The Global Traveler editorial team has just wrapped up our January 2014 issue, and without giving too much away, I will tell you that the cover features one of the sites we visited on our May cruise in the Mediterranean. That trip ended in Istanbul, with a full day and overnight on our Holland America ship, the ms Noordam, before we disembarked and spent an additional three days exploring that fascinating and beautiful city. Harry had never been there before, but I had ended a cruise with my sisters there a dozen years before, with little time to explore it on my own.

We decided to take a six-hour shore excursion on our last ship day there, choosing one which promised visits to some local markets and lunch at a kebab restaurant. We both like to cook and explore global cuisines, so this appeared to be a good match to our interests. We also knew we’d have plenty of time over the next few days to explore the traditional sites of the city with our friends, so off we went.

Our first stop was a fish market. Although it was before 10 a.m., many of the stalls (which were primarily wholesalers) were already depleted of their offerings, but we still saw an incredible range of seafood,

from scallops still in their colorful shells to large prawns, calimari and unusual (well, frankly, ugly) fish. Our guide told us that while the waters of the Bosporus had once teemed with a huge variety of fish, overfishing and pollution has severely reduced the numbers, and much of what we saw here had been shipped in from substantial distances.

Next was the famous Spice Market, where we visited as a group a large emporium stuffed with dried spices and fruit, nuts,

pastries and even perfumes and scented oils. The variety of goods was overwhelming and the aromas heavenly. We had free time to wander the halls and browse through other stalls before our next stop. And, yes, we did purchase some spices for our home kitchen!

Lunch was a pleasant affair at the Kösebasi restaurant in the Nisantasi neighborhood, an area boasting high-end shops and upscale apartment buildings. We sat down to a family-style meal of a host of traditional dishes, all delicious, though not the kebab meal that had been advertised. After a stop at the Grand Bazaar, we ended our tour wandering the area surrounding Taksim Square and Istiklal Avenue, with its charming red tramcars and global-brand shops, local merchants and cafés.

It provided a great overview of the bustling markets of the city, but we were a little disappointed there was not as much of an emphasis on the food markets and local cuisine as we had been led to believe.

As our tour bus headed back to the ship, we ran into delays due to roadblocks. Our guide questioned a policeman directing traffic and told us there was a demonstration by university students that we would have to wait to be cleared. Later, we passed large numbers of officers in riot gear with shields and batons and saw evidence of water cannon use and overturned garbage cans.     Little did we know it at the time, but this was the opening salvo in what, in a few short weeks, would become the full-scale riots in Taksim Square.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor