Afternoon Tease

Afternoon Tea...'Turkish Style'

The recent lull in my partaking of afternoon tea is due to the fact that I decided to go to Istanbul. Agatha Christie would have you believe that Stamboul (as it used to be called) is full of ex-pats and Poirot-esque, upper-class travellers wearing white gloves in grand hotels. They may well be here but I haven't seen them. Of course, her stories are set during the golden age of the Orient Express and having afternoon tea on there is definitely one of the top 10 on my bucket-list. 
But for now, I've settled for afternoon tea traditional Turkish style which doesn't just involve the famous apple tea but also cups of strong, sweet cardamon coffee.

It also doesn't only occur in the afternoon but 7-10 times a day depending on how many carpet shops you get dragged into :)
Middle Eastern hospitality is some of my favourite in the world, and I've experienced it in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey. And when Turkish Delight or baclava are added to the mix, it can definitely rival any English high tea. The only downside is my teeth might start falling out of my head. I can hear my blood sugar rising as I type...

To make things worse, I'm actually writing this from Belgium - a place full of more chocolate than I've ever seen in my life... I thought it was a cliche but there were even some on my pillow and in the foyer of the hotel when I arrived. I never thought I'd say it but I'm actually craving salad.
Luckily, I'll be staying in a convent next so there'll be no excessive sugar consumption there - just good old austerity. Thank goodness, or the name of this blog would've been changed to afternoon-diabe'tease'.com ;-)
Until next time xox