Istanbul, Turkey - Day 2: Constantinople from High Up at Galata Kulesi
I had a number of things jotted down on my To-Do List when I woke up that morning on November 27, 2020. Turkish sweets I would like to try, landmarks to visit, some exploring to do in general. I'd better get started then. It was my first time somewhere whose language or customs I had virtually no substantial knowledge of - wasn't exactly a Spanish-speaking country, France or, well, the U.K. - and ordering some simit from one of the many bakeries trailing the way up to Taksim Square , which I had strolled around the night before, proved harder than I had imagined. I attributed it to either my failed attempt at practising my non-existent Turkish (cheers, Google) or, again, an accent-related barrier, as Istanbul came across as very English-friendly. I did get my simit in the end and I did feel like some stuffing was missing, but fair enough. To those of you wondering, simit is a circular-shaped bread, not exactly savoury, but not too sweet either, that is very popular amongst Tu