Exchange rate

I could have/should have looked up the exchange rate for dollars to shekels or lira to shekels, but I didn't.  I did get some money out of the ATM at the airport and the choices were 100, 300, 400, 500, 600, 800, or there abouts, which was my first clue.  Ok, there are probably more than one shekel in a dollar, but if the smallest amount offered at  an American ATM is $20, does that mean there is a 5 to 1 exchange rate?  I got 500 out and was none the wiser.

The taxi (which is its own crazy story) was paid for, but when we got in (a Toyota Prius) the meter started at 25sk.  Taxis in Istanbul start at 2.5TL, or about $1.50, but I know that Istanbul taxis are known to be cheap.  Does this mean that there are more than 10 shekels in a dollar?  The hotel is also paid for, and there are no posted prices, so that is no help.

Erin and Ethan were here in October and gave the the card of an Italian restaurant they highly recommended.  If there had been a restaurant in the hotel, I probably would have chickened out and eaten there, but there isn't, so I asked for directions to the address on the card.  It wasn't far away and so I took the map and headed out into the wild.

Amazing gnocchi, and on the salad, the mint and pumpkin seeds were very nice additions.  The red canister on the top?  My own personal Parmesan cheese grater! 

I had a market salad, Parmesan gnocchi  a mint lemonade and vanilla pana cotta with caramel sauce and it came to 103sk.  It was excellent, and if the exchange rate was closer to 10:1 a really good deal, but it seemed like a pretty nice place, so maybe the rate was closer to 3:1 and my meal was ~$30.  (http://pappas.rest-e.co.il/)

Leaving the restaurant I walked through a covered market as the proprietors were packing up for the night.  There were some prices on their wares, specifically underwears, 5 sk each or 3 for 10.  I don't usually buy my undergarments on the street, so I am not familiar with the going rate.

I sought out something I have more experience with: Magnum bars. (http://www.magnumicecream.com/) I don't know if they exist in California, but they are a highlight of the ice cream world in Istanbul.  I usually buy a 6 pack of mini magnums, but I have been known to buy a full sized one when out and about on a hot day that has included a lot of walking.  I have paid anywhere from 3TL (from a market) to 6 TL (from a museum) for a full sized Magnum, or about $2-4.  At a corner market in Tel Aviv, a magnum costs 14sk.  This brought my mental exchange rate back up to the 5:1 range and dinner was cheap.  I did eventually find an exchange office that had posted exchange rates and the mystery was solved, there are 3.7sk in a dollar.  Dinner was on the expensive side, street underwear is cheap, and a magnum is a good international meter stick.

mmmm magnum

Before heading back to the hotel, I walked along the Mediterranean  , and put my fingers in it.