Day 17 - Chips for Breakfast! (Rest Day 2)
Waking up and not having to leave immediately is luxurious while touring. Waking up in a comfy bed in a fancy hotel is even better (even if it is to your restless touring partner washing clothes in the sink 😆)! Breakfast at the hotel was awesome, and we did some serious damage 😏. Cake AND chips for breakfast. Cake AND chips. Happy Ben.
Happily our hotel was in walking range of all of the major sites, so we did a nice loop of tourism (sadly not going into many places due to huge queues even in off season and strict dress codes) and past the post office to pick up my prescription sunglasses which were sent here to meet us (thanks Dad!)... but the parcel hasn't arrived 😭. What a pain!
It's like taking out a curious child who also chases after every cat trying to pat it!
The sites were cool, and nicely close together, but it was heaving with tourists so not our favourite city so far. The Hagia Sofia was finished in 560AD by the Romans and was a cathedral for over 1000 years until the fall of Constantinople when it was converted to a mosque. When it was built it was the largest indoor space in the world and an unprecedented domed roof. Pretty awesome to see in real life.
After walking 9km(!?) we went back to enjoy the comforts (primarily the kettle and bubble bath) of our hotel and to research the next days! I'm more tired after 9km walking than 200km cycling!
For dinner we went to the (very popular) hotel restaurant and luckily got a seat without a reservation. This place went further up in our estimations as there was limitless complimentary flatbread which was rapidly refilled. These guys clearly haven't fed cyclists before, pretty sure one is usually enough for two, or even on one table, four people. We smashed three.
And then the main arrived! We ordered a vegetarian "pottery". There was a whole ceremony while they cleared the table, and produced a sealed pottery urn in the middle of flaming ashes. The waiter did a lot of knocking and banging, culminating in an inversion of the urn, knocking the top off and pouring the contents (mixed vegetables in a tomato sauce) onto a sharing platter. Meanwhile plates of barley appeared from another waiter and the rest is history. Definitely got the best thing on the menu. Free tea, baklava and hot chocolate to finish and we felt we'd done all we can...until breakfast tomorrow that is 😏.
Food spend today: 49 euros