anil

How about non-Grape leaves?? I just bought a Turkish cookbook and it has a recipe for dolmas made with leek leaves instead of grape. The filling appears to be pretty much of the standard ground lamb variety. I'm psyched to try it, because the grape leaves have always been my least favorite part of dolmas. What do I know This past weekend we were in IST, and in a local pedeci (sp ?) I asked this lady what she was using - Her reply - Whatever is the leaf of the season - {meaning sometimes cabbage leaves ....} Much of the fillings are also iff-ify - standard broken rice or wheat grain mixed with {meats or fish} The operant word is - edible,cookable leaf. PS: In many traditional eateries when you ask about the stuff, the cook is soooo elated about our interest in the mechanics of putting together the dish - that she / {sometimes he} add something extra in our plates

We had a very nice meal. Unfortunately, after our dinner, I along with one of the hosts, went Cafe-hopping (Pub-crawling); needless to say I returned back (sneaked in really) in the wee hours - thus forgot the details of whatever I had on my plate. Damn saturdays.......

Duty Free: The issue w.r.t to paying or not paying VAT in Duty Free is your Boarding Pass - Basel and Geneva are considered Duty Free zones (in Bazel, CH,FR,DE, all three have border zones) Black Label is not going to be that cheap. Re-reading your post - I would presume that you'll get your CDG-GVA boarding pass here in the US, since you are only transiting @ CDG - Pick your duty free (if it is standard fare) on board your US-CDG segment. Your description suggests transit in CDG, so you are non-EU visiting another non-EU country, plain and simple. You should also search Frequent Flyer hangout site for more information.

CDG ATM: It is difficult to point out the ATMs, they are located in the area were there are shops. (there are shops in C as well as D & B) I have not had any experience with F or terminal 1 off late,

As swissmiss mentioned, GVA is quite small. Depending on your seating, and how many other planes arrive just before yours, 10-15 minute max.

CDG used to bus way befor 9/11 - I've not experienced any airport that started doing this post 9/11. .............................. just venting

Ahem, ahem - Cafe Luxembourg opened as a uninspired and tired place, and has remained so ever since -- IMHO

The person who I tagged along with, would not pay 7000 Turkish lira for five lifetimes, let alone ....

Just Don't do-it. FRA as been transmuting into a very finicky place w.r.t to security checks.

Are we talkingabout the place in the Meat Packing District ? If so, in respecting my transiting into middle-age group --- Lotus was appropriately placed in the meat packing district - It was (initially) a meat market for peple of all persuation - maybe things have changed of late -- My 2 Kc

After a lot of patience with CDG, yesterday and this afternoon just got my goat - I've spent more time on these fr******G buses back and forth, and crawling people movers that it is not even funny. Yesterday from B to F and back to C ? and Today, same crap. I've tolerated this for three years now - CDG should be run by the AMS folks !!!

Which Airline ? Most US carriers are in terminal D, which does not have a large selection of duty free shops.

Needless to say, I'm more forgiving of bad weather at home (NYC) post any holiday - than I'm in a place out-of-town. I'll grumble about 43F in VIE, and call 43 to be OK in Manhattan on a workday - GF (Go Figure) Having said that -- I was trained to explain these kinds of things

Paris and Prague this and next week. (Damn! those split tunnels)

Seekh kebab in India are derived from Adana kebab in Turkiye, except Adana is really spicy. I think the variety and ubquiety of kofte in Istanbul is remarkable. I'll make it a point to ask the native names of some of tem when I go to IST end of the month.

Not necessarily. Seekh kabab in Northern India and in many Punjabi outfits tend to be in na tandoor. However, in South India, mostly in Hyerabad, the kebabs are over coal fired grills. Of late (in Mumbai) I have seen it done in electric grills.

Paris,Berlin and many major cities in Europe are ghost towns on 26th Dec - Only places likely to be open are hotel attached eateries. OTH, New Year's eve restauants should be open and really busy

It is across the street from wher we normlly stay. It has been a safe staple place when we are beat and want to eat without too much planning.

Oh ! oh we have a reservation for this coming Saturday evening - Our host assures us that it a fine place a bit over-exposed but good nonetheless.

What a bunch of slushes

Without taking sides let me clarify - Gyro - In Greece, anything pressed meat on vertical rotating skewer is a yiros. Sliced Pork, in a skewer is as much a yiros as lamb or beef. The word "doner" is more prevelant outside Greece. In Istanbul, it is called sis kababsi Here it is predominantly lamb. However, it is the spices and herbs that dominate the meat (After all it being the biggest Spice Bazzar in the world) A neat thing I saw in Istanbul was the skewer was sometimes bent at an angle and rotating like a screw, which some say gives different texture to the meat since the surface temperature of the slices of meat are different. Doner kebebsi is predominantly lamb. So can a doner kebabsi be a gyro ? Si senor - because yiros in greek means 'to rotate" In Istanbul any kind of meat on a skewer is called a kebabsi - hence doner kebab :) an then there is sharwma

Where will you be staying ? I was there in Summer and stayed @ Taksim Sq. there were many small eateries near the square - The hotel had a very good restaurant on the top floor (Panorama) and ofcourse stroll down Istiklal Caddesi - where there are lots of meze places. Wander down Spice bazzar and select whatever speices you want. I will be visiting IST end of this month.

Pondi was in fact a french colony. It was considered an independent territory. My recollection are based on one summer I spent in my youth putzing around. 1. The language of the region being redminantly tamil, the influences or confluences of South Indian and french were mostly in the usage of sauces derived from dairy. Much of South Indian (or Tamilians) do not use much of milk in their base cooking. 2. In Pondicherri , dosas and crepes pretty merged to satisfy neither of the traditionalists. Generally in Pondicherri, the traditional south indian dishes were adapted to the tastes of the masters - An interestingly concoction was rasam with mild hint of tamrind but cream and pumpkin puree, more black-pepper - lack of sauteed mustard seeds (rye ) On th other hand the french in the Asharam were totally food agnostic since their mission was to carry on the "Mother's" work.....

This Hyatt did not impress me - As a Diamond with Hyatt I expected more - this restaurant was no exception - This again is MHO. Never been to any of the other eleven.

Do stars really matter ?