Istanbul Kahve Fest - 5 stars

There is no shortage of things to do and see in Istanbul. Today I saw two free art exhibits (more on that later) and went to the Istanbul Coffee Festival.  My ticket, costing 25tl, entitled me to unlimited free coffee - espresso, cappuccino, lattes, americanos, pour over and all forms of drip, as well as tons of sweets and treats.
Turkish delights - check
brownies - check
cookies - check
pastries - check
It was delightful! I'm not sure what the 45tl ticket would get you, but I wanted for nothing during my visit.

The event was crowded but with many vendors the wait was not long at any one station. A string quartet played live in the main area while we mingled and sipped coffee. To the parents: The crowd was overwhelming for small children. The kids having the best time were babies strapped to their parents.

 Very serious and not so serious coffee conversations were had by experts, connoisseurs and casual drinkers alike.

ART: Like any self-respecting Turkish event, there was Art and a vast smoking area, in this case, both located together on the rooftop patio. Besides the roof, there were a few other rooms displaying art with varying degrees of coffee tie-ins. Coffee cup stencil Art located on the back wall of the mezzanine (seen at right) seemed to be the most thematically intentional. IMO art themes like this don't usually elicit very compelling work and this was no exception. But, It was well presented and I definitely appreciate the opportunity for artists to show there work to what was undoubtedly a huge crowd over the four day festival.

 Many vendors spoke English and/or were patient with my lack of Turkish. Great place to bring out-of-towners. I highly recommend this event for foodies and caffeine fiends.

It wouldn't be a day out in Turkey without some accidental racism, so I'll just leave this here for now...

I promise to address this phenomenon thoroughly in an upcoming post.