First, it's on what I call an open George Foreman grill. It's a tilted grill, with a charcoal burning (if it's gas, it will suck) underneath. The drippings all run off onto one side of the grill. Healthy, you might think. NO! The drippings are collected and your bread is wiped on the drippings before it gets grilled (AMAZING IDEA!!). Second, they take a huge piece of beef fat, and press the meat down with it to cook it (GENIUS IDEA!!!). The large piece of beef fat, then, sits on the end of the grill collecting drippings, until it is once again pressed onto the meat. Greasy, fatty, grilled goodness, everything right about the world.

A summary of Turkey

I'm finally back in the states and will start writing about this experience in Turkey as well as things I learned about myself. The experience I had was positive, and almost impossible hard to crystallize into one sentence. I fully enjoyed myself and have a greater appreciation of not only Turkey and the Islamic world, but also of life. First and foremost though, I do want to summarize my experience, more for my health and to jot ideas down, less for your, the reader's, enjoyment. I apology, bare with my self-indulgence.

Let me preface the next following posts with this, these are the negative things that happened to me while there:

1. I broke by D3000 camera by falling into some water. It broke my new lens as well. Cost: $400

2. I, out of my own stupidity, got hustled (this story will remain between Cais and I and whomever I choose to tell). $300

3. Cais and I got kicked out of a salsa club on New Years. ~$20

4. Taxi taking the LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way to get to where Cais and I wanted to go. $20

It wasn't an easy trip, physically or psychologically, but I came out having some life long memories and would not trade the experience for most anything.

Turkey is an amazing place. At it's south east tip was the cradle of all human civilization, and the home to 3 of the most influence civilizations of human history. It is the starting point of Christianity and, until the early 20th century, gatekeeper of Islam. It is a mix of people far and wide, from western China to the foothills of the Balkans. It is unapologetically Muslim and very proud of the fact, but also European in many ways.

I made 1 post on Facebook while I was in Istanbul. I knew that Turkey was very Muslim and I know about praying and Islam. But the first experience I had with the country of Turkey was riding the tram line and listening to the Adan being called throughout the city. My hostel in Istanbul was right behind the Sultanahmet Camii (Blue Mosque), and every morning it would sing the Adan, like an alarm clock. There is truly nothing more calming than hearing that 5 times a day. Even though nothing really changes, I felt calmness rests over the city for those 5 minutes. An idiot staying in the same room as me in Istanbul said how much he appreciated Moroccan and Turkish cultures, but thought the Adan was annoying and wondered why they did that through out the city. He is an idiot, a grade A, history studying at a crappy state school idiot. I was also fortunate enough to witness Saturday morning prayers at the largest mosque in Turkey, Sulimanye Camii. It is on the short list of great life experiences. 

I learned that the Turks, outside of the touristy areas of Istanbul, are truly nice, truly helpful people. I heard from multiple people about how nice the Turks are, and how they offer you tea and wine and talk to you. Expect for one place, I was never offered tea, I was offered wine in the small town of Sirince, but never tea.

But I got very lost a couple of times, and people took my friend and I to the place we were looking for or gave me, or what I imagined as, great directions, but through broken English, Turkish, and general pantomiming, I got the idea. 

Most of the store owners that I ended buying stuff from all had a great back story to tell about their shop, or their goods, which made me feel a lot better and I felt that I may have been putting money not only to the local economy, but local artists. The last thing I wanted to do is to put money into place that outsource mass-produced "art" to China. 

So, in the end the itinerary went Izmir->Pamukkale->Selcuk->Istanbul->Edirne->Istanbul. I will be writing about all these places shortly. Thank you for indulging me.