The big yellow truck

For the past 5 days we've had a hankering for a good gyro (a Greek sandwich), the kind Ladan and I used to have in Westwood at the Falafel Palace (a Lebanese restaurant) but until today had only caught glimpses  on Turkish restaurant advertisements. Sam's theory was that "durums", the Turkish version of the gyro, are like Philly cheesesteaks and that you can't really get one at a nice restaurant so today we walked right past the concierge and asked the bellboys where to find the best durum. By the time we made ourselves understood about four wide-eyed young bellhops had crowded around the first bellhop and though they couldn't agree on the prices or distance they enthusiastically agreed that the big yellow truck had the best durums. Note to self: don't wait 5 days to ask the young Turks for the best burger equivalent. It felt like we took a step into the real Turkey with great food at prices which were not for tourists only. Our sandwiches were only a few dollars each and sodas cost 1 Turkish lira each (US $.66 each) although "Colas" such as Pepsi and a local Sour Cherry still cost 2.5 TL (US $1.66).

PS: It should be noted that Ladan bravely tried the beet juice soda which was in fact sold under the mistranslated label of carrot juice soda with pepper sauce. Not bad as it turns out, basically Turkish Bloody Mary mix.