Visit Europe

As enticing a reason as any to cross the Bosphorus into Asia, Çiya Sofrası has been hailed by more than one source as possibly the best restaurant in all of Istanbul.

Turkish food is described as the continuation of Ottoman Empire cuisine. The Ottomans fused Central Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Eastern European, and Balkan cuisines to create one of the world’s most diverse and influential cuisines.

We ate many delicious things in Turkey, but if I had to eat just one dish for the entire two weeks, then I would happily choose dürüm. And not just any dürüm, but the dürüm from Dürümzade, hailed by Anthony Bourdain as some of the best wraps in Istanbul.

Croatia offered up the most wonderful scenery and historical architecture, the most varied culinary pleasures and arguably the lowest price tags, and the nicest people.

I was sitting in the front seat and I remember looking back, searching their faces for an answer. They did the same. It never came.