While Rio and New Orleans are world famous for Mardi Gras and Carnival Festivals,

the days leading up to Ash Wednesday have party traditions in Europe that go back centuries.

What the Catholic Church allows you here is to see what anarchy and chaos and hell will be like

before you become a good person again through your fasting. Coming up we'll hear

how they celebrate Carnival in Germany's Rhineland and how Carnival can turn the social order upside down in the Balkans.

The low can rise to become the high, the powerless can criticize the powerful, and everybody

celebrates together, everybody when you're all drunk everyone's equal. the food is a big hit and I'd recommend the stuffed muscles. We don't use utensils. What we do is that

we break the muscle into two and use half of the one of the shelves as a spoon to scoop it out.

Plus we'll check in with listeners with more thoughts on traveling to the Holy Land.

It's all just ahead on Travel with Rick Steeves.

Hi, I'm Rick Steeves.

Are you ready to do some traveling? Coming up in a moment, we'll get you ready to explore the lively streets of Istanbul, where I can vouch for the quality of the city's street food scene. We'll also get a taste of carnival celebrations in Germany and the Balkans and explore the scene in the Holy Land with fellow travelers at 877 333425.

Of all the great cities in Europe, Istanbul ranks right up there with London, Paris and Rome

as a city well worth spending an entire week of your vacation.

And Istanbul is by far the cheapest of these great cities

and with the most entertaining cuisine for those are on a tight budget or those with

an adventurous palette. But for tourists it can actually be expensive if you just go to the tourist traps

for some tips today on eating our way cheaply and memorably through Istanbul we're

joined by a friend and fellow tour guide lolly Sermon Iran who comes to us from Istanbul and joins us in our studio today.

Lolly, thanks for joining us.

You're welcome.

Merhuba.

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