Day I- lunch

By the time we leave Santa Sofya (yes, that’s another name for it), our stomach’s are rumbling. LP recommends a place east of the area, towards the train line and Marmara Sea, frequented by locals (always the best kind); but we still haven’t changed money (!) so we are back to main street where the tram is. We are seeing it by day, and everything g looks different. This is Divan Yolu, the main street in Sultanahmet. On it run trams, buses, cars and lots of people either side. Divan Yolu is the old road to Rome, with the Milion- a marble milestone from which all distaces in Byzantium were measured at one end- it is soon to become a favourite stretch.

We decide to eat at a place right on it, next to the tram stop. You’d think that would be noisy and fumy and irritating, but you’d be wrong. Baran 2 is a lokantasi. These are small eating places, with tray-fulls of dishes that a chef stands over- ask him what's what, pick one (or two or three), ask for rice as well if you want (or there is guaranteed to be free bread at your table, and lots of it), and off you go.
The rice is tasty, though there is nothing in it- a little salt, what I suspect is olive oil and fattish grains of rice, but not sticky. With it I have spinach, which is mild but rather tasty; D has a meat thing and patlican dish with her rice. The former is ok, the latter she likes- even I taste it and its quite nice. With it we have a yogurt thing (basically, raita-curd and cucumber, watery and more sour than either of us would like). We exceed our meal budget (a max of 10Euros between us), but I am entering ‘doesn’t matter, D eat as much as you want’ mode; she is less reckless right now. Come to think of it now, it sounds like we would exceed our budget with that lineup, bang in the middle of tourist central- but its ok. D resolves to be more aware while ordering- the budget is her look-out, sort of. Hmm. Best of luck, D.