[day 9] Stuffed Mussels & a Fanta, Istanbul, Turkey

Stuffed mussels are called "midye dolma" in Turkish. We first found these as we walked along Istiklal Caddesi, the lively pedestrian street filled with shops and restaurants. Just off of the street was a stretch of small restaurants and outdoor street food. We walked by a store and were offered these to try - hesitant as we were, they looked too appetizing to pass up, so we tried one and it was delicious! It's a mussel stuffed with seasoned rice in the inside and lemon squeezed on it, eaten directly from the shell. The first time was the best, but on our last day, I just had to had some more. That morning, we had taken a short 25 minute ferry over to the Asia side of Istanbul and found these on one of the streets lined with shops. And, of course, I had to have an orange Fanta to go with it! YUM.